Kenya is racked with political conflict at the moment.
They just had an election where even the head of the country’s electoral commission, Samuel Kivuitu, says he doesn’t know for sure who has won. There was pressure from both parties to count the votes quickly and suspicion has arisen that the count was rigged. The conflict is between the parties of the current President Mwai Kibaki and his rival, Raila Odinga.
President Kibaki (from the Kikuyu tribe, the largest in Kenya) has been re-inaugurated. Odinga and his supporters are Luo, another major tribe. Much of the conflict seems to be along these tribal lines, and most common in the slums of the major cities. Adversaries are using machetes and axes to intimidate and attack opponents just because of their tribal affiliations, and the police can do little to control the violence as the slums burn. Nairobi, the capital, is being described as a ghost town right now as no one wants to go out of their homes. More about this conflict and the death of several people in the burning of a church can be found at this link.
If you know me, you know my heart for Africa. I spent two months in Kenya in 2006 with AIM (Adventures in Missions) and I fell in love with it. These people became like family, and my family is in trouble.
A friend of mine from my team in 2006 speaks of his contact with our pastor friend there:
“I just got off the phone with [him]. This is the second time I’ve talked with him over the past few days and he…and his family are safe…the violence is definitely concentrated in the major cities. He says that Odinga (the guy who lost) is still urging people to march on Uhuru park on Thursday, and the police are still banning it…It has the makings of an extremely violent confrontation. The head of the African Union, (from Ghana), arrived today (Wednesday) and is trying to meet with Kibaki (the old/new president) and Odinga. So let’s hope that he can help. [The pastor] also said that there was/is no AIM team in Kenya. The FYM team left before the election and the new team is postponing their arrival.”
I lived in the slums of Kibera (in Nairobi) for a month and a small area called Eburru for the second month; I will never forget it. I’m sure many others also have ties to, and a love of, Kenya.
These people are not just strangers. They are not just “those people” that live in the 3rd world. They are not a long 16 + hour flight from us. They are not a people a world away with strange practices.
These people live in our hearts. We know their faces. We know their names. Their friends, family, and countrymen are our neighbors, friends, co-workers, and study buddies. We have drunk chai in their homes, walked the miles to their hut, held their dying infants, bought them groceries, shared the love of Jesus with them, hugged them, heard their stories, become best friends with them. Now let us scrape up our knees for them.
Please pray for the people of Kenya; petition God for their well-being and for peace among the opposition. Keep informed so you can know how to pray for our brothers and sisters. Show them you care by supporting them with your prayers, presence, gifts, and service.
