From the President

Praying for Kenya

Although the place was not shaken, this was some powerful meeting!

When she began to pray, we all started to weep. The temperature in the large auditorium changed and we knew we were in the presence of God. Bishops, Senior Pastors and leaders representing the main tribes of Kenya, Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo and Kalenjin and others, all dropped to the floor as Judy Mbugua, team leader of the Association Of Evangelicals in Africa and a mother in the nation, led in intercession from 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people…”

I was privileged not only to witness this occasion but to participate in it. On the 27th of January, I was invited to speak at a Peace Rally held in the Agape Center in Nairobi where approximately one thousand leaders gathered for a reconciliation meeting. Having flown in the night before, I was not sure what to expect. That morning I had been driven around the city to areas where the month old violence had left its ugly face in the form of destroyed buildings and homes. I was driven through Kiberu, a slum city in its own right with over a million residents. The empty spaces in the densely populated slum pointed to homes and business premises that had been destroyed in the violence. The crime of the owners? They belonged to the Kikuyu tribe as the president who was perceived to have stolen the elections from the opposition. We had driven to the Nairobi Showgrounds not far from Kiberu where the survivors had taken shelter. The young men I spoke to there were bitter and longing for revenge. They had lost everything in the violence and reconciliation was the furthest thing from their minds as they thought about what to do after leaving the refugee camp.

As the leaders from different tribes met that afternoon, I was not sure what was going to happen. The meeting was emotionally charged as almost everyone in the room had been affected one way or another. One man had not known whether or not his wife had survived the violence in his village home as he had had no contact with her for three weeks. One lady had a family of eleven arrive at her doorstep that day after their home was destroyed. It is no easy assignment to minister to people under these circumstances. God annointed the little I had to say and when Judy stood up to lead in prayer, we knew He was in the house.

I cannot tell you what the final outcome of the Kenyan crisis will be. Kofi Annan has been busy for the last month or so and we wait to see what will come of his efforts. One thing the Kenyan leaders will tell you is that their crisis is a spiritual one and that they are taking responsibility:

• to call on God in intercession and in repentance
• to reach out across the dividing tribal lines to find the hand of their brothers and sisters
• to engage in reconciliation efforts at every level in civic society as well as in government

As we prayed, representative moves were taken by different tribal leaders to acknowledge wrongs and to ask for forgiveness for their failure to give direction to the body of Christ and taking sides in the struggle.

As we taxied out of Jomo Kenyata Airport later that night on my long trek back to Orlando, I had hope in my spirit that Kenya will make it because of God working through His Church. God’s people are salt and light in the communities they are planted in. That is why we are so passionate filling every village and community with churches whose presence will witness to the saving and healing power of the gospel.

The Kenyan troubles are not over yet. Continue to pray with our family there.