Kenya Update – Feb 7

I have also posted this letter and other missionary letters at this site. 

Dear Praying Friends,

Each morning at 6:30 we begin our day with prayers at the Grace Bible Baptist Church for our members who have been displaced and for the country of Kenya. We then go home for a quick breakfast and then into town to the supermarket to buy the food that we distribute each day.  The rest of the day is spent distributing food and visiting with our people that are displaced and hurting.  Our first distribution point is the Afraha stadium where the bulk of our displace people are located.  At the stadium we have people from Calvary Baptist Church, Habari Njema Baptist Church and Grace Bible Baptist Church.  We then head up to the Victory Baptist Church and drop off food for those effected in that church.  From there we head to Lighthouse Baptist Church where we have another distribution point.  We then move off to the Bahati police post, Teachers police post and the Lanet police post.  Along the journey we stop at various private homes where our people have taken refuge.  We must make sure that we are finished and back at home by 7 pm before the curfew starts. At this point we are feeding 200 people daily from the 7 independent Baptist Churches located in Nakuru.

We have also begun to hear from some of our pastors that attend the Rift Valley Baptist College and the effect the trouble has had on them and their churches.  A good number of them are hurting and facing terrible consequences from the trouble.  One particular pastor, Richard Gesanda who was in our last graduating class has seen his entire congregation of 60 burned out of their homes in the village of Kuresoi.  Bro. Gesanda and his five children have been living in the forest for the last three weeks hiding for their lives from those trying to kill them. They were finally able to make it out of the area and to the town of Kisii where bro. Gesanda was born.  We have been in contact with a missionary in Kisii who is seeing to it that Pastor Gesanda and his family are being fed and have the shelter they need.   We have not yet been able to make contact with many others who attend the college and do not yet know what effect the violence has had on them.

Yesterday we had the funeral for Brian Okoth a 17 year old member of the Habari Njema Baptist Church who was killed during the clashes here in Nakuru.  Bro. Brian was the young man who was decapitated.  Brian’s mother who is not a member of the church stood and gave a wonderful testimony of how Brian’s life changed after he came home from church and told his mother that he had gotten saved.  He went from a rebellious youth to one who was always respectful and obedient. She said that she often tried discourage Brian from attending the Baptist Church but he was steadfast in his determination, always telling her that it was in this church that he heard how God could forgive his sins.  Brian’s death was a tragedy, he was killed simply because he was born into the LUO tribe but in his death we saw great victory because Jesus Christ won the victory for him. 

Tuesday I traveled to Nairobi for a town hall meeting with the American ambassador.  The ambassador spoke openly about what was happening in Kenya and answered all questions that were asked of him.  He did not seem to evade any questions and I found myself agreeing with much of what he said.  I did disagree with a few things but I attribute that to his being in Nairobi and not out in the midst of where the trouble was taking place. Some of what he said:

• No American has been hurt or targeted since the unrest began. Both the government and the opposition are pro American and do not want their supporters to do anything against Americans.  Whoever leads the country wants a good relationship with the U.S.
• He agrees with opposition’s decision not to go to court as they would not have gotten a fair hearing, the courts are the most corrupt institution in Kenya.
• The counting of the votes in the election was flawed and there is no way to know who really one the election.  A recount is not the answer as the votes have been messed with even more since the election.
• He just sent letters to ten people in the government and in the opposition telling them that their American VISA’s will be revoked for both them and their family members because they have been involved in sponsoring the violence.
• The people fighting are being paid 500 to 1000 shillings a day to fight.
• Naivasha, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu will continue to be places that the embassy recommends that Americans not visit because of the potential for continual outbreaks of ethnic violence. (We live in Nakuru)
• Kenya has the best and most free media in Africa which will go a long way in helping end this crisis.
• The peace talks with Kofi Annan must succeed, if not it will be hard to predict what could happen. If they do not succeed it could get real ugly.
• It is unlikely Kenya would ever go the way of Rawanda etc. because of the many tribes in Kenya vs. only two in Rawanda.
• He is in favor of the military helping the police keep peace.
• He believes that overall the police are doing a good job.  (I really question that one.)

We thank you for your continue prayers on behalf of the people of Kenya.  We thank those who have given towards the humanitarian needs that our people have at this time.  People in our communities have begun to notice and have been approaching the members of our churches with a lot of spiritual questions. 

His for Kenya,

Robert Mickey Jr. and family