“Kenya riot toll rises to 135.” “Protests over the president’s re-election continue; he threatens a tough crackdown.” “We are ready to die, and we’re ready for serious killings,” 24-year-old James Onayango, who lives in Nairobi’s Kibera slum, said as homes and shops around him burned.”
When we see on television and read about conflicts like this one, it is quite difficult to identify or empathize with the situation or the dynamic. The death toll in Nairobi will exceed 150 people today with no end in sight.
Having returned from Nairobi in early November 2007, these are disturbing dynamics. My mind raced to the many friends and associates we have in the city. What about our driver Mr. Moses Mureithi and his family? What about our friends from Community Uplift/Circle of Light that are currently in the city with donors? What about our friends and partners at Compassion International? What about our friend Pastor Bob Kikuyu from Lifespring Chapel, his wife Yoland and their beautiful children? Here is an excerpt from an email Pastor Bob sent yesterday.
“Yoland and I still hope to depart for Nairobi on Monday morning. Because of the situation in the city, the children cannot come to meet us at the airport or our home - if things do not change for the better overnight. However, they are very safe with their grandparents, aunties and cousins up-country. We covet your prayer.”
Having walked this city and loved these people, this is so painful to experience and observe. Please fervently pray now for Nairobi, its leaders, its people, and those who minister there.
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