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Kenya, continued
Nairobi International School of Theology students Agnes Odero and Jacob Mburu discuss ministry plans.
Mission co-worker Marta Bennett writes that on December 27, 2007, Kenyans peacefully turned out in great numbers to vote for a new president and parliament. Three days later, when the results were announced amid many anomalies, the nation erupted into chaos.
Some neighbors from differing tribes who had lived together for decades now picked up pangas (machetes) and hacked each other to death. Property was burned, vehicles were destroyed, and roads were barricaded. In the aftermath of over 1,200 such deaths and many more people becoming internally displaced, Kenyans were in shock that such things could happen in this stable country. Long-standing wrongs involving land grabbing, high unemployment, poverty, and corruption had translated into ethnic hatred.
As part of the response, counseling studies students at the Nairobi International School of Theology formed multiethnic teams to serve in the camps for internally displaced persons. They listened, encouraged people to talk, and helped them explore steps to rebuild their lives. One such counselor was Agnes Odero, a master’s program student. Though often drained by the overwhelming pain people were sharing, she found the grace and strength to be there from morning to night as part of the healing, even across ethnic divides.
The immediate and extended family members of another student, Jacob Mburu, lost everything they owned during the violence in Eldoret. Jacob was serving the Presbyterian Church of East Africa as youth pastor at St. Andrew’s Church in Nairobi as he continued his M.Div. studies. Noting that much of the violence was committed by teens and youth, he renewed his commitment to reach out to them in both his church and his neighborhood. He went to work to meet all the teens and their parents who live around him and helped them to talk about the issues they faced.
Partners/Ministries
Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA): Rev. Dr. David Githii, moderator, Rev. Samuel Muriguh, general secretary, Rev. Francis Ndungu Njoroge, deputy general secretary
Christian Organizations Research Advisory Trust: Margaret W. Mwaura, executive director
Daystar University: Rev. Dr. Godfrey Mbitinguru, vice chancel
National Council of Churches of Kenya: Rev. Mutava Musyimi, general secretary
Presbyterian College: Rev. Plawson Kuria, principal
St. Paul’s Theological College: Dr. Timothy Wachira, principal
Presbytery Partnerships
Presbytery of Blackhawk, Cimarron Presbytery, Presbytery of Detroit, Presbytery of the John Knox, Presbytery of Los Ranchos, National Capital Presbytery, Presbytery of Newton, Presbytery of Northern Plains, Presbytery of the Redwoods, and Presbytery of West Virginia with the PCEA
PC(USA) General Assembly Staff
Trish Brown, OGA
Andrew Browne, BOP
Thomas Browne, GAC
Lord, you are the Prince of Peace and the hope of the nations. As Kenya continues the process of healing and rebuilding, may you bring deep healing both in and between people. In your name we ask this. Amen.
Ps. 84, 148 Ps. 25, 40
Isa. 55:1–13
Gal. 5:16–24; Mark 9:2–13
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