Kenya Update

Though much of the violence in Kenya has settled down from its original levels last week, it still continues and progress toward a governmental resolution has been slow. Thousands are still displaced and in need of food, water and shelter. Fuel shortages and barricaded roads have made aid delivery difficult.

I wanted to postpart of an email I received recently from ELI regarding what they are doing in response to the crisis, and ways you can help. If you are interested in sending money, please email me or follow the directions below.

We are creating an emergency fund that Samuel, David, and any other national leaders can tap into for all the current needs that have surfaced because of the crisis. We are going to try to raise $10,000 for this fund. This money will go towards the following areas:

1) Food for the training centers and Children’s Homes. The cost of food has gone sky high (i.e. a head of cabbage has gone from 10Ksh to 80Ksh), so we need funds to purchase at the higher rate.

2) Don and Amy just spent approx. $1,300 to buy food at a supermarket in Nairobi and have it flown up by AIM air to the Eldoret strip. They are hoping to do this multiple times. Julius was able to pick up the food and transport it to Ilula through the roadblocks safely.

3) At the Ilula training center, we have been caring for approx 200 women and children from the community. We are using the maize that we harvested from the orphanage to feed people from the community and will eventually need to replenish the supply.

4) Samuel has asked to hire some men from the community as guards to protect the training center day and night.

5) We have needed to purchase many phone cards for communication with the police and each other.

If you or anyone you know would like to give towards this fund, they can mail a check to our office (PO Box 67 Upland, CA 91785) and earmark it for the “Kenya emergency fund.” Thanks so much!

Things seem to be settling down a bit in Kenya and around our ministry sites. Our staff are all still doing ok and are relieved to be able to start getting into town again (though it’s a devastating sight right now). You can read more updates on our blog at www.empoweringlives.blogspot.com. Also, there are some great updates about the Eldoret area on another missionary’s blog at www.dlipparelli.blogspot.com.

Keep praying…

Crisis in Kenya

Friends in Ilula

Originally uploaded by amandajmorgan81

They gave us roses to welcome our arrival after a difficult journey. They danced and celebrated three years of caring for orphans with food, clothing, homes, families, education and hope. They pulled us excitedly into their lives and shared their joys and fears. Together we crafted and played, sang and danced and listened and learned. We worshipped God together and shared our stories. We prayed for each other.

These are the things I remember from Ilula, the second village we spent time in during our stay in Kenya. ELI has another Training Center and orphanage there, where they are providing homes and hope for hundreds of orphans, giving life skills to villagers for agricultural sustainability and livelihood, and supporting alcoholics as they transition to sober lives, repairing themselves and their families. The Training Center is managed by the most wonderful and humble men and women, from whom I learned a great deal. Three years ago they saw the needs of their country and their neighbors and birthed a vision for development and transformation. God is renewing hearts and communities through their creative, loving and visionary grassroots leadership.

As I write this, the Training Center in Ilula looks drastically different than it did when I was there. Hopefully most of you know by now of the violence that is ravaging the country as a result of disputed presidential election results from last week. I am saddened to say that much of this violence is taking place in the very region I was in – the North Rift Valley in western Kenya. You may have heard of a church in the town of Eldoret that was recently torched, burning about 50 men, women and children alive. Thousands have fled their homes for safety and are now on the move with no protection, food, or shelter.

Ilula is very close to Eldoret and has now become a refugee camp for hundreds of Kikuyus (the tribe being attacked) in the area. Instead of welcoming a few ignorant Americans into their arms, the children and leaders in Ilula are now welcoming hundreds of displaced people from surrounding villages and are attempting to meet their physical and spiritual needs.

I would like to ask you to pray for my friends in Kenya. Pray for the crisis to find resolution quickly and for God to protect those in the Training Center in Ilula. Pray for the leaders of that center – Samuel and Laban – that God will grant them wisdom, selflessness and safety, since the Center is open to attack because they are housing Kikuyus. Pray for the orphans there, some of them pictured above, whose already unstable lives are being shaken once again. I am attaching a few helpful links if you are interested in learning more about what is going on in the region.

I am so grateful for my friends in Ilula and for the things they taught me about life, and I am grateful for your willingness to pray for them with me. Here are some links that will help you:

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=2&newsid=113979

http://www.empoweringlives.blogspot.com/

http://www.theworldpress.com/press/worldpress/kenyapress/kenyatimes.htm

“How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! ‘Violence is everywhere!’ I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted with bribes and trickery…” – Habakkuk 1:2-4