This new year has gotten off to a fast start for us. We have visited many churches during our time of furlough, and were in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Kentucky, plus churches in West Virginia this past month. We have really enjoyed seeing so many of you again, and thank you so much for the opportunities of sharing the Lord’s work in Kenya with you. You all have been such an encouragement to us, and we thank you for being a part of our team.
We would ask you to earnestly pray for us, as the situation in Kenya has gotten progressively worse. On December 27th of last year, there was a presidential election in Kenya. The presidential elections are held every five years, and according to many reports that we have read, there was a great deal of corruption and election rigging going on. When a president is elected, many from his tribe are put in high positions of government. It seems that the people of Kenya decided that they wanted a change from the ruling tribe, so they elected a different leader, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation. When the results were read, and their leader was not the new president, then rioting and killing began across the country. It has become a crisis between two main tribes, the Kikuyu, of which the current president is a member, and the Luo tribe, of which the opposition is a member. These two tribes are killing each other, and other tribes have gotten involved. They have called this “ethnic cleansing”. "What's surfacing is years of ethnic tension, long-standing anger over the distribution of wealth and power and tribes feeling they do not have their fair share of power," according to a prominent leader in Kenya. Talks to defuse the political crisis in Kenya are making little headway, a visiting diplomat has said. Over 1,000 people have lost their lives, and 300,000 are homeless. The majority of the violence is taking place in western Kenya, where we live. Eldoret is the city where churches have been burned, and many have died, and this city is a little over an hour away from us. Kitale, where we live, is quiet, from reports that we hear, but there are roadblocks and gangs that block the main roads going and coming from Nairobi to Kitale. Pam and I were scheduled to return to Kenya on January 28th, but due to all of the conflict and killings, we have postponed our return. We are anxious to return to the land and people that we love, so help us to pray for an end to this crisis. God is in control, and we trust the Lord to show us when it is safe to return. Psalms 34:15-17.
Roger and Julie Tate and their family left yesterday to go to Tanzania for four months to learn the language of Swahili. After language school, they will be coming to work with us in Kitale, and we are excited to have them to join our team. Hopefully, the conflict will have died down by the time that they join us in Kenya. Please do pray for them, and their adjustment to a new culture and language.
Thanks again for your notes of encouragement, and your E-mails telling us that you are praying for us. We definitely need the prayers of God’s people as we look forward to returning to Kenya, where the Lord has called us to serve Him. Please do keep in touch with us. Our Lord is coming soon. We must be about our Father’s business while it is still day.