Pray for Kenya

Kenya has long been a sanctuary in the midst of violent conflict; an answer to prayer for refugees from Sudan,Rwanda,Congo, and elsewhere. But since the December 2007 presidential election, Kenya has become a place of violent conflict, forcing Kenyans to flee. Over 1,000 have been killed and up to 600,000 displaced in this once stable country. Just as we pray for peace in Sudan, Rwanda, and Congo, we must pray for peace inKenya.

When the polls opened on December 27, 2007, the New York Times reported “a record turnout” for the two main presidential candidates, incumbent Mwai Kibaki, and challenger Raila Odinga. Since Kenya’s independence was established in 1963 under Jomo Kenyatta, many Kenyans have felt that the Kikuyu, the largest of the Kenyan ethnicities—and from which both Kenyatta and Kibaki hail—has received more than its fair share of wealth, property, and power. Some believed that Odinga, a member of the Luo ethnic group, would help provide equality of political power and economic prosperity for all Kenyans who feel disenfranchised. One journalist quoted in the Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS) called the election “a protest vote against years of inequalities.”

In early returns, Odinga was in the lead by some 18 percent. But on December 30, after what international election observers called “blatant vote rigging,” Kibaki won with a very narrow margin. The New York Times reported that rioting and violence began “within minutes of the official announcement.”  And soon political protest degenerated into something far uglier. Kenyan filmmaker and writer, Simiyu Barasa, observed in a February 2008 opinion piece for the New York Times, “What began in late December as protests against election irregularities has spiraled into killings based on which tribe your identity card and speech indicate you belong to.”

Violence has been particularly severe in the scenic Rift Valley region. Following independence, much of the rich farm land there was given or sold to the Kikuyu, even though it was the ancestral land of other ethnic groups. On January 1, some 50 women and children seeking safety in a church were burned to death by a mob in the Rift Valley region town of Eldoret. The victims were mostly Kikuyu. One woman who escaped told the BBC, “We have never seen anything like this before, burning churches. These were friends of ours before the election, now they are trying to kill us like dogs.” Also in January, over 100 people in the Rift Valley were killed in the space of four days—most of them shot with poisoned arrows, burned, or hacked with machetes. And on Sunday, January 27, the New York Times reported that 19 Luo, including 11 children, were burned to death in a house in Naivasha, another Rift Valley town. Naivasha, ironically, was a key location for the talks leading toSudan’s North-South peace agreement.

Political leaders from all over the world have been supporting efforts to bring back peace and stability in Kenya. Early in the conflict, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, met with Kibaki and Odinga. More recently, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke to the leaders. At a Nairobibriefing Rice urged the opponents to put the welfare of the country above their own personal agendas. “Kenya was on the road to modern democracy and it must return to that road,” she said. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Ghanaian President John Kufuor, the president of the African Union, have also offered their assistance.

Kofi Annan, former UN secretary-general, has been working with representatives of Kibaki’s government and Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement to help form a coalition government. As of February 21, both sides had tentatively agreed to make Odinga the prime minister. But in spite of Annan’s best efforts, the International Crisis Group reported on February 25, 2008 that “serious obstacles remain.” On both sides of the conflict, armed groups were still mobilizing and the leaders remain inflexible over the details of a power-sharing arrangement.

Many Kenyans have been deeply disappointed that the political rivals seem to be using the conflict to advance their own agenda, rather than cooperating to stop the violence. Kenya’s Christians—individuals, denominations, and church organizations alike—are asking God to intervene and restore peace to their land. One woman told Reuters news agency, “Our leaders have failed us. They have brought this catastrophe upon us. So now we are turning to the Almighty to saveKenya.” The World Council of Churches (WCC), the All Africa Council of Churches (AACC), the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), as well as individual denominations, are all involved in peacemaking efforts.

At the request of the NCCK, Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly Stated Clerk, led a WCC delegation to KenyaJanuary 30 – February 3. Kirkpatrick described their visit in the scriptural terms of 2 Corinthians 5: 19—“the ministry of reconciliation.” What brought Kirkpatrick hope, he said, was “that the churches, who themselves have at times been compromised, are now committed to being a force for peace and reconciliation.”

Such commitment is exemplified by the NCCK. They have sponsored face-to-face encounters for Christian leaders from various denominations and ethnic communities, as well as inter-religious forums with representatives of the Christian, Hindu, and Muslim communities. Forum chairman, the Most Rev. Benjamin Nzimbi, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, commented that although religious leaders have been “pulled so much by their tribal feelings, they have been working hard together before, during, and after the election asking people to choose peace and prevent chaos.”

In a January 24 statement reported in Ecumenical News International the All Africa Council of Churches (AACC), based inNairobi, asked Kenyans to remember that their crisis is not just national, but that “the whole African continent is looking on in sorrow at the formerly peaceful country.” The AACC’s General Secretary, Rev. Mvume Dandala, praised the ways in whichKenyahelped to bring peace and stability to many other African countries, including his own nation ofSouth Africa. He noted that it was Kenyan professor Washington Okumu who persuaded the top leaders of the Inkatha and African National Congress parties to come together before the first free South African elections.

Not just church officials believe God can save Kenya. Sue Sprenkle, an overseas correspondent for the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Missions Board, told how in a small Baptist church in a Nairobi slum, over 200 children between the ages of 3 and 17 began meeting daily of their own initiative as their country spun into turmoil. During Sprenkle’s visit, one young boy prayed “for the people hurting others who are not from the same tribe,” asking God to “help them all be brothers and sisters and one people.” Another boy, aged 11, prayed, “Father, our country is in trouble. We pray for peace to come. Protect us, Father. Teach people to love one another and not to fight anymore.”

The church’s pastor informed Sprenkle that there have been no violent actions, such as killings or house burnings, in their neighborhood since the children started praying together. The children show no surprise at this.  Boniface, 12, told Sprenkle that they can “change the country through prayer.”

In the material world, the situation in Kenya is looking more desperate every day. On February 26, 2008, peace talks between Kibaki and Odinga were suspended because of the parties’ failure to move forward. Now estimates declare that at least 1,500 people are dead. Odinga’s forces have vowed to have demonstrations across the country this Thursday, if a deal is not reached. Surely they know that this will result in more dead Kenyans.

In face of difficult political mediation and recalcitrant opposing leaders, it is all the more imperative that we join those of all ages in Kenya, and throughout the world, who are praying for peace and justice in Kenya. We can help to change the country through prayer.