Violence in Kenya

Pray for Kenya

When I was in Kenya this summer, I watched a lot of Kenyan news, having the privilege of staying with a woman in Nairobi who could afford a tv. A heated topic was the upcoming presidential elections. Honestly, I saw that the competition was cutthroat but I did not realize any huge party implications. I heard people were very spilt on politics, especially since democracy was so new to them. But my naive little mind could not wrap around the possible reprecussions of this election.

The Electoral Comission of Kenya announced earlier today (Sunday) that President Kibaki had beat Raila Odinga by more than 230,000 votes, and he was immediately sworn into office. But Mr. Odinga disputed this result, accusing " a clique of people around Kibaki trying to rob Kenyans of the election," to his supporters at a news conference after the results were announced.

After the government suspended all live television and radio reports, Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement invited its supporters to an alternative inauguration ceremony in the capital, Nairobi, on Monday to declare him the "people's president".

All of this had dangerous ramifications.

After the official results were announced, thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets across the country in protest and at least 13 people were killed.

According to BBC, in Nairobi's Kibera slum, people began attacking and looting shops. Houses were burnt to the ground and vehicles set in flames. Police fired live rounds and tear-gas to disperse Mr Odinga's supporters, while a blackout also plunged the area into darkness.

This is where -I worked this summer - Kibera. Looking through the pictures on BBC news, it looks all too familiar. I thought about the people I met in their homes, the sisters I worked with at the Missionaries of Charity and the school kids as well as the street kids who'd always cry out "how are you!"

This has all just happened within the past day. It looks like it'll just get worse. Evangeline, who went to on the Kenya Global Project me, forwarded this e-mail tonight from a missionary in Northern Kenya:

Dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings in the Lord.

As you may have heard from the news that Kenya has just had an election this past Thursday. The presidential race was so close that it took a few days for the electoral commission until this evening to make announcement. They have declared the current president Kibaki as the winner. But the opposition party has rejected the result, accusing the government of rigging the votes. People are very confuse now. A peaceful election has turned into violence everywhere in the country. People in many towns along the highway have set up road blocks and create havoc and chaos (burning tires, throwing rocks, and rioting).

I was traveling down country from Lokichoggio yesterday to send some missionary friends home and plan to get some supplies in Nairobi. But on our way, we have heard violence in many parts of the country. We had to stay in a town last night to avoid the trouble. Today, as we heard the road were clear ed so I continued to send a missionary home and another one to the local airport, we were caught in some of the road blocks along the way. We thank God that we got through safely, but it was very scary and tense with the mob surrounding our vehicles shouting and threatening us. The situation where I am now is very tense. I have to stay in a Bible school tonight with soem other missionaries (and perhaps for the next few days) to avoid the troubles in the area and not be able to travel until it is safe to do so.

Please pray

1. for peace of the country. The violence can spread and turn the whole country into chaos and unrest.
2. for safety for Chris as she is at the school in Songot, with another missionary family, the Haspels. Pray that the Turkana will not get involve with the violence and troubles like the rest of the country.
3. Safety of all missionaries and mission stations in Kenya.
4. for the situation in the area where I am now will clam down so that I can travel back to Lokichoggio soon.

Thanks for your prayer in this trouble time in Kenya.

Blessings,
Tim

I echo this request: please pray. We're powerless to do anything by ourselves but God comes into power as we call on his name on other people's behalf. The power of prayer can change things around. I would like to lift up a specific prayer request that the Lord will strengthen the sisters at the Missionaries of Charity school even more with his mercy and love- making them an extension of his light to the people in Kibera during this turbulent time. Pray for the orphans, the widows, the jobless, the hungry, the sick, the homeless, the AIDs victims- that God will protect them through of all of this and bring his light into their lives. Pray for the people- everyone. Pray for the protestors, pray for the victims of this violence and their families. Pray for the government not to fall apart- that this will not lead into something worse than it already is.

Keep informed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7165383.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7165406.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7164350.stm

Thanks Evangeline, for the urgent message.


"Prayer is no surrender to the world, but an act of absolute sedition. And while God does not always answer our prayers, he invariably changes our perspective on the world. He shows us a little bit of his upside-down power when we pray.In prayer our vision becomes clear, so that at the moment of greatest injustice our sanity remains solid, while the oppressor, mentally shackled to fleeting power, loses his mind and confuses the here-and-now with the limitless. When we pray, God changes the world, and he usually starts with our hearts and minds. When we pray, even amid stultifying injustice, God demonstrates greater power yet by giving us our right minds."- Paul Grant

that end of a year post

2007 has certainly been a year of change- and more purpose and more direction (amidst this more confusion) focused in one period than ever before.

I will forever remember it as the year I went to Kenya. Everything was directed at going. Spring semester of junior year brought on fundraising and STIM weekends, and a lot of anguished crying out to God. I probably was on crack that semester for everything I was trying to do between those things, taking several major classes, small group leading,working and co-coordinating CNU's Broken Bread meal. And through all of this, I was supposed to be preparing myself for what was ahead of me that summer. I had a nervous tick inside of me, urged by the fear of failing everyone. Anxious, I was always on my toes, and when I had nothing to worry about, I figured out something else to take up my concerns.


Like questions about theology- it became an obsession which I always wanted more time to dwell on. I felt the pulls of reformed theology and started to question them and I felt the pulls of emergent theology and questioned them even more. I guess what it all came down to, and became absolutely clear in Kenya, is that I should not ever cling to a theology (though they're good for helping us understand) but to cling to Jesus.

I gave up my vegetarianism because I knew I had to eat meat in Kenya, and so I started calling myself a "hospitalitarian" (meant I ate meat only out of hospitality).

And I went to Kenya. God provided every cent, plus more, showing me that it was not up to me raise the money. While being there, I felt sin, I felt shame, I felt utter dispair at my wicked motivations but I felt the Lord's presence, beauty, and unrelenting grace speak to me and refine me into the transformed creation I am ever being shaped into by God's radiance.

I let go of a lot of my anger towards people and a lot of my cynical pride. A deep longing to be with my family formed inside me.

I was there for 7 weeks. And then back. I heard re-entry was hard but I didn't have a clue how right everyone was about that. I had this idealist thought that every thing I learned in Kenya would come into immediate application when I crossed the ocean. Boy, was I wrong. And I slipped into depression. Feeling that everything I did here did not matter- I had no purpose in what I was doing and everyone around me was also completely frivolous and seemingly happy. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't feign happiness any more. I couldn't put on a show for people like I used. I was more real and I was stipped down of my pretenses. It honestly became harder to socialize.

Then the perils of being a senior reigned down on me. I felt isolated from the younger kids who seemed to have fun all the time, and isolated from my best friends because we were always so busy. Also, the question kept coming- what am I gonna do with my life after grad? Something I had not seriously put much thought to.

Through the pit bottoms and the weirdness of my fall semester, some really great things happened, and they wouldn't have happened without the lows. Though I was socially awkward in groups of people, I cherished my one on one time with others, forming more intentional relationships with people. For the first time, I got discipled on a regular basis, and it's had a transforming on me. I myself discipled a girl who I love very much. And between the two discipling relationships and seeing a counselor, a lot of the post-kenya depression was lifted off (bwana asifiwe!). I also came to realize a vision for my life after college. Since my fakeness worn off, my relationships I have retained have been more raw, and more real. Though I feel utterly alone sometimes, I've had the best relationships this year I've had in 21 years- and these relationships all pointed back to Christ.

And then there were crushes, and oh man did I crush on people. Two crushes in particular stuck out and provided me with some distraction. Although, one pivotal attraction to a guy this semester led me to consider how ripe I am to be in a relationship and the kind of quality guy I am interested in- lively, energetic and thoughtful. Before, I would be too autonomous, too selfish in my heart to allow someone in, but now my heart is becoming big enough for two. And I have started to consider what a relationship with brings glory to God would look like- that a couple grows closer to God as they grow closer to each other. And no, I have not found such a relationship with any of my crushes from this year and nor do I pursue them now. But the promise of a loving partner is all I really need in that regard. The desire is there, and so I need to prayerfully pursue God in it.

I guess two key words for this year are light and maturity. God has poured his light on the ugly spots of me which are in high demand on his help, leading me to depend on him more than ever before. The size of my cross at the end of this semester became bigger in my eyes than ever. Light has reigned over my depression, to lift me up when I am dragged down to the ground. Also, God has made me more mature in every area of my life. I truly do not see myself as the naive, fun-loving, bubbly, performing Janelle who I came to college as.

At the end of this year, though, I need God's help more than ever. I'm having identity issues (vain matters like new style of clothing mirror deeper heart problems), overwhelming feelings of lonliness (even if I go out every night of the week, I'm having trouble believing I have any real friends), apathy, and the growing desire to get out of Virginia. I spend my days in vanity, not doing much, forgetting that God has me in Manassas right now with purpose and with a reason. I need to spend more time with God and less time watching arrested development or playing oregon trail on facebook. I need to appreciate my family more, because sometimes I really lose patience with them. I need to take joy and be grateful for everything I have- all of my relationships. I want to bask in God's presence and feel him in every bone of my being.

I need to pray in this new year right.

the presence of God

Part 1: What is a Hierophany?

In my primal religions class this past semester, we discuss what the term “hierophany” means. It is the manifestation of the holy. In oral culture, it’s told in Lame Deer's vision quest when animals talk to him, giving him his calling a shaman; it’s Moses communing with God on Mount Sinai, and coming down with a face far too radiant for the Israelites to behold. Exodus 34:29-34

“ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.”

It’s also the transfiguration when Jesus appears in this same radiance with Elijah and Moses before his three freaked-out disciples (Matthew 17:1-13). When we are saturated with this being, we are no longer present in human reality but in sacred reality, which is true reality. It is interesting that each of these hierophanies mentioned, there is an interaction between persons which triggers it. They are each in communion, being with one another; being relational. Worship is engaged as it is a state of being in communion. People don’t only worship in a church, they can worship with their entire lives, in communion with God. Also, these hierophanies involved sacred places. Lame Deer went off into the wilderness, into a “vision pit.” Jesus took his disciples to a high mountain by themselves- this is reminiscent of Moses proceeding up to Mount Sinai to be with God.

In these nature-bound sacred places, God is sought to be in communion. Another thing about hierophany is that once it’s done- it’s hard to be integrated back into society. This is particularly seen with Moses- who had to wear a veil whenever he came down from Mount Sinai. The Israelites could not accept the radiance of this supernatural occurrence. When people experience a hierophany it’s hard to explain or try to replay for other people- who may as well think you’re crazy. That’s why we normally can not put words to those kind of ecstatic experiences; they happen but it’s only for your eyes to comprehend anything about it.

Part 2: Experiencing Hierophany in striving for God's presence

A.W. Tozer addresses this same concept in The Pursuit of God. He begins chapter 3, “Removing the Veil”, with an epithet by St. Augustine: ‘Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.’

Until reading this quote followed by Tozer’s interpretation, I never thought restlessness was beneficial. The idea behind this thought is that as human flesh, we are restless for a reason- we are fallen creatures in need of God’s rest. Our restlessness enables us to seek the divine. Tozer follows this stream of thought with a question and answer from the Westminster Shorter Catechism: ‘Question: What is the chief End of Man? Answer: Man’s chief End is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.’

Tozer articulates that God formed us for his pleasure to “see him and live with him and draw life from His smile,’ but due to the Fall (as seen in Genesis 3), we have broken with God and because we ceased to obey him or love him we have a fear and guilt which causes us to flee as far as possible from his presence. God’s work in redemption is to undo the tragic effects of the Fall and bring us back into relationship with himself to glorify him and enjoy life.

This turning opens a conscious communion with God to live again in his Presence. “At the heart of the Christian message,” Tozer says, “is God himself waiting for his redeemed children to push in to conscious awareness of his Presence.” Yet contempory American Christianity only knows this presence in theory and “fails to stress the Christian’s privilege of present realization.”

This is the heart of Tozer’s argument I want to get to- how do we as a literate society experience God’s presence? I have been raised in a Christian home and accepted Christ as a 15 year old and grew to develop a better understanding of my beliefs in college. Yet the presence of God was always something I felt lacking in my life. Tozer says according to biblical teachings, Christians are always in his presence positionally, but still feel the need to experience it in actuality. There are distinct times in my life which I don’t remember clearly, but I remember sitting in rest with my God. They happen sometimes, but God wills that I push into his presence and live my whole life there. I still do not know what this looks like, but this year, I’ve been pushing harder than ever and I see the fruits of it. I know that if I lived in a nature dwelling oral culture, this would be easier. I have a tendency to look things from a completely intellectual, analyzing point of view instead of an ecstatic spiritual point of view- this is the product of being a college student in a literate culture. I tend to even rationally doubt that I could ever experience anything spiritually and at times, I haven’t even tried. I grow content in my positional faith rather than allowing myself to be led into a place of burning zeal. Tozer says “We are satisfied to rest in our JUDICIAL possessions and for the most part we bother ourselves very little about the absence of personal experience.” This reminds of C.S. Lewis’ declaration that we are half-hearted creatures who are far too easily pleased.

People tend to reduce Christianity to one simple thing- is someone “saved” or not saved (puzzlement still remains to non-christians on what being saved is. I hate when people use this term without explanation). Being saved is not just about going to heaven. If it were, how would life itself ever be enjoyable? It’s also about enjoying eternity in the present moment, here on earth, by coming to relationship with God through his salvation he offers as a gift (if confused by what I mean, please ask and read Ephesians 2). Like Tozer, I also find it tragic that not only manifesting God’s presence is absent from the church, but being still and seeking some kind of presence is relatively a thing outside our culture. We are encouraged to live fast-paced, task-oriented lives with little thought to ever finding the rest we need to sit in God's presence, experiencing hierophanies.

The point is, we are not the Israelites who cannot see God's radiance. The veil has been removed, and we can experience much more of God than we allow ourselves to. I struggle with this a lot. My logical sense does not allow me to engage in God, to come confidently to his throne- to be transformed by the radiance of the Lord's glory. But I want it. I want to move forward in that. A couple of weeks ago, I didn't want anything else more, but since getting home for winter break, it's become really hard to quiet myself. With too much free time, I end up wasting it rather stewarding it, to help me break down my walls and truly be transformed by His radiance.

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3: 12-18