Day of Prayer for Kenya

I just found out in an email that there is a major effort going on today for prayer for Kenya. So please pray right now peace and for the people of Kenya to be safe, calm, to know the true Jesus Christ, and to have their physical,emotional, and spiritual needs met in this difficult time. The words from the email are below.

Take 59 – 01/25/08: Day of Prayer of Kenya (public)

“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and
pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from
heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land” (2 Chronicles
7:14, NLT).

A call to prayer has gone out through email making its way through
worldwide prayer networks---a call to a day of pray for the country of
Kenya on January 25, 2008. Their desire is to see every Kenyan and every
friend of Kenyans on every continent praying together on behalf of the
people in their country. Would you take some time today and join our
brothers and sisters everywhere in prayer for Kenya? Would you also
encourage others to pray?
Pray for peace in Kenya.
Ask the Lord to strengthen the body of Christ in Kenya and through the
power of the Holy Spirit, extend the love Christ to their fellow
countrymen.

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me
sow love; when there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where
there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is
sadness, joy.” St Francis 1915

Intense Email from Kenya

PLEASE READ THIS EMAIL BELOW. IT IS VERY TRAGIC. PRAY FOR KENYA. THESE ARE THE TOWNS I WAS IN JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO. IT'S UNBELIEVABLE. PLEASE SUPPORT CHRIST'S HOPE IF YOU CAN.

Dear friends,

Firstly let me say at the onset that my family and I are safe so far. Its a trying time in the country and I have managed to get to e-mail this am. Kisumu town is littered with dead bodies mostly young people under 30 yrs of age. We have no traffic in or out of town and people have looted all the food stores.
Hospitals like ours have run out of food and medicines and Red Cross are trying their best to share whatever little they have with others.
Things are calmer this morning but the curfew is still on within most towns in the country. I counted 18 fresh bodies this morning on my way here to a mates house to send this e-mail. People are killing their neighbours if they are from a different tribe.
The government sadly has let its people down but we pray that the next few days will bring change. Many towns near me Kisumu, kakamega, eldoret, busia, kericho, aree mostly on fire. the infrastructure is which has taken decades to build is in smoke.
The people of Kenya have spoken through the ballot and we hope the international community will do something to make the head of state concede defeat and prevent Kenyans from killing one another.

Friends, its a bad start to 2008 in Kenya but one must never give up, the power of the people will eventually prevail. I am keeping my head low but staying safe. I am harbouring 5 families in my house who are the wrong tribe in town but are Kenyans who deserve better.
Will keep you updated and many thanks for those who called and/or texted me.

ps: Our local TV and radio have been banned from transmitting live broadcast and we are only relying on the the BBC world service.

WIshing all of you a happy 2008.

Hezron.

Kenya Makes Me Sad

I have been grieved by hearing of the atrocities taking place in Kenya. We were told in August that we shouldn't come back in December or January because it would be crazy during the election season, but I would never have thought that this kind of violence could take place in that beautiful country. I have never experienced the love and welcoming spirit from people that I felt in Kenya - from random people in villages and slums to pastors to children to aid workers to missionaries from several countries. So to hear that people would burn a church down with people still inside makes me want to vomit with frustration, sadness, and anger.
You can read about the violence stemming from the elections here

This was an email I received from Christ's Hope - the organization we worked with in Kenya.
Dear Kenya Teams,
Many of you have heard the news of Kenya and the turmoil there. We have gotten updates from Edward in Nairobi and some sources in Kisumu. The Dutch volunteers were sent away due to Martin's forsight. The bottom line is that there is great violence going on in the streets and people remain in their homes unable to access food. Fifty people were burned alive inside a church Jan. 2nd.

Our national director Martin Chamah and his wife Edith are safe so far with the sixteen children that they care for. One source today tells us that they have run out of food. An organized protest is scheduled for Jan. third and things could deteriorate from there.

PLEASE PRAY for Martin and Edith and the children, for the Care and Compassion patients who are not being cared for, for Edward and the ministry in Nairobi. Let us pray for the Lord's mighty protection and miraculous provision for them.

Lord, show Your people Your mighty arm that protects and provides against the odds. May our brothers and sisters there know Your incredible peace that surpasses all comprehension. Surround them with the mighty ones who do your bidding. May the enemy see your sentries and turn away. Speak to the hearts of the C and C patients, may they know the sweetness of Your felt presence. We pray that an outpouring of your Holy Spirit's restraining power will calm the people of Kenya. Thank you Lord that you reign and you are in control, and You will use this situation for Your glory and Your purposes. Burden us with the need to pray for our family in Kenya.

In Jesus' Powerful name,
Becky Kase
Prayer Coordinator
Christ's Hope USA

Kenya Thoughts 1

I know that I need to attempt putting some thoughts on the blog regarding my trip to Kenya. It's really difficult to synthesize everything that this trip meant for me. It was an amazing experience and so awesome to serve the beautiful people of Kenya. They were a people that embrace life and love in a way that is so different than America it is mind-blowing.

There is a concept of welcoming someone to your home or school or nation that they have mastered. Karibu is swahili for "welcome." There were countless times when someone said to us that we were "highly welcome" in their place. We knew that we could come back to visit them and be embraced as brothers and sisters. They would feed us even if they had nothing. I felt like I could go and live with them if I wanted to and it wouldn't be a question. How horrible am I (are we) at this concept in the West? I hate our concept of privacy but I am completely ruled by it as well. I am addicted to privacy. This has really been hitting me lately in lots of ways. We care more about privacy than we do about righteous living or unity.

This is a side issue almost compared to other things I experienced on the trip, but it came to my mind first when reflecting on the trip.

Books I Read in Kenya

I read three books while traveling to and from Kenya. By the way it was about 40 hours of flight time. I mostly watched movies on the plane. Virgin Atlantic was amazing. We had our own screen with our choice of about 60 movies to watch at any time. My highlights were Blood Diamond and Hot Fuzz - both amazing for different reasons.

Books:
1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It becomes a bit over-the-top at times, but the plot is riveting and the writing style is enjoyable while being literary. I think this has the potential to be a modern classic.

2. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. I have never read this classic and I have just recently started exploring Hemingway. I actually really enjoyed this book even though most people I talk to hated it. I love the commitment and love the boy has for the old man. I love the old man's determination and love for the boy. I only wish Hemingway didn't always have to break my heart.

3. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. I avoided this book because of it's commercialization by Starbucks. I just get annoyed by people who think they can read a book from Starbucks or buy a (RED) product or go to an Invisible Children event and think that they are "doing something" for Africa. My mom gave me this book before I left and I LOVED IT. I highly highly recommend it. It's an incredible and true story of this boy who has his entire life turned upside down in so many ways. Go read it.

By the way, I officially HATE Sparks Notes and all those things. So many high school kids have never read a book because they just read the Sparks Notes. It's also weird that no one has heard of Cliffs Notes anymore. What happened to them? They should all be banned by the government. That's a legislation I would vote for.

I'm Back and Life Stuff

I got back from Kenya on Sunday afternoon. It's awesome to be back and weird to be back. Life was so different for so long that it's odd to enter into this world again. The freeway on the drive home from LAX was almost scary to me after being in Kenya where you don't really drive over 50mph very often. I felt like the cars were flying past us and it was weird. The jet lag has really been hitting me too.

It has been so awesome to see Bea and my two daughters. I forgot how much steady and constant attention that they need though. It's weird that it is an adjustment, but it is. It's one I love, but it still takes effort.

Yesterday was my 33rd birthday and it came on a strange day. It was my first day back home and it was Bea's first day of school (teacher) which is a huge day for her. So I was home with the kids in the morning trying to remember how to do everything for Ella and play with Grace enough for her to be satisfied with my attention. I was fighting falling asleep. So weird. We went out to BJ's Pizza for dinner which was yummy, but my stomach wasn't feeling so hot. Then I actually went to sleep before 8pm. Not the usual birthday, but oh well.

So I am 33 now which is the age our Sr Pastor says we will be for eternity. I forget exactly, but it's based on a verse that says we will be like Christ in our future bodies or something like that. I know that's kind of weird sounding, but you better get a good look at me now because then you can recognize me in heaven.

KEEP CHECKING KENYA BLOG

Please go to my Kenya Blog for lots of cool posts and pictures about the trip. We only have a few days left.

Check the Kenya Blog

There is good stuff on there now. We are in Kisumu and doing well.

http://calvarytokenya.wordpress.com

In London

We are on our way!! Everything has been nice so far. I like Virgin Airways. Tons of movies, tv shows, and games. Here is me in London.

Off to Kenya

I leave tomorrow for Kenya so I will be blogging much more sporadically and differently. I will mostly be posting on our Calvary to Kenya Blog which you can find at http://calvarytokenya.wordpress.com

If there are problems with accessing that blog I might be posting at http://calvarytokenya.blogspot.com

Please pray for team! Pray for:
Unity
God's Spirit to work in mighty ways
Life change for Kenyans and Americans
Luggage to make it
Safety
Health
Wisdom for myself in leadership

VBS Bears in Kenya

I leave for Kenya in two days. The first team is there now and took about 50 of these bears to give to kids in Kenya. Our team will be taking the remaining 900 bears with us when we go. The bears were made by the kids that came to VBS at Calvary Church this week. Here is a picture of Team One in Kenya after passing the bears out to kids in a village outside of Kisumu. This picture gets me pumped up to go to Africa.

Calvary To Kenya Blog

We have a blog for my trip to Kenya. There is actually a team already in Kenya that is part of our Calvary Church High School Ministry. I planned the trip that this team is on as well so I am very excited for them to be there. My team leaves this Sunday, August 12th and returns on August 26th. The blog is for both groups so there are a couple posts already.

Check it out at http://calvarytokenya.wordpress.com