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Ministering To Victims Of Conflict In Keyna
By Nigel Ring
Brighton, UK
‘Tribal conflict in Rift Valley.’ ‘Children die in arson attack.’ ‘Election results in doubt.’ Such headlines filled the worldwide media as we entered 2008. Sudden unrest had broken out in Kenya, a nation that to that point had been generally seen as one of the more successful and progressive African nations. And yet, as we watched the anarchy spreading on our television screens, with burning buildings and wailing women grieving over the loss of their children or husbands, we sensed that this was more than a spontaneous response to what many felt was yet another rigged African election.
Tribal loyalties run deep in Africa, particularly when land ownership is involved. For decades there has been an underlying unrest as tribal groups, particularly the Kikuyus, the Luos and the Kalenjins, have accused one another of taking ancestral land, often dating back to the redistribution of land at the end of colonialism in the early 60s. However, this report is not to make comment on political issues but to review the response to what rapidly became a major humanitarian crisis in the early days of 2008.
Mission Rebuild Kenya
Edward Buria, who oversees the Newfrontiers churches in Kenya, quickly convened a meeting of pastors from across the different church streams to formulate a plan for crisis intervention and to launch Mission Rebuild Kenya (MRK). Murderous bands of machete-wielding youths were on the rampage and neighbour was turning against neighbour. Tens of thousands of people were fleeing their homes, often leaving them as burning beacons of despair, with nothing but the clothes they wore. Businesses were destroyed and crops were decimated. These traumatised people, who only days before had been experiencing the joy of gathering as families to celebrate Christmas, found themselves unwanted and unloved, dispossessed, looking for food and shelter – Internally Displaced People (IDPs).
Massive population movements were taking place, particularly from the western part of Kenya, the fertile Rift Valley. Some returned on foot to their ancestral home villages, others were transported by truck to rapidly-created tented camps for IDPs. How would they cope? Where would the food and other essential components for survival come from? The Red Cross were quickly mobilised, as were other relief agencies, but for many the church was the natural place to go for refuge. The need was immense - over 350,000 people on the move, often aimless and without hope.
As its contribution, MRK quickly established eight geographical bases, resourced from Edward’s home church in Meru. Grain, blankets, mosquito nets, clothes and other essentials such as soap and cooking oil were purchased and stored locally. Building on experience gained from the relief efforts during the recent droughts of 2005/7, protocols were set in place to distribute these goods to the most needy. Also, where possible, post-trauma counselling was made available for both adults and children, although with such numbers it was, once again, only the most needy who benefitted.
Rehabilitation programmes
When I visited in June 2008 the emergency phase had ended and a programme of resettlement and rehabilitation through job creation was in progress. Perhaps 80% of IDPs had already returned home, but there was a ‘hard core’ who were determined not to leave the relative security of a camp or of their ‘adoptive’ home. ‘Why should I return?’ one businessman and father of four asked me as we stood in his tiny tent containing all the possessions he could now call his own. ‘I have nothing to return to and our neighbours would attack us.’ That was not an irrational fear. Some who had tried to return were already coming back, one with his hand chopped off, others with reports of poster campaigns of hatred around their former homes.
As soon as the crisis erupted Edward pleaded for the Newfrontiers churches worldwide to stand with him in prayer and to launch another crisis fund. Having so recently closed a fund of over £600,000 to support the relief effort during the earlier drought the Newfrontiers leadership thought and prayed for wisdom. Would people respond again so quickly? Knowing the generosity of many in our midst we felt it right to provide the opportunity and the response quickly justified that decision. To date over £200,000 has been channelled to Kenya from Australia, Russia, India, Sweden, South Africa, USA, Germany and the UK. The Fund remains open and donations continue to come in to help with what is likely to be an on-going need, at least till the end of 2008, probably longer. Inflation has steadily risen to over 30% and there is a severe food shortage about to impact the nation – the combination of failed rains and crop destruction makes widespread shortage inevitable, not only for IDPs but the whole population. The Bible says that when one member of the body rejoices we rejoice together, and when one weeps we weep together. Truly this has been an opportunity for such ‘weeping together’.
Resilience and compassion
The Newfrontiers teams on the ground have shown amazing resilience and compassion to thousands of people. Hundreds of IDPs have been saved and baptised as they have experienced this compassion and are now attending discipleship courses – what better way to use the time that often hangs heavy as people await the unknown! Where possible people are being taken back home and help is given with transport. Small start-up grants (£40-125) are being made to some who can demonstrate that with such a grant they can start to re-establish their earning capacity. I spoke to men and women who had already successfully turned these grants into income generation through buying and selling goods such as clothes, charcoal or fruit. One, a deaf lady, had been given a sewing machine and was making clothes for her local community. Another, an older woman in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, the second largest slum in Africa, had started spinning wool to sell to carpet makers. Yet another, a pastor’s wife, who with her own children and those of her murdered brother-in-law, was seeking to feed twelve mouths, had started to manufacture air bricks. ‘But it is hard to use what little money I have to buy sand when I have hungry children around me,’ she told me. I found the radiance of her smile and the grace shining from her face a provocation as she spoke. Would I be able to smile and stand firm in my faith under such circumstances?
Some churches were overwhelmed with the enormity of the problem. One rural church of 80 people had cared for 1,100. Another, planted in November in the poorest area of Naivasha, had looked after hundreds, often taking them into their own homes and arranging for hospitality in the community.
IDPs are not all the same and the MRK initiative has sought to help meet the needs that are peculiar to particular circumstances. For instance, in Naivasha one need was for additional latrines and exercise books for one primary school which had absorbed 800 additional children bringing the average class size to 115! And many of these children do not even know if their parents are alive.
Clearly, even such dedicated teams cannot solve the problems of a whole nation. However, in the midst of tragedy and trauma there are now thousands of Kenyans who have been exposed to the living reality of a loving God through the love and care of these teams. In very tangible ways thousands now know what the prophet Isaiah meant when he declared that the kingdom manifesto included ‘setting the captive free’. Please continue to pray for and support our brothers and sisters as they continue to share the love of Jesus in these very practical ways in the months ahead. Also pray for Edward as he has remarkable opportunities to speak into various influential contexts which can affect the future of the nation. |
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