"Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life for I am devoted to you. You are my God. Save your servant who trusts in you." Psalm 86:1-2
"Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" 1 Peter 1:13
"Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17
I am calling out the generation of warriors.
I am calling out the generation of the faithful.
I am calling out the generation of the revolution.
Brothers and sisters, a crisis is raging in Kenya right now. Many of you may know that President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya was elected for a second time this past December. This caused an uproar among followers of another presidential candidate, Raila Odinga.
Mr. Odinga accused President Kibaki of rigging the election before the votes were ever counted. Apparently, many voters came to cast votes and found ballot boxes already full, leading them to believe this.
President Kibaki denies any wrongdoing.
This stems from an age-old conflict among tribes. Two main tribes in Kenya (the Kikuyu, President Kibaki's tribe, and the Luo, Mr. Odinga's tribe) have struggled for years, as do most tribes in Africa. But many Kikuyu people have been killed in the violence following this election.
Riots broke out in cities and in the country. Hundreds of Kenyans are dead and tens of thousands are displaced from their homes. Many fled across the borders of neighboring countries.
In one riot, fifty Kikuyu people fled to a church for protection. They were burned alive.
You may see this as a horrible tragedy taking place halfway across the world. And it is. But it reaches closer to home than that.
Compassion International is a program that serves children around the world in some of its poorest countries. It matches each child with a sponsor, who donates money to pay for food, shelter, education and other necessary commodities. The sponsor and child correspond through letters.
One of our sponsored children is a fourteen-year-old Kenyan girl. I am constantly amazed by her bravery and faith. She is always writing me about how thankful she is for her schooling and for her family, who have all become believers. She is one of seven children and they are a very poor family.
A few months before the election, she wrote me a letter saying how excited she was to witness an election. She told us how she had learned about the political process in school. She was blessed to be in one of the most stable democracies in Africa.
And now her world has fallen apart around her. She wrote us a letter that we recieved today. Here are some excerpts:
"Dear Yuen Family,
Much greetings in the name of Jesus Christ... I hope that you are all fine because there is peace in your country... I celebrated my December holiday very well but there was no peace and we ran and went to our rural home to stay there, where there was peace. I thank God for me and my family being alive because without God we could not be alive now. I also pray to God to keep you safe with your family...Here in Kenya there were some people who were displaced in their houses because of their tribes and some were killed and some were injured because of politics and now I am praying for my country. Please pray for our country too..."
She ended her letter with the verse passage Psalm 86:1-2: Hear, O Lord, ans answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life for I am devoted to you. You are my God. Save your servant who trusts in you.
This isn't a distant issue. This is here and now. Persecution and destruction exist- and they exist for me.
Persecution and destruction exist- and they exist for my Kenyan friend.
But what can we do, half a world away?
We can pray. President Kibaki and Mr. Odinga are trying to work out an agreement to stop violence and possibly share power. Please pray that they would come to a settlement. Please pray that the people of Kenya would be able to establish peace and stability for its citizens. Please pray that people would come to know God through this.
Citizens are fleeing to churches during riots. While they are being taken care of by servants of God, these people will be told the gospel. Pray that in this turmoiled time people's hearts and eyes would be opened to God.
Pray also that people in our own country would see this and be inspired to reach out to the Kenyans.
Persecution and destruction exist. Do they exist for you?
"Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" 1 Peter 1:13
"Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17
I am calling out the generation of warriors.
I am calling out the generation of the faithful.
I am calling out the generation of the revolution.
Brothers and sisters, a crisis is raging in Kenya right now. Many of you may know that President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya was elected for a second time this past December. This caused an uproar among followers of another presidential candidate, Raila Odinga.
Mr. Odinga accused President Kibaki of rigging the election before the votes were ever counted. Apparently, many voters came to cast votes and found ballot boxes already full, leading them to believe this.
President Kibaki denies any wrongdoing.
This stems from an age-old conflict among tribes. Two main tribes in Kenya (the Kikuyu, President Kibaki's tribe, and the Luo, Mr. Odinga's tribe) have struggled for years, as do most tribes in Africa. But many Kikuyu people have been killed in the violence following this election.
Riots broke out in cities and in the country. Hundreds of Kenyans are dead and tens of thousands are displaced from their homes. Many fled across the borders of neighboring countries.
In one riot, fifty Kikuyu people fled to a church for protection. They were burned alive.
You may see this as a horrible tragedy taking place halfway across the world. And it is. But it reaches closer to home than that.
Compassion International is a program that serves children around the world in some of its poorest countries. It matches each child with a sponsor, who donates money to pay for food, shelter, education and other necessary commodities. The sponsor and child correspond through letters.
One of our sponsored children is a fourteen-year-old Kenyan girl. I am constantly amazed by her bravery and faith. She is always writing me about how thankful she is for her schooling and for her family, who have all become believers. She is one of seven children and they are a very poor family.
A few months before the election, she wrote me a letter saying how excited she was to witness an election. She told us how she had learned about the political process in school. She was blessed to be in one of the most stable democracies in Africa.
And now her world has fallen apart around her. She wrote us a letter that we recieved today. Here are some excerpts:
"Dear Yuen Family,
Much greetings in the name of Jesus Christ... I hope that you are all fine because there is peace in your country... I celebrated my December holiday very well but there was no peace and we ran and went to our rural home to stay there, where there was peace. I thank God for me and my family being alive because without God we could not be alive now. I also pray to God to keep you safe with your family...Here in Kenya there were some people who were displaced in their houses because of their tribes and some were killed and some were injured because of politics and now I am praying for my country. Please pray for our country too..."
She ended her letter with the verse passage Psalm 86:1-2: Hear, O Lord, ans answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life for I am devoted to you. You are my God. Save your servant who trusts in you.
This isn't a distant issue. This is here and now. Persecution and destruction exist- and they exist for me.
Persecution and destruction exist- and they exist for my Kenyan friend.
But what can we do, half a world away?
We can pray. President Kibaki and Mr. Odinga are trying to work out an agreement to stop violence and possibly share power. Please pray that they would come to a settlement. Please pray that the people of Kenya would be able to establish peace and stability for its citizens. Please pray that people would come to know God through this.
Citizens are fleeing to churches during riots. While they are being taken care of by servants of God, these people will be told the gospel. Pray that in this turmoiled time people's hearts and eyes would be opened to God.
Pray also that people in our own country would see this and be inspired to reach out to the Kenyans.
Persecution and destruction exist. Do they exist for you?
2 comments:
If you want additional information about the crisis in Kenya or sponsoring a child, please visit compassion.com.
Blessings,
Catey
We forget our blessings being American born, Freedom born children of the World. We ought never grow so comfortable we can not cry out to God with our brothers and sisters all over the globe. We are here in this country, safe and at liberty and at peace so we can pray. thanks for the reminder...
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