Pray for Peace

This next Monday, November 21st, Kenyans will vote on whether or not to accept a new draft constitution. As far as I know, no country has ever ratified a new constitution during a time of peace. Every new constitution that I know of has come after a period of civil war or serious political upheaval.

There has been a lot of violence in the last couple of months leading up to this day, but still the government pushes on and refuses to grant a stay. Just a few weeks ago, a small boy, just out of class and still in his school uniform, was shot to death by police who were firing unchecked into an unruly crowd. This is just one sad example of the violence and rioting that has divided the country and caused hundreds, if not thousands, of injuries and deaths.

The US Embassy here in the capitol city of Nairobi is under “lockdown” for the next week - they are not allowing any American Embassy personnel to travel and are strongly recommending that all American citizens in Kenya remain at home and away from dangerous areas of the city where rioting may erupt.

There is danger, you can be sure of that. We live in a country where the government is exceedingly corrupt (just ranked among the top 20 most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International) and is willing to go to the extreme to advance the agenda of the wealthy few and those in power.

Please pray for us and our safety during the next week. We recognize the danger and will be cautious, but we cannot bury our head in the sand and put our lives on hold. And too, we ask that you pray earnestly for the people of Kenya. From what little we can tell, the people do not support the draft constitution. The government does. That alone could be an explosive combination. So please pray for the people of Kenya. If things get out of hand, we can leave and return to a country that knows peace and prosperity; they cannot.