Thanksgiving in Kenya

Hello to all our friends and family. Today is Thanksgiving and we hope and pray you’re all having a blessed day with good food and great company. We’re not having any turkey today, but we may get some Friday night when the Nairobi team gets together. In fact, we’re all being lazy today. Jaime is pretty sick with some kind of bug and he doesn’t feel much like doing anything. Phooey. We’ll just have to spend Thanksgiving lying around watching TV!

We want to begin by saying thank you for your prayers concerning Kenya’s recent vote on the proposed new constitution. We were apprehensive and not quite sure what might happen. Your prayers for peace were granted undoubtedly. Overall the vote was very peaceful with only a few problems and outbursts in various areas.

The outcome of the vote was overwhelmingly against the new constitution. We were happy to see that Kenyans voted in an organized and peaceful manner and we felt as if the tension had passed. However, your prayers are still very much needed. The president of Kenya, although accepting defeat (he strongly supported the new constitution), made a move yesterday that has confused many and left us all wondering what he is up to.

On Wednesday, President Kibaki fired his ENTIRE cabinet. In essence, he has sent the whole government home. That leaves him and only him as the sole leader of the country and supreme commander of the military. He has promised to replace his government within the next 2 weeks with a more unified cabinet, but only time will tell. For now, he IS the government. Needless to say, this bold move has left us all a little concerned and just a bit perplexed as to his true motives. If you will recall, this is EXACTLY what occurred in Zimbabwe a few years ago. There was a national referendum on a proposed new constitution that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe strongly supported. The results of the vote in Zimbabwe were the same as here in Kenya, with the people rejecting the proposed new constitution. After his defeat, President Mugabe was angered and began to retaliate against those who opposed him and plunged Zimbabwe into the chaos that still reigns today.

We don’t tell you this to alarm you, but to ask again for your continued prayers for the people of Kenya. Kibaki’s bold move could either help the country – if he truly has the best interests of the people in mind – or it could cause lots of pain and suffering throughout Kenya.