Mobilizing Kenya
by Cyd Miller
On the second evening of Urbana 06, Kenyan Pastor Oscar Muriu addressed the convention with his perspective on The Global Church. Muriu explained the implications of a global shift as, by the end of the last century, the center of Christianity had moved to the Southern hemisphere. And he called for those from the traditional mission-sending countries in the West to listen and learn from their fellow Christians in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Muriu used Paul’s analogy of Christ’s body (I Corinthians 12) to show a picture of the Church worldwide, where all parts need each other and work together in interdependence and reciprocity. “Paul calls us to something deep and rich and yet difficult – the paradigm of mission partnerships as the body of Christ, with each organ playing its unique role.”
As we continue to watch and pray for Kenya, what can we learn from the people of God in the churches of Kenya as they face the on-going crisis?
Simon Masibo, the newly appointed General Secretary of the Fellowship of Christian Unions (FOCUS), the IFES movement in Kenya, writes, “Great efforts are being made for full integration across the ethnic divide in all the campuses. It will take time but looks like it will work out among the students.” Across Kenya, most campuses are back in session, although some students are waiting to see if it will be safe before returning. FOCUS staff workers are investing time debriefing and counseling students. Masibo adds, “Our largest student group, at Kenyatta University, helped organize a healing service that brought together the entire university community last Sunday.”
What is happening outside of Nairobi? Scott and Barb Harbert are missionaries with Africa Inland Church who live and work in Nakuru, one of the more recent centers of violence and, ironically, also a major place of refuge for those who have fled their homes. Recently a bumper sticker has begun to appear on cars in Nakuru: “Kenya is you and me.” The Harberts write:
This bumper sticker reflects the feeling of the majority. People want to live peacefully together. But peace has yet to come to Kenya. The country is holding its breath. The situation is tense and just a spark could set it on fire again. Pray for the Church to know how to interpret the times and respond influentially.The Harberts remind us that over half of Kenya’s population are under 15 years of age and desperately need the gospel. “Tragically,” they add, “misguided youth carried out much of the recent violence and destruction.”
Kenyans and missionaries alike call repeatedly for their sisters and brothers in the West to keep listening, watching and praying, and to keep seeking opportunities to be involved—to bring in, as Muriu encouraged Urbana delegates, a “century of genuine partnerships.”
Recently, Muriu wrote to Urbana Director Jim Tebbe, to update him on the ongoing crisis.
At the end of January, a month after the elections, a gathering of pastors asked, “What more can the church, the men & women of God do in our present crisis?” They agreed on five crucial things to do within the next three months: Mobilize the Kenyan church to spiritually cleanse the nation, to take in internally displaced people, to deepen community networking, to lead a “Caravan of Hope” and to use the media to speak a message of hope. Muriu expanded on these “mobilization actions;” his three explanations below reveal much of the reality of the crisis and the heart of the Kenyan church:
Mobilize the church to spiritually cleanse the nation: Before the election, several politicians engaged a well-known witchdoctor from Tanzania to pray over the very epicenters of the violence we have experienced. While politicians broker for peace, only the church can cleanse this nation spiritually. If we do not do so, people will turn back to the old ways – charms and witchcraft for spiritual protection against the evil that has been unleashed. In preparation, Christians will be called to a concerted, unified time of fasting and prayer.
Mobilizing churches to take in Internally Displaced People: The camps in Nakuru are full, and cholera is a real risk. Seven thousand new people arrived at another church last week because of new threats. It is the same all around the country. We need to allow these houses of God to be shelters in this hour of need. One church in an elite Nairobi neighborhood is still meeting in a tent, with prefab Sunday School buildings, but they still took in 250 people. A side effect – because they took in internal refugees, the church is now known in all the homes around, wealthy and rural alike, and Christ is being glorified.
Mobilizing the church for a Caravan of Hope: The pastors agreed to mobilize 200 – 500 pastors to conduct a week-long Caravan of Hope from Mombasa [coast] to Nairobi to Nakuru to Eldoret to Kisumu [farthest inland], conducting cleansing services, counseling the traumatized, bringing food, supplies and hope to the displaced, comforting the bereaved, healing the sick and mobilizing local pastors to do the same in their area.
Some of the things these pastors say may sound strange to Western ears. At Urbana 06, Muriu noted that the “home-grown faith” of those in the South often has “a charismatic flavor [that includes] prophetic pronouncements against principalities and powers, whether governmental or demonic, as well as [more] literal interpretations and applications of God’s Word.”
Often the question is asked, “What can the African church ever give to the church in North America?” Muriu’s answer, in part, is that as we listen more and more to the concerns of the two-thirds world church, “new theologies of liberation from oppression, of health and healing, of powerlessness, of survival, of suffering and of hope, will take center stage.”
Why do we keep talking about Kenya? One reason for the on-going coverage is so that we in North America have the on-going opportunity to listen to our Kenyan brothers and sisters. We can learn from them as they live out their faith and apply Scripture in very concrete ways in the midst of crisis. During Urbana 06, delegates worked through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Kenyans can teach us what it looks like to deal daily with the very real “principalities and powers” and to live “in Christ” in the midst of crisis. Kenyans are offering us the privilege to join with them in this very real spiritual battle.
Muriu concluded his letter, “Can I plead with you to help us? We need you to pray – that the church will be mobilized without falling into disunity, to believe that the church of Christ can rise above that for the sake of the nation.”
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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