Update From Paul Heidebrecht, Christian Leaders for Africa

Christian Leaders for Africa Update

January, 2008

www.clafrica.com

NEGST Brief on National Crisis in Kenya

In 2002 the world cheered as Kenya underwent a peaceful transition through the ballot box in what was viewed as an exemplary democratic process. However, while tangible progress has been made on some fronts in the last five years, the nation has far to go in establishing a true and stable democracy, and a united Kenya, even as the current crisis demonstrates.

On December 27th 2007, Kenyans went to the polls in unprecedented numbers. They voted peacefully, they made their choices, they did their job and they did it well. Indeed there was a quasifestive mood in the air as they anticipated the results. Things took a turn for the worse when the Electoral Commission declared the incumbent the winner of the Presidential elections, in view of alleged glaring discrepancies in the process of vote tallying. The challenger felt defrauded and denied justice. A case of one "declared winner" and one "presumed winner" arose. Open and shocking admissions by electoral officials have raised serious doubts over the integrity of the process and the validity of the final results.

In a week, Kenya experienced its darkest days in its 44 years as an independent state. Hundreds have lost their lives and hundreds of thousands are displaced with no shelter, food, water, medicine or hope. Billions of shillings worth of property, business and means of earning a living have been destroyed. The nation reached its lowest ebb with the torching of a church full of destitute Kenyans, mainly women and children; 35 people died. Kenyans are hurting, afraid, ashamed, and disillusioned.

While the genesis of the violence witnessed in the country reportedly goes back to colonial Kenya, the real or perceived failure over the years to address social, political, and economic inequities has taken a toll on the nation. In the midst of the violence the voices of a wounded people began to filter through. Stop the violence! Making every effort to avoid being partisan, being members of a troubled and fractured society, the church and civil society led the call for peace and dialogue. The Churches formed the National Alliance of Churches and initiated a fourfold response:

1. Political mediation: meeting with the key players on Government and the opposition to broker a political resolution of the crisis.

2. Humanitarian: facilitating and providing relief for the affected.

3. Spiritual: mobilizing Christians to pray and fast.

4. Communication: working with the media houses to educate and communicate on the above three.

In a united voice, the local media issued a rousing and moving call to "Save our nation."
South African Nobel Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu was one of the first to arrive in the country to seek mediation. NEGST alumni Peter Karanja and Oliver Simiyu, General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary respectively of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, Bishop Boniface Adoyo of Nairobi Pentecostal Church, and Pastor Oscar Muriu of Nairobi chapel are all at the fore-front of the church's initiative in bringing the two parties to the negotiating table and mediating a political resolution of the crisis. These and other NEGST alumni are providing leadership in reconciliation based on four Christian pillars (Psalm 85:10) truth, mercy, justice and peace. In the midst of the misery we thank God that his work at NEGST has stood the test of building leaders of integrity.

Relative calm has returned to Kenya over the past week. NEGST and its environs were safe throughout the protests, but many staff and students were caught behind violence zones. We hope the worst is over and a negotiated settlement will pave the way for healing, reconciliation, justice, and lasting peace.

At NEGST, we have dedicated the Chapel services to personal healing—coming to terms with our ethnicity as Christians, seeking forgiveness and reconciliation as a community of believers—and to national healing. As our neighbors' keeper, we are contributing food and basic essentials to distribute to those who have been affected both within our community and in areas around us that are really in need. We welcome any assistance to help alleviate the suffering of the destitute.

Please remember Kenya in your prayers. As you pray, please pray for:

1. A resolution of the political crisis as a matter of priority. In this respect the President and the opposition leader need to meet and dialogue, aided by mediators. Pray for our leaders not to let the sin of pride prevent them from doing that which is for the greater good of this nation. Pray for wisdom for the group of eminent Africans mediators, led by Koffi Annan, the former UN Secretary General.

2. A complete cessation of the violence. Thankfully the levels have gone down considerably in the affected areas. Pray especially that we will not have reprisals, for reconciliation among our peoples, and that we may live in justice, peace, and harmony.

3. Humanitarian crisis and assistance: pray for the displaced for the provision of shelter, food, medicine and the return to their homes; for the needed donations to come in, and for those involved in providing relief.

4. Bereaved families; for grace and comfort, and for the process of grieving and healing.

5. Post-crisis solutions. That the complex longer term issues will be faced with honesty, truth, justice, and mercy so that lasting solutions, including building systems and institutions of integrity, will be arrived at.

M. Douglas CarewVice-Chancellor14th January, 2008

Founding CLA Board Member Passes to Glory

The day after Christmas we lost our friend and colleague, Christopher Schmid, to the ravages of cancer. Chris, a senior research scientist at Lilly in Indianapolis, died at the age of 48. He was single all his life and an only child who cared for his widowed mother, Neida, now the only remaining member of the family. Chris was an active member of Faith Missionary Church in Indianapolis where he came into contact with Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology and developed a passion for theological education in Africa.

In 2001, Chris joined a group of lay leaders from around the U.S. who were invited by NEGST to form an American nonprofit to represent them to U.S. donors. He played a key role in creating and even naming Christian Leaders for Africa and defining its relationship to NEGST. Of special interest to him was a scholarship program that matched NEGST students with U.S. donors which he launched and oversaw for several years. He also served as CLA's treasurer from 2004 until 2006 when his declining health forced him to relinquish all volunteer duties. Chris was known among the CLA board members for the generosity with which he gave of his time and financial resources.

CLA is not a typical Christian nonprofit. It did not begin with a visionary leader who had a dream. It began as a board of lay people who genuinely wanted to help and be connected to an African seminary. They did not have an agenda for NEGST. They wanted to come behind NEGST's agenda and support the vision of African church leaders. The board decided one of the members should work full-time for CLA. I was the one chosen.

Chris, like the rest of us, was looking for a genuine partnership between Americans and Africans. He wanted openness and integrity in the handling of funds. He wanted the freedom to ask questions and challenge the leadership of NEGST but without interfering with or disrespecting that leadership. Whether he realized it or not, we were breaking new ground for American church leaders involved in Africa. We were contributing to "Africans training Africans in Africa" as Chris' mentor, Chester Wood, liked to say.

I think Chris' contributions to CLA and to NEGST grew out of his professional identity as a researcher and scientist. His world was facts, results, proof. He had little patience for wishful thinking. Chris always looked at the bottom line. He was a hard-nosed realist whose reactions I always found bracing but necessary. Every nonprofit board needs someone like this. Not that he couldn't be emotional about the mission and the students and faculty at NEGST. He made several trips there on his own just to meet them personally and see what he had committed himself to support.

Chris represented a rising generation of lay people in U.S. churches who have global interests and who want to be part of the worldwide mission of the church. These lay people won't be career missionaries but they will travel the world, meet church, seminary and mission leaders and offer their skills and resources. CLA reflects this new type of mission engagement. We want to engage with the global church in mutual relationships.

We will honor Chris' contribution with a memorial fund to be used at NEGST. We will remember Chris as an example of what ordinary church members can do for the Gospel and the church around the world.

If you wish to contribute a gift to the memorial fund for Chris Schmid, send it to Christian Leaders for Africa, P.O. Box 1642, Indianapolis, IN 46206.

Paul Heidebrecht, Christian Leaders for Africa, P.O. Box 1642, Indianapolis, IN 46206 clafrica@sbcglobal.net