Update from Oscar via Dr. Chet Wood

Thursday, February 28, 2008


Sigh,

These are not good times to write. The mediation talks seem to be collapsing so we live with the real dread that we may yet see even more difficult times.

We’re trying to keep a website (actually blog) refreshed so you can keep up with the situation here. The Msafara is going well – we now have prayers in 10 confirmed sites in Nairobi. Many church leaders (Bishops & big leaders) are on board – one for example (the Archbishop of the Kenya Assemblies of God – they have about 3,500 churches in the country. Their church is the one which was burnt down with people in it. Altogether 40 of their churches in the rift valley were burnt down.) has offered a lorry of food from his church, will finance all the drinking water we need for the whole trip, is mobilizing his pastors nationwide to support the Msafara, and will personally travel with the Msafara the whole way. The PCEA moderator (the top gun) has also committed to engage his church, and to travel with us the whole way, etc.

In Nakuru the division in the church is so deep they had initially cancelled the Msafara, feeling they cannot dare engage in spiritual warfare while so divided. They are back on board, but please pray for Nakuru. In Mombasa they recognized the need to seriously repent their division before the Msafara. Many parts of the country had been divided into “Churches for Change” (ODM), and “Churches for No Change” (PNU). The two factions could not even talk to one another.

This complicates our Msafara because we cannot dare publicly use any minister that was strongly aligned one way or the other. We have therefore had to work hard to find non-partisan leaders . . . there are not many. . . and our list is not yet complete. Both the two mentioned above (KAOG & PCEA) are 2 such men however.

In parts of the Rift Valley the division was really bad. So much so that there is now record of Pastors being some of the gang leaders that caused or led the mobs that were killing. Church members have even come forward to say “My own pastor came to burn down my house” – feels so much like Rwanda.

And now that the talks seem to be collapsing – the TV has shown images of Militia camps where people are being trained. One prominent pastor told me personally that one of his members advised him to buy a machete. We’re on a knife edge.

To keep you refreshed – here are some sites you can visit.

www.msafara.wordpress.com - daily updates and prayer requests

http://www.nairobichapel.org/pages/articles-ChurchResponseToCrisis.asp

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/14/wkenya114.xml

This last one is really frightening, but is happening. We are now expecting that if Koffi Annan quits, we’ll be back to bloodshed and mayhem.

God bless.


Oscar Muriu
P. O. Box 53635
Nairobi
Kenya

Tel (254)723-261-944