News of the ethnic violence going on in Kenya is difficult for me. In 2004, I stayed 30 days with a native pastor in Eldoret (where, last week, an Assemblies of God church was burned with its occupants.)

The dispute over recent elections has apparently aroused tribal violence that a UN report (issued yesterday) likened to “ethnic cleansing and genocide.” Survivors report that their own neighbors, whom they had called their friends, were responsible for the atrocities. The reason why they would target a friend and neighbor: They belong to the wrong tribe.

This suggests that the issue is not one of politics but of a spiritual nature. It is bigotry and hatred – not just dissatisfaction with the election.

We in America continue to face bigotry and racial hatred but we have very little experience with the violent nature being exposed in Kenya. We live in safety but our Christian brothers & sisters in Kenya are being killed because of their genealogy.

There was a level of insecurity when I was in Kenya. Every store that kept a reasonable amount of money or commodities had a guard (armed with either a machine gun or shotgun) posted at the door. Homes, that in America would be considered “middle class,” were secured in a walled compound protected by armed guards. But what is being seen in Kenya now is much more dangerous.

Daily life for the average Kenyan is difficult under ordinary circumstances. The vast majority of people have no jobs and those who do generally earn about $30 per month. It would be impossible to live except that the price of food and other items produced locally was also low. They generally live in structures that we in America would consider “substandard” — for housing our animals.

Even the family that I lived with had no refrigerator nor did they have a stove. They cooked over a small charcoal fire. But in the current environment, the price of everything has surged and ordinary people are being driven from their homes, first to avoid the violence but also in an attempt to find food to survive.

Kenya is the major producer of gasoline in Eastern Africa. A friend in Uganda (the neighboring country to the west) told me this week that the price of gasoline there went from $4.90 a gallon two weeks ago to around $14.00 a gallon now! Perhaps when OUR gasoline prices begin to surge, we in America will take notice of the problems in Kenya!

I do not pretend to have any solutions to the violence. But I do have some recommendations:

1. Governments from other countries (including the USA) must continue to press both sides in Kenya to end the violence
2. We, who who are privileged to live in safer societies, must enter into fervent prayer for those who are being terrorized
3. We must provide (physical & financial) support to those who are starving because of the unrest

Whether this violence is stopped now or continues into the future, the churches & Christian leaders in Kenya will be presented with a tremendous challenge as they try to restore the love and fellowship of Christian brothers – regardless of their tribal background. Do you care? Will you do something as an act of compassion and concern for your brothers and sisters in Kenya?

Some significant news articles:

Kenyans find bodies a week after church massacre (Reuters)

Tribal Rage Tears at Diverse Kenyan City (Washington Post)

Will Wounds From Ethnic Fighting Ever Heal? (ABC News)