Digo
Legacy
Mombasa
Maasai
Nairobi
Samburu
South Asian

Thank you for praying for the 10.6 million Kenyans who are hungry and thirsty due to drought and last year’s post-election chaos.  The rains did start in March, but it is feared that there will be insufficient rains to end the drought in many parts of the country.  “The Kenya Food Security Update” [www.kenyafoodsecurity.org/mod.php?topic=38 ], a report compiled by USAID, UN World Food Programme, and others, shared that only one fourth of those facing starvation live in the drought areas. The largest group of the starving, 4.1 million, are in the slums of Nairobi and Mombasa.  Many are hungry due to losing jobs after last year’s political problems.  HIV /Aids is responsible for another two million who are starving – those infected and family members who have lost their breadwinner.   A fourth group sited in the report are the thousands of people who were displaced during last year’s chaos – people who are still displaced or those who have settled, but lack food or the resources to rebuild their lives. This report does not share good news, but as Christians we do have Good News to share with these people – many who are not just physically hungry but also spiritually hungry.  Please continue praying for an end to hunger in Kenya.  Pray also for Kenyan Christians and missionaries as they seek God’s guidance in how to best meet the short and long term needs of these people – their physical and spiritual needs.   http://omba4kenya.blogspot.com/

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 It was noon as the missionary traveled near the equator in Kenya’s Rift Valley on what was predicted to be the hottest day of the year. This was a forsaken area with no homes or grazing animals in view.  As dust from a passing truck cleared, the missionary spotted a young woman sitting with two small pails of potatoes beside the dusty road.  If the woman had been there for long, the potatoes were roasted to perfection, which was certainly not her intention. As the missionary traveled on, wishing she had stopped to purchase the potatoes even if it was an unsafe spot, many questions passed her mind.  Did someone stop and buy the woman’s potatoes? Why didn’t she have an umbrella to deflect the sun rays? Was it an unaffordable luxury item?  Why was she desperate enough to sit in that deserted area during the hottest time of the day? Did she have hungry family members?  When did she last eat something other than potatoes?  If she sold the potatoes, how much could she purchase with the few shillings she received?  Were her children in school? Was her family one of the many families in the area displaced during Kenya’s post-election crisis last year?  Missionaries face scenes and questions such as this every day in Kenya.  Pray that they will have God’s guidance and strength to know exactly how to respond to the needs around them, even if it simply praying for a potato seller sitting beside the road. http://omba4kenya.blogspot.com/