Spinning Tires

I wish that we could report that major steps were taken today to get this country up and going again, but this is not the case. "President Kibaki" appointed half of his cabinet last night at a pivotal time which sent shot signs of discouragement throughout the country. None of his appointments were from the opposition party (who have far more elected Members of Parliament) and he appointed the 3rd candidate as his Vice President, hoping to gain favor with 9% of the country's voters. This move was a huge slap in the face to Kenyans that have taken great strides in instilling peace and coming up with creative solutions to deal with election irregularities. This came two hours before the head of the Africa Union came to engage in mediation talks between the current "government" and the opposition...a slap in the face for all international diplomats that have come to aid this situation.

I am confident that widespread violence would have occurred again if it wasn't for the exhaustion that everyone is facing at this point. A note on the financial situation of 80% of all Kenyans...there is no such thing as a bank account or a paycheck. Most people are paid each day after a job is completed. When people are missing consecutive days of work, the impact is huge. The energy is depleted, the frustration is still bottled up inside...making it difficult to know what tomorrow will bring.

I ask you to pray that Kibaki and Raila will address issues at the heart of the matter. Kenyan citizens have been the catalysts of peace thus far, but a sustainable solution can only be found if government officials are transparent in confronting other irregularities. This is no longer a situation that can be healed with a band-aid...it needs to be treated properly.

We have now heard from all of the pastors in our network and they are safe and well. Two are still stuck on the west side of Kenya because of dangerous roads and a shortage of buses to get people back to Nairobi. We continue to find humanitarian agencies and hook those up in our network with necessary organizations. Gideon is also representing our network in building up the small business owners whose products were looted or destroyed. This will be a critical step in kick-starting community development.

We continue to hurt for those whose voices have been discredited and covet your prayers for sustained peace and the address of issues at the heard of the matter.