Responsibility

There is no current resolution in the peace process in Kenya. At this time, Kofi Annan has called off the talks until the both leaders can meet face to face so as to get beyond the name calling and accusations of dishonesty within the discussions. Please read this article from BBC News for more detail about the events this week.

The killing in Kenya has stopped for the time being, Praise God! However, the estimated number of refugees is now over 600,000. I can't fathom that many people on the run, it boggles the mind. The beginning of this battle in Kenya has been compared by some to the first days of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, a massive extermination of 800,000 Rwandans in 100 days at the hands of their brothers.

If you would like to know more about the Rwandan genocide, I highly recommend the 2005 Portuguese movie "Beyond the Gates", also known under the USA title "Shooting Dogs". It is the true story of a Catholic Technical school in Kigali that was a base for the UN peacekeeping forces in Rwanda and then became an emergency refugee camp. A BBC reporter has a line in the film that was chilling in its honesty.

"In Bosnia, it was the best stuff I've ever done. I cried every day. Strangely enough over here, not a tear. Anytime I saw a dead Bosnian woman, a white woman, I thought, that could be my mom. Over here, there just dead Africans. What a thing to say. We're all just selfish pieces of work in the end."

Although I knew the facts about the genocide in Rwanda, seeing this movie so well acted in graphic detail with personal characters was very difficult to watch but made it all the more real. On the verge of genocide in Africa again, what will we do right now... do we have a responsibility to people half a world away?

James 4:13-17
13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

Christians can not sit idle and allow genocide to happen when we have been given the chance to intervene.

Deadline

After two months of severe violence in Kenya, there is still no end in sight. There had been some hope to end the unrest at the beginning of the month as peace talks were orchestrated by Kofi Annan, but peace has not materialized.

The number of displaced people is now at over 300,000 and the number of dead is over 1000.

We need to be on our knees right now and for the next 5 days for the men, women and children trapped in Nairobi and the Rift Valley of Kenya. As this Reuters video states, there is a deadline proposed by the opposition for an agreement to be reached in one week. You can also read this AP article for more information about the process thus far.

I have great fear that if there is no resolution reached in the time given by the Orange Democratic Movement, we may have to reconcile the horror of another genocide in Africa.

Peace Talks in Kenya

In this picture are Kofi Annan (orchestrating peace talks), President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.

While there has been one small step toward ending the violence in Kenya, the killing is still going on. Please continue to pray for all those suffering during this difficult time, many of our brothers in Christ are being killed by tribal differences.

Here's another Reuters video from Saturday Feb 2 with a short update.