I Needed This...

What a sweet video. This made me smile today.

The Lord's Prayer

Surprise in Zimbabwe

The 2008 presidential election in Zimbabwe is over and President Robert Mugabe has lost the popular vote. While I think this is good news for the country of Zimbabwe, this result is a surprise to me since Mugabe has been the Zimbabwean president since their independence from England was official in 1980.

President Mugabe has been a controversial leader in southern Africa for decades, compared to Hitler by some. He is strongly anti-white to the detriment of the country as a whole and has been considered the reason Zimbabwe has gone from a food producer for much of the continent of Africa to dependance on the WFO for grain and staples for most Zimbabweans.

BBC News article about the Zimbabwe election can be read here.

More info on President Mugabe can be found here.

Corruption

After two months of questions about the situation in Kenya and praying for resolution, the power-sharing agreement that was signed last week was beginning to comfort some of the people here and abroad who love Africa and those who live there.

Just today, there is an accusation that the administration of President Kibaki was behind the early conflict that arose after the election in December as reported here by a BBC News undercover officer.

If these allegations are in fact true, this might be looked on as justification for more rioting and killing. However this time, most likely it would be done by other tribes as payback for the previous violence. Even if this is just a rumor, it could have the same effect at if it were true as there is so much corruption and deception among people in power over most all of Africa that many Africans don't trust leaders from another ethnic tribe.

Agreement

Although controversy has at times surrounded former UN leader Kofi Annan, he has done a great service for the people in Kenya. Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, the two leaders in Kenya, have now signed a deal for power sharing with the creation the post of Prime Minister to be occupied by Odinga with the Presidency still held by Kibaki. There has been peace in the country for several days and hopes are high that some sense of normalcy will return to Kenya in the future.

This article from BBC News details some of the points of the agreement between Kibaki and Odinga. The proposal contains strict guidelines for both sides that have to be adhered to and it is always possible that either side could walk out of the agreement at sometime in the future, putting everything back in question and leading to another period of unrest.

While this proposal has been signed and everyone looks to be in an agreeable mood at the moment, there is still a long way to go to return Kenya to the stable country that gave it decades of prosperity. Much of the peace in the past had accumulated over 30 years and it could take many years for a complete economic recovery for the people in Kenya.

Please continue with prayers for those who will need time to heal from physical and emotional wounds from the fighting. The latest number of victims are 1500 killed and 600,000 displaced. There is still much for Christians to do in Africa, and Kenya will need the love and peace of Jesus Christ to help move past the events of this election.

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.

Battle in Kenya

In March of 2002, our family was blessed to travel to Kenya for two weeks while Dan did some work for the EPA and the Kenyan government assessing their air quality concerns. While we were there, we stayed in the Nairobi Holiday Inn. It's a large tropical compound in the city and is unlike any "hotel" in the U.S. with private patios on the rooms overlooking the pools. We went on two weekend safaris to see the African wildlife. The people were wonderful and I had great hopes to repeat the trip with all our children when they are in high school to see where their grandparents worked for so many years and where Dan went to high school at the Rift Valley Academy.

Currently, there is a situation in Kenya that requires our immediate attention and prayer. After the presidential election last month, there was some question from the Kenyans about the legitimacy of the outcome as the incumbent won after many voters supporting the opposition began to emerge. In the days afterward, the tempers of the government police were frayed and they began to disperse the protesters with tear gas. All this was happening in the Kenyan capitol of Nairobi. This week, the violence in Kenya has spread wide and there have been many killed in Kenya in the name of racial prejudice, some estimates are nearing 1000 dead in just over a month.

There are two main tribes in Kenya currently involved in the fighting. The largest and most wealthy is the Kikuyu, to which president Kibaki belongs. The second is the Luhya, the original protestors of the election. The police and army have been accused of unfair treatment of the Luhya protesters as the military is under the control of the president, a member of the Kikuyu. The result in the countryside has been a backlash of the Luhya against their Kikuyu neighbors. Unlike the wars waged in the west however, this violence is severe. Rivals attack with machete knives in brutal ambush with sweeping indiscrimination killing anyone within reach of their hand.

Kenya has been a haven in Africa for travel of tourists, missionaries and humanitarians for more than 30 years. It has become an example in the continent for other countries on how to successfully host the tourism industry. This coming war could very well end the economic freedom Kenyans have experienced during these past 3 decades. If the tourism industry collapses in Kenya, it will lead to an economic disaster for the country as a whole. Even people not directly involved in the industry will be effected as the entire economic stability of the nation is tied to tourism.

This current Reuters video report contains graphic pictures of dead and dying in Kenya. It is heartbreaking to see so much hatred on the streets I walked with my family only 6 years ago. I encourage you to watch and pray for ways that you can become involved in saving lives in Kenya. The religious demographic in Kenya is almost half Protestant and one quarter is Roman Catholic.

Our brothers in Africa need intercession through prayer now.

UPDATE Today, Jan 31, the U.S. has advised that Americans avoid travel to Kenya. Please read the Reuters article here.

Our New Kitty

After a lengthy search, we are pleased to announce the newest member of our family has arrived... Kindoa! I spent several weeks doing research on the web for a pet adoption agency. After the experience of having to find a home for our previous cat because she could not interact with our family after the children arrived, we were looking for an adult cat that would already be used to having kids around and love being part of a family.

Well, to make a long story somewhat short we adopted a four month old brown tabby kitten this week! She is so cute and loves us as much as we love her. She lets the kids pick her up and play with her, but when she's had enough she just goes under a chair or bed and lays low for a while. The kids love her and we're so happy she found a loving home.

If you are looking for a pet, (and you live in Phoenix) I recommend HALO pet rescue. Our agent, Nita, interviewed me on the phone to get specifically which cat would be the best fit for us and she was completely professional. When she met in person with our entire family, she had already found the perfect kitten just for us. We just had to meet the kitty to see if the chemistry was there!

We will love having Kindoa for a long time... thank you Nita!

8 Random Things About My Kitchen

I've been tagged. I haven't done one of these in a while, but this one is a little different and might be fun to see how long it takes me to think these up...

1. Our kitchen in our new house is eerily similar to our kitchen in California. I must have really liked the layout because is just like our other house, right down to the peninsula over the sink! The only differences between the two kitchens are the placement of the fridge and range/oven are switched and we now have a pass through door into the entry which makes the floor space here a little bigger. Other than that, they are almost exactly the same. Same angles, same cabinet placement, same pantry... weird.

2. I have three sets of dishes. I have formal Noritake China that was received as a wedding gift (it has only been used once), Mikasa dinner ware that I use for company, and our everyday dishes are a set of vintage mustard colored earthenware that belonged to Dan's grandparents in Zimbabwe. The mark on the dishes is Willsgrove Ware Pottery Made in Rhodesia. Based on the color, I would guess it's at least 40 years old. I cried when I broke one of the bowls.

3. I have an under-mount kitchen sink which I absolutely LOVE! I do most of my food prep on the counter next to the sink so I can just wipe the crumbs and mess right off and wash it away. It was way more expensive to install than it should have been, but I think it's a great invention and I would recommend it.

4. We have an eat-in kitchen. (That's just the fancy new way to say we have a breakfast nook.)

5. I almost always have fresh flowers on my kitchen counter. They make me happy.

6. I have a can of salmon in my pantry that we moved here from California in 2005. I don't eat fish, so I haven't felt the need to open it. Ever. I suppose I should toss it out, but it's really difficult for me to throw canned goods away. However, since I wouldn't eat it after storing it for this long and I won't feed it to anyone else, I think it's time to just let go.

7. We eat our big meal of the day at lunch. Dan has always preferred to have a big lunch and a very small dinner, so when he started working from home I changed the meals to fit his schedule. I make traditional dinners for lunch on weekdays (stroganoff with rice, meat-loaf with baked potatoes, chicken enchiladas, etc.), small dinners (chicken and biscuits, quesadillas, grilled cheese, etc.) and then we eat leftovers on Saturday.

8. I post the menu for the week on the inside of the pantry door so when it's time to start meal prep, I always know what I'm making for each meal that day. (I make my shopping list on the other side, so I have it with me at the store to see what ingredients I need to buy... it works really well for me!)


I tag Jesica, Davina and Amber... have fun! I finished this in just under an hour, how'd I do Sara?