Kenya: Grenade Attack on Church
08 May 2012On Sunday a grenade explosion killed 27-year-old university student Kelvin Walumba at God’s House of Miracles International Church in Nairobi. Sixteen people were also injured. Islamic extremists from al Shabaab rebels in Somalia have embarked on a series of attacks in Kenya after the Kenyan military invaded Somali territory last autumn in an attempt to quell al Shabaab violence at tourist destinations. Speculation that the attack stemmed from a land dispute were untrue, as the dispute with the church was resolved in court last year. Four church members are in a critical condition: Leonida Mbogo, Julia Mumbi, Ezekiel Muthini and Shalom Koronge. Mbogo sustained serious injuries to her leg, which was broken. The explosion comes a week after the U.S. Embassy in Kenya issued a possible terror attack warning. It also comes less than a month after a similar explosion took place in Mtwapa, claiming one life and injuring 30+.
Pray: against anti-Christian violence, and may Kenyan troops and government win the battle against al-Shabab. (Ps.12:7)
More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/kenya/article_1522556.html
Faith leaders in Kenya called for calm after the International Criminal Court in The Hague committed to trial high-ranking politicians for crimes against humanity in connection with violence following elections in 2007. Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, fellow presidential candidate William Ruto, cabinet secretary Francis Muthaura and radio journalist Joshua Sang will be tried for an orchestrated campaign to displace, torture, and kill civilians. More than 1,200 people died and around 650,000 were left homeless in clashes in the Rift Valley, Nyanza, Nairobi and Central provinces. ‘We call for sobriety and restraint as Kenyans engage in discussion and interpretation of the decision and its ramifications,’ said the Rev Peter Karanja, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, in a statement on 23 January. The council in 2009 urged the court to investigate the violence, following failure by the government to establish a local justice system to deal with the causes.
Pray: for restraint as these politicians engage in discussion. Pray for peace and justice. (Job.34:17a)
Kenya: Faith leaders condemn church attacks
05 Jul 2012Kenyan Christian and Muslim leaders condemned attacks on two churches on 1 July in Garissa that left 17 people dead and 66 injured. Our Lady of Consolata Catholic Church and the evangelical Garissa African Inland Church were attacked simultaneously by masked gunmen. Troops often muster in Garissa for operations against al-Shabab insurgents in neighbouring Somalia, leading to speculation that the attacks were launched by the group or its allies. Rev Peter Karanja said, ‘We are deeply saddened Kenyans who were worshipping God were mercilessly murdered by criminals who hid their faces because they could not face up to their dastardly acts'. Police said the assailants want people to feel that Christians and Muslims are fighting. Cardinal John Njue said the Roman Catholic Church believed the country was not at a time of religious war. Muslim leaders said, ‘Any God-fearing person will not celebrate the death of innocent people who gather for the purpose of worship or any other course.’
Pray: against those instigating sectarian violence, and that the Kenyan constitution affirming freedom of religion would be maintained. (Ps.45:4)
More: http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5772
The Anglican Church of Kenya accused the government for failing to adequately address the famine and drought gripping the country, as the government allocated $109 million to combat drought in the north. The church blamed ‘poor planning and poor priorities’ and ‘massive underinvestment’ in agriculture, research and food security. The Kenyan government has not attained the African Union recommended target of 10% of budgeted expenditure being devoted to agriculture. The Church said the crisis reflected the government's ‘consistent failure to learn’ from previous food shortages. The Church also said, ‘This famine did not come as a surprise, the drought was predicted well in advance, but timely interventions were not made either with dams to harvest water or beefing up of strategic food reserves despite previous bumper harvests.’
Pray: for God to cause the government to make successful short and long term strategies that meet the needs of all. (Pr.16:2-3)
Kenya: Day of prayer 10.10.10
09 Oct 2010
Bishop Dominic Kimengich said Kenya suffers from illiteracy, poor leadership, a large refugee population from Somalia and the Sudan, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and growing gang violence connected to guns available from unstable bordering nations. Kimengich hopes to help his people to be strong in faith and peaceful and resourceful in spirit; he also wants to promote education and self-reliance as ways to ’ plift the living standards of the people.’ This Sunday is a day of prayer for the nation. see How to Pray for Kenya Globally we can join the Kenyan Church and pray they would continue to be strong on the issue of social justice, be the voice of the voiceless, and offer Christian values that bring the people together in unity through Christ as the children of God. Kenya is beginning to see themselves as a nation and starting to say, ‘What can we do for ourselves?’ Pray: that Kenya will continue to take a new direction with God’s help.(Ps.16:11) More: http://www.mlive.com/living/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/10/committed_to_god_and_kenya_new.html
Kenya: Blasts at Christian prayer rally
19 Jun 2010
Church leaders in Kenya are holding the government responsible for two explosions at a constitution prayer rally in Nairobi where seven people died and nearly 100 were injured on 13 June. The church leaders have been campaigning for a ‘No’ vote against a proposed draft constitution and condemned the attack as an affront to the Christian faith. They sent their condolences to the families of those who had died. ‘Having been informed over and over that the passage of the new constitution is a government project, we are left with no doubt the the government, either directly or indirectly, had a hand in this attack. Who else in this country holds explosives?’ said the Rev. Peter Karanja, general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya. ‘We therefore hold the government and the ‘Yes’ team responsible for the attack and the blood that was shed.’ said Karanja. Pray: against the enemy that seeks to de-stabilise and for the Christians to stand firm and not be intimidated. (Pr.18:17)
Kenya: Al-Shabab: A war of vengeance?
28 Sep 2013A gun battle inside a shopping centre in the Kenyan capital Nairobi has left at least 68 people dead and more than 150 wounded. Twenty-four hours later, an operation to secure the Westgate centre, one of the city's most exclusive shopping malls, was ongoing. The Somali group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, demanding that Kenya pull troops back from its neighbouring country, where al-Shabab is fighting against the government. Its full name is Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahideen - or the Movement of Jihadi Youth. It was formed in 2006 as an off-shoot of the Islamic Courts Union, a religious alliance which controlled large parts of Somalia, before being driven out. With as many as 9,000 fighters, al-Shabab has since fought a succession of foreign forces in Somalia from Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. The attack in Nairobi
Pray: for all those who have lost loved ones and friends in this atrocious incident. (Pr.28:5)
More: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/09/20139236528364142.html
Kazakhstan: Laws restricting freedom of religion
28 Nov 2011Kazakhstan has recently closed mosques, churches and prayer rooms in prisons, citing two laws restricting freedom of religion or belief. ‘Mosques and Russian Orthodox churches were built in prisons in violation of building regulations and the law. They are illegal - that's why they are being closed down.’ Kazakhstan has also started closing prayer rooms in social care institutions. ‘We're all in shock,’ Fr Vladimir Zavadich of the Orthodox Church said. ‘We didn't expect this from our government. Now we fear this will happen everywhere.’ Orthodox Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen stated that this took away ‘the last consolation from those people who, for health reasons, find themselves in a desperate, helpless situation’. He described calls to bar priests from such homes, hospices and old people's homes as ‘inhumane’.
Pray: that Christians might meet for worship without needing state permission. (Pr.21:15)
More: http://www.forum18.org/index.php