Displaying items by tag: Kenya

Kenya’s locust problem hasn’t gone away. In fact, Kenyans could see a third generation of the insects destroy vegetation across the country. This is the worst locust outbreak for the region in 70 years. Locusts have already caused a great deal of destruction in Kenya and surrounding countries this year. Favourable weather conditions could contribute to a return of the swarm. The last one found a route through the Rift Valley, the breadbasket of Kenya. They devastated everything that was green as they moved; they also left eggs to hatch later.

The Kenyan Senate is calling for submissions on the Reproductive Healthcare Bill currently before them, which legalises abortion up to birth. There has been an outcry among Kenyan Christians over this bill; it seeks to legalise abortion carried out by a doctor, nurse or midwife acting alone, a ‘trained health professional’. The international abortion lobby and their NGO allies will be emailing their opinions in droves. There is money to be made if abortion becomes legal in Kenya. The time is short for objections to be presented as the deadline is Monday 17 August. The published notice does not specify that only Kenyans can respond, so we can pray that many Godly, informed responses will be made against this bill from concerned individuals across the nations.

Jonas is a Kenyan church planter and respected leader in his village. When Kenya shut down due to coronavirus villagers lost their jobs and income, food prices rose and families struggled. Jonas saw that they not only needed Jesus, they needed help. He used his wages to buy food for the needy. Others were inspired by his generosity and donated food to be distributed to vulnerable families. Other church planters joined him in food aid and sharing Jesus' love. The results were astounding. 863 people heard the Good News, 211 received Christ. A Muslim man named Aasir lost his job and his home. Jonas took them in. Aasir saw what it was like to walk in a relationship with Jesus, day in and day out, and he also surrendered his life to Christ.

Kenya's government closed all churches in order to prevent further spread of coronavirus. So Rev Paul Macharia from All Saints' Cathedral has taken church services on the road. They travel to apartment blocks and provide sermons and music from the street below; allowing people to attend church while being able to maintain social distancing rules to tackle the new pandemic. This government-approved safe service is nicknamed B2B, ‘Balcony to Balcony’, taking place every Sunday, using amplifiers and loudspeakers. It has become popular, with large turnouts of families on their balconies.

Torrential rains causing floods and landslides displaced 100,000 people and killed about 200 in Kenya. Floods destroyed 8,000 acres of crops, and the extreme rainfall will continue until the end of May. In Uganda, a river burst its banks, causing people to flee for safety. The waters of Lake Victoria have risen to unprecedented heights, forcing shoreline communities to abandon their homes. Rwanda, too, has seen houses, roads, and crops destroyed, and many killed by mudslides. At the same time, trillions of locusts have descended on the region. They can travel over 100 miles a day. There are 18 separate swarms in Kenya at present, and weather conditions are expected to favour breeding, so that a third generation could hatch in June and July. Added to these two tragedies, coronavirus is spreading among huge numbers of displaced people and closed borders are delaying delivery of pesticides to locust-affected areas.

In many places, police not only fail to protect people in poverty from violence, but they are violent predators themselves. Millions of the most vulnerable people in the world live in fear of police who extort bribes and brutalise innocent citizens. This has increased during coronavirus curfews. In Kenya it is easy for a corrupt or incompetent police officer to falsely accuse and imprison or even kill an innocent person. As measures have been put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus, there has been a spike in police abuse while enforcing the night curfew. The government’s independent policing oversight authority has documented at least 35 cases of police brutality in connection to the curfew enforcement, including twelve deaths. Other agencies report at least one death a night in the communities which the justice centres monitor.

Somalia has declared a national emergency as desert locusts destroy vegetation. An average swarm containing 40 million insects can travel 150 km in 24 hours, devouring enough food to feed 34 million people in that time. The UN said it is a race against time to tackle this invasion amidst ongoing humanitarian challenges. A spokesman said, ‘We do have a chance to nip this problem in the bud, but that’s not what we’re doing at the moment.’ Kenya’s food security is threatened, particularly communities keeping livestock on endangered pastures. Swarms crossed into Uganda on 9 February, and Tanzania and South Sudan are now on the UN’s ‘watch list’. Also, insufficient rain means that over two million Somalis will need emergency food aid this year after the worst harvest in 25 years. 300,000 were displaced in eight months; many have headed for the capital, Mogadishu. Six million Kenyans are food-insecure, while seven million Zimbabweans need aid after successive droughts and an inflation rate of 300%. Urban families are feeling the pinch of soaring prices. See

He was an uneducated Maasai boy, expected to herd cows all his life. But when he was nine the boys in his village were told to attend school and he learnt about Jesus. His curiosity about faith grew. Next, he was sponsored through children’s charity World Vision; an overseas family supported him with simple and life-changing gifts. During a severe drought, World Vision fed the entire family. When the rains finally came, they helped them to grow their own food. Then his life truly shifted, and God took him on a journey he never could have imagined. To read his inspiring faith-filled story, click the ‘More’ button.

Increased temperatures in the Indian Ocean have caused heavy rainfall and widespread flooding and destruction in different countries. In Kenya 29 people were killed in flash floods, nearly 12,000 have been displaced, and agriculture is hard hit, with 10,000+ livestock animals drowning. Caritas has appealed for food, first aid, and funds to distribute to the needy. In South Sudan, Bishop Majwok has requested the government to declare a state of national disaster as 283,000 square kilometres of his diocese are under water. Rains have devastated the country since July. Wet weather has worsened the humanitarian situation in 32 counties, where over three million people already needed assistance. In Somalia over 182,000 people are homeless due to flooding; most are from the central town of Beledweyne, where the UN reports people drowning. East Africa's rainy season, which runs from October to December, is likely to be unusually wet this year due to a process known as Indian Ocean Dipole (similar to the Pacific El Nino) by which atmospheric humidity is dumped inland as rainfall.

IJM wants God to bring justice and closure in the case of its staff lawyer Willie Kimani, client Josephat Mwenda, and trusted taxi driver Joseph Muiruri, who were kidnapped and murdered in 2016. Their bodies were dumped in gun bags in a river. Four police officers and one police informant were charged with their murders, and the informant confessed. 38 witnesses have testified over three years, but only eight remain. The court will sit soon, and the judge will decide whether to admit as evidence a video of a crime scene reconstruction involving the informant. This is a critical moment: the trial has been plagued by adjournments each time the confession evidence was due to be heard. Please pray against health problems, legal issues, witness challenges, or anything which could give reason to adjourn the case again.