Msafara Wheels of Hope

I found this intiative started after the violence that engulfed Kenya after the elections to be of great importance. You can visit the Msafara website at msafara.co.ke and the blog at msafara.wordpress.com.

Just something I got from their site:

Hope In Naivasha

from Pastor M's Blog by MW

An encouraging story from Naivasha. A week ago, I was privileged to be among a small group of pastors from Nairobi who visited one of my favorite places in Kenya. Our mission: to meet representatives from the different pastor's fellowships in order to share the vision of Msafara (www.msafara.co.ke). Rather late in the day, we realized it was the first joint pastor's meeting since the violence in that town. Twist! The divisions that had happened there had not spared the church, and there was much tension even among the pastors present.

Feeling very inadequate, we challenged those at the meeting to put aside their differences and to work together to take back their city from anarchy. At some point, it seemed we were wasting time - such was the suspicion in the room; I imagine from the pain & injustice many of them had experienced. But then the miracle took place before our eyes; genuine confession and repentance took place among the pastors, and a commitment to work together was made. This last Sunday, most of the churches in town joined in a peace march to pray over their town.

Well, just spoke to one of the pastors. He tells me it went amazingly well. Of all the good things he described, the most amazing to me was; people at the event started to confess about the stuff they stole during the fracas and to ask where they could return it to! The pastors have designated one of the churches in town as a collection center for stolen goods to be returned.

There is hope in Naivasha!

New President-Elect of South Korea is an Outspoken, Committed Christian

Teresa Neumann (February 7, 2008)

"God must have been so pleased with Lee's outspoken endorsement of Him because the divine entity blessed Lee in his running for the presidency. Otherwise, how else can Lee—a person who attributes all matters of life to God's divine providence—explain his victory?"

(Beijing)—The new president-elect of South Korea, Lee Myungbak, is a committed Christian. As mayor of Seoul in 2004, Myungbak declared: "I declare that the City of Seoul is a holy place governed by God; the citizens in Seoul are God's people; the churches and Christians in Seoul are spiritual guards that protect the city...I now dedicate Seoul to the Lord." (Photo: Wikipedia)

Reporter Sunny Lee noted that Myungbak was born into a devout Christian family and later became an elder in his church. He also noted that upon winning the nomination from the Grand National Party as its presidential candidate, Lee visited the Christian Council of Korea (CCK), where Reverend Lee Yong-kyu, head of CCK, greeted him saying, "I congratulate you on being nominated as the party's presidential candidate, which was possible because of God's power and authority that was behind you in your going through this difficult time. I trust that God will lead you to the eventual victory."

Said Sunny of Lee: "His unconcealed self-identifying with Christianity [could have] undermined his presidential candidacy because South Korea historically has a huge Buddhist population, in spite of the very aggressive evangelism outreach of Christians, seen in its recent history...but, apparently, God must have been so pleased with Lee's outspoken endorsement of Him because the divine entity blessed Lee in his running for the presidency. Otherwise, how else can Lee—a person who attributes all matters of life to God's divine providence—explain his victory?"

Referring to the history of Christianity in Korea, Sunny said that among other things, Koreans had a positive image of Christianity, "particularly after the Korean War in the 1950s when American church groups and missionaries helped the poverty-stricken nation by providing food, setting up hospitals and schools. During the dictatorship period under President Park Chung-hee, church leaders fought for the nation's democracy. And many Christians volunteered to hand in their gold and other jewelry in a mass effort to bail out the bankrupt nation during the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98."

The president-elect attends the Somang Presbyterian church. Some non-Christian detractors are already complaining, saying that the new government should be called the "Somang government" after the name of the church, but ironically, the word somang means "hope" in Korean.

South Korea is a religiously divided country, possibly on the verge of a tipping point for a sweeping revival. Pray that this new president will allow God to use him to achieve His purposes.

Source: Sunny Lee - Asia Times

Kenyan Government Looks to their Nation's Christians to Facilitate Healing and Reconciliation

Teresa Neumann (February 5, 2008)

"Everyone, including politicians, expects the churches to play a big role in terms of reconciliation, healing, resettlement and trust building."

(Kenya)—Churches across Kenya, once considered Africa's most stable country, are being asked to play a key role in bringing peace to the violence-torn nation in a desperate attempt to prevent all-out genocide. (Photo: AP Images / Bernat Armangue)

"Everyone, including politicians, expects the churches to play a big role in terms of reconciliation, healing, resettlement and trust building," said Canon Peter Karanja, general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK). "We will need sustained and committed engagement of our international ecumenical partners if we are to fulfill that role."

According to a Christian Post report, Kenyan churches are seeking a long-term healing effort that will require the sustained engagement of international ecumenical partners. Said Anglican Archbishop of Kenya Benjamin Nzimbi: "We need your prayers for people to come back to their senses. We must bring Kenya back where it ought to be."

Source: Audrey Barrick - The Christian Post

Why the Power of Music and Love Transcend Every Void

Teresa Neumann (February 5, 2008)

"Music is a form of sensed continuity that can sometimes break through the most overpowering disconnections in our experience of time. There is something spiritual about music, and something musical about the human spirit...God is the composer and librettist. We are each called on to be voices in the choir, singers of God's song."

(London)—A touching Times U.K. report has addressed the profound effect music has on us. As an example, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks quotes from Oliver Sacks' book, Musicophilia, which in turn tells the "poignant story" of Clive Wearing, an "eminent musician and musicologist, who was struck by a devastating brain infection," resulting in amnesia so acute that he was unable to remember anything for more than a few seconds.

Though we are often admonished to "live in the present," Wearing's wife described her husband's shattered life this way: "It was as if every waking moment was the first waking moment."

Of having no memories of anything whatsoever, Wearing himself said, "I haven't heard anything, seen anything, touched anything, smelt anything. It's like being dead."

Amazingly, however, Wearing could sense (rather than remember) the love he and his wife shared, and he could still sing, play the organ and conduct a choir. Love and music. It caused many to ask why, of every emotion and gift, were those two so profoundly resilient?"

Victor Zuckerkandl wrote: "Hearing a melody is hearing, having heard, and being about to hear, all at once. Every melody declares to us that the past can be there without being remembered, the future without being foreknown."

Rabbi Sacks notes in his report: "Music is a form of sensed continuity that can sometimes break through the most overpowering disconnections in our experience of time. There is something spiritual about music, and something musical about the human spirit. When the Israelites experienced redemption at the Red Sea, they sang. So did Hannah when she had a child. The Levites sang in the Temple...When language takes wing heavenward, it modulates from speech to song...Beneath the silence [of the earth], audible only to the inner ear, Creation sings to its Creator."

Sacks shares other insights into the power of music and its connection with the spirit, saying that faith is more like music than science because science analyses whereas music integrates. "Faith connects episode to episode, life to life, age to age in a timeless melody that breaks into time," he says. "God is the composer and librettist. We are each called on to be voices in the choir, singers of God's song."

Concludes Sacks: "Love and music redeem our solitude, mending the broken connections of our lives. Faith teaches us to hear the music beneath the noise."

Read more of this inspiring story by following the link provided.

Source: Jonathan Sacks - The Times U.K.

Missionaries in Kenya relate stories of hope despite ongoing tension

Michael Ireland (February 1, 2008)

"I have been clinging to the verse you gave me. I shared it with a Kenyan friend who was on the verge of suicide because of the chaos. It literally saved his life, giving him hope to go on."

(Kenya)—More than 30 days after the presidential elections in Kenya, political tension remains high. As a result of the violence, 650 people have been killed, and over 250,000 have been displaced.

The latest edition of Missions Catalyst reports that all of the SIM (Serving in Mission) missionaries in Kenya are safe, and that God is using them to encourage their Kenyan brothers and sisters. One missionary, serving on the SIM Sudan team based in Nairobi, wrote, "We grieve for friends like Lydia, who fled for her life from Eldoret. She and her husband have lost everything. We wept together as she shared their trauma."

"I wrote Psalm 27:13 on a card for her, and the other day Lydia told me, 'I have been clinging to the verse you gave me. I shared it with a Kenyan friend who was on the verge of suicide because of the chaos. It literally saved his life, giving him hope to go on.'"

Another missionary, who serves with his wife in Eldoret, reported, "During the Sunday service, they had representatives of several tribes come up for prayers. The sermon was on forgiveness in the midst of such immense pain. Afterwards, we met with the members of our Bible study group... We sang and prayed together. There is so much emotional healing that needs to take place."

Yet another missionary in the area writes in her blog about the opportunity to prepare a lunch for volunteers working at a refugee camp in Nairobi. "It was really a joy to be able to serve the people who have donated their time to serve the refugees."

SIM Kenya (www.simkenya.org) has set up the Kenya Emergency Relief Fund for those who would like to give financially to the relief efforts. These funds will be directed through a local church or ministry that has a good working relationship with SIM in Kenya and will assist with food, water, and medical needs.

Source: ASSIST News Service

Amazing Scene as 200 Kenyan Children, On Their Own Initiative, Pray for their Country and Get Miraculous Results

Amazing Scene as 200 Kenyan Children, On Their Own Initiative, Pray for their Country and Get Miraculous Results
Michael Ireland (February 1, 2008)

Ever since the children started praying together, the pastor says there have been no deaths, houses burned or even violence in their section of this slum. Adults recite this fact in amazement. The children, however, don't even mention it because it's exactly what they expected to happen. "Pastor told us that there is power in prayer. He said we can change the country through prayer," says 12-year-old. "So that is what we are doing, changing the country."

(Kenya)—In the latest edition of Missions Catalyst, Sue Sprenkle, an overseas correspondent for the International Mission Board, who has been reporting from Africa for 10 years describes a scene inside the small, tin shack of a Baptist church filled with children. "After three weeks of post-election violence, it's good to hear the sounds of children laughing and playing—especially in the hard-hit slums of Nairobi," she says.
"My heart overflows with emotion as I hear a sound even more precious than laughter—a child's sweet, innocent prayer."

"Father, our country is in trouble. We pray for peace to come," an 11-year-old boy prays. "Protect us, Father. Teach people to love one another and not to fight anymore."

For the last two weeks, Sprenkle says, children in this small slum area have gathered to pray for their country. "The church's pastor says the children started gathering on their own, so he let them in the church. The daily prayer meeting now attracts more than 200 children ranging in age from three to 17."

Ever since the children started praying together, the pastor says there have been no deaths, houses burned or even violence in their section of this slum. Adults recite this fact in amazement. The children, however, don't even mention it because it's exactly what they expected to happen.

"Pastor told us that there is power in prayer. He said we can change the country through prayer," 12-year-old Boniface explains. "So that is what we are doing, changing the country."

Sprenkle comments: "I'm amazed at the depth of understanding these children have of the issues surrounding the Kenya post-election chaos."

The 12-year-old prays for President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to sit at one table and talk peacefully. Votes cast in the election for these two candidates are under contention. The two leaders have yet to talk to each other in an effort to bring the strife in Kenya to a peaceful resolution.

Sprenkle explained that UNICEF estimates that more than 40 percent of the displaced are children. "Parents put their children on trucks headed to the camps for displaced people but stayed behind to protect their houses and belongings. Many sit in camps, unable to attend schools that just opened mid-January," she said.

In her story, Sprenkle notes that another young boy prays for the people hurting others who are not from the same tribe, referring to reports of ethnic animosity throughout the country. He asks God to help them all be brothers and sisters and one people.

The pastor smiles and whispers to me, "A few days ago that one asked if I knew what tribe he was. I told him no. He didn't know, either. So he told me, 'I think I belong to the tribe of Kenya.'"

When it's time for the "babies" to pray, a fearless four-year-old clasps his hands and closes his eyes so tight that his entire face scrunches up, Sprenkle writes. "God, people die," he says in prayer. "Please do not let anyone die in front of my house."

"It's now my turn to pray and close the meeting," says Sprenkle, adding: "There's not much left to say, so I thank God for the innocent prayers of children and their faith in His answers."

"As soon as I say 'Amen,' the church buzzes with little voices and bottled-up energy spurts out freely. Laughing and holding hands, the children rush into the rain and head home.

"Even though it's dry season and the rains are not supposed to come for another month, no one complains about getting wet or muddy. The rain is an answered prayer."

Sprenkle says the children had prayed about a three-day countrywide protest called by the opposition party. They had asked God to take control and keep people from dying.

She adds that because of the rains, turnout for the protest was much smaller than expected. While there was still a lot of property damage, it was much less than predicted. Death tolls for the week were the lowest since the incidents started.

"See," seven-year-old Natasha whistles through her missing two front teeth, "God answers prayers."

Source: ASSIST News