Kenya Burning

Yesterday some of us had the opportunity to go see a photography exhibit called "Kenya Burning" down in Mahi Maihu (about a 20 minute drive.. but only because our roads are so bad...) It was an informational/awareness exhibit displaying scenes from the 2008 post-election violence that took place here in Kenya.

For those of you who don't know (no worries, I only know because I've learned of it since living here..) 2 years ago when they had elections to choose their 3rd president, there was a major split in the country between the two parties' candidates. When Mwai Kibaki was elected as president, horrible, attrocious violence that can only be described as dark and evil broke out. Neighbors turned on neighbors and began setting fires, devastating thousands of families and taking away what (very) little livelihood they had to begin with. Hundreds - if not thousands - were murdered as the nation terrorized people over who they supported.

The display was... hard to take in. Putting pictures to the horror stories I've heard for 6 months made it very real, and I saw just bits and pieces of how broken the nation was. One of their main reasons for putting this together is to raise awareness - signs of "Never Again" and "We Won't Forget" hung over one of the photo tents - and I pray that it works, that it teaches and shows the people what they (some of them) became.

I just finished reading To Kill A Mockingbird a couple weeks ago. Great book. At one point when Tom Robinson (that's his name, right?...) is in the jail and Atticus goes to watch over him, a gang of men from the town over come, drunk, to try to kill Tom. Atticus stands up to them, but they don't disband until Scout, Atticus' daughter, shows up and starts talking to them about their personal lives. She reminds them that they're humans, that they have a family, that there is more to life than just this one moment, than the anger that burns inside of them. But mostly, she reminds them that they're humans. Something like this happens in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, I think, where a mob forms and the people in the midst of the mob forget they're human and become nothing but a mob. They blend together, they become one. Their shared anger and understood madness feeds off of one another and they become something like a pack of lion devouring their latest kill.

It's like evil takes over, draws in a crowd, and takes their minds away one by one, leaving nothing but the madness. That's what I saw in these pictures. That's what I've heard in these stories. Neighbors. Fellow laborers. The ones they borrowed milk from because their babies were starving. Brothers. Family members. Schoolmates. These were all forgotten, and nothing remained - for many - but "enemy."

Kenya has a very high rate of professing Christians. Churches are crowded here. The name of God is on the back of matatus everywhere. But whose name are they acting on when things like this happen? Whose name are they looking to when they're filled with anger and resentment towards their neighbors?

Please pray for Kenya. This beautiful country has been in darkness for so long. Praise God, He is bringing in spots of light everywhere. But there is still a battle. Pray that this doesn't happen again. Pray that God raises up an army of Love that turns away from hate. The next elections are scheduled for 2012. How beautiful it would be to see the country learn and grow and come together as One to celebrate their freedoms and stand together in Hope for what's to come.

And may darkness never reign again.