There are many stories coming from Kenya these days, stories of hatred, of violence, of destruction. OFM has been commissioned by the mission leadership to find the other stories, the ones we don’t hear much of. The stories of love, of compassion, of forgiveness. Stories of where the church has acted like the Church and Christians like Christ. Where has Christ been shown in the midst of this Chaos? That is our commission, and stay tuned for stories different than what you have been hearing.

Tonight, January 17th, Timmy started walking, and he did so with a bang! He took his first step- three all at once, then started getting up and walking to all of the other kids, laughing as he went. I ran and got the camera and captured the moment. Once again, life changes. Click here to see it: Timothy Walks!

As you may have seen on the news, the election process here in Kenya has been a disaster.  Violence has rocked the country for almost a week now.  Much of the violence, however, is a result of a deeper running ethnic tension that has existed here as in other parts of Africa since anyone can remember.  Our family and our co-missionaries has stayed safe by basically locking ourselves in our houses.  We had stocked up on food and supplies in anticipation of something like this, but no-one believed it would be this bad.  It has been a eerie time knowing that chaos and rioting, burning and looting and even killing is going on all around.  Many times we heard gunfire at varying distances and angry mob noises from our house.  It affects the family in many unexpected ways.  For example, I became strict with the kids’ active playing and running and jumping, realizing that if one of them fell and broke their leg, we would not be able to get to the hospital without risking our lives.  This situation stresses the family in many ways.

Thankfully this is the second day of relative peace.  Shops are open again, there is normal traffic on the road, and everyone seems to simply be tired of the violence.  Pray that Kenya can recover from this and continue.