Once again, Kenya is the lead story in international news. And as we say in journalism, if it bleeds in leads. Here is an excerpt from BBC International:

“Riots were continuing in the towns of Naivasha and Nakuru in the Rift Valley, where dozens of people have been killed in five days of ethnic violence.In some cases, a few police officers are trying to keep gangs of hundreds apart by firing bullets into the air

Amid the political impasse a cycle of violence is emerging, warn analysts, of attacks followed by reprisal attacks. The national death toll since December’s polls is now about 800.

Members of President Mwai Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe have been fighting with Luos and Kalenjins who backed his rival Raila Odinga in the election a month ago.

Bitterness. Envy. Retribution. All the carnal actions of our sin nature. This part is what really got me (This happened in Naivasha, which is about 100 km from Nairobi):

“In one of Sunday’s worst incidents, 19 Luo people were burned to death in a house they sought refuge in, after being chased through a slum by a gang of Kikuyus, police said.”

Reportedly, there were several children in the house. I think this quote is a perfect example of the nature of what is happening in Kenya now:

“We want these Luos to go home,” a Kikuyu protester holding a plank of wood told a Reuters reporter in Naivasha.They chased and killed our people. Now we want the same thing to happen to them.”

This is not about Kibaki or Raila anymore. I think the situation is devolving, and I don’t know where it ends.

Our prayer is “God move in the hearts of these people, especially the ones who our your precious children living in rebellion. Replace their human instincts and evil desires with your spirit of holiness. Raise up leaders from these communities who will bring people to unify all tribes in peace. Bring a spirit of not only forgiveness, but bring them us all, broken and contrite hearts. Heal this nation.”

Hi everyone! I just want to let everyone know that Sam is doing well in Narok and seems to be really enjoying seeing the realities of what is going on with the ethnic tensions. Not that anyone enjoys seeing ethnic tension, but he is out of our little bubble of Nairobi and out in the “real Kenya.”

Actually, I don’t know if anyone can say there is a such thing as the “real Kenya.” Life in Nairobi is certainly not anything like life in a small town, let alone out in the bush. And, the world of a middle-class citizen or an expatriate is in a whole different universe from some areas of Kibera and other urban slums. For little Miss American suburbia over here, it is still hard to wrap my mind around.

Here in Nairobi, life is back to normal for me. We started back up to school. One day we had to consider keeping the kids at school late because of some riots, but they  dissipated  rather quickly, so we sent them home safely and on time.  My classes got off to a solid start, despite the addition of 4 new boys in the 8th grade. That class now has 19 boys and 7 girls, and man do those guys like to challenge teacher, especially the young female teachers. I am trying to figure out if they lack respect because women have less cultural status in Kenya, or if it is because they are 13 and 14 years old.

But despite these challenges, I am really enjoying getting into challenging discussions with students. We have had great discussions ranging from “Can you believe in the God of the Bible and still believe in Darwansim?” and “Do Muslims really believe in Jesus like Christians?” and “Do Christians have a responsibility to know the truth about other religions so they can be ready in every circumstance to defend their faith and share the gospel?”

Yes, I still teach history, not theology. But, these all came up in the context of our history lessons. I love it!

By the way, I have been assigned to be strictly a high school teacher next year. I will teach 9th-11th history, probably Model United Nations, and one other course (so long as it is not math, I am up for anything).  So, I’ll be getting some new challenges, but I get bored without them, so I take my new course assignments as a blessing.

So, anyways, keep praying for Sam’s safety and my sanity alone in Nairobi.

Well friends, it looks like I (Sam) am getting my first big assignment with World Concern. Tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn I’m being sent to Narok, where I’ll stay until next Friday. World Concern is managing all of the IDP camps (IDP = Internally Displaced Peoples, or refugees) in the Narok district, which at one point was around 6,000 people. Some of you might remember that this is the district I stay at in 2005 for four months. Our team was in a more remote area, but we’d visit Narok town about once a week. We loved Narok (usually). So for the coming week, I will be extra hands wherever they need them - whether dispersing items at the camps, surveying the needs at the camps, or surveying the economic recovery needs in Narok town

a couple of prayer requests:

- Unfortunately, Narok is one of the more volatile spots in Kenya these days. Narok is in the heart of Maasailand, but there are a lot of Kikuyu’s that have settled there over the years. There have been land disputes between the two groups since independence. This election mess has just been another catalyst to set these two groups off against eachother (although it has been much more explosive this time around). Narok town lately has been the confrontation point. Apparently lots of businesses have been burned down or looted, and even their main village market has been torched to the ground. There have been scheduled confrontations between Maasai and Kikuyu youth gangs. Like clockwork, they’ve been meeting at different sections of town with make-shift weapons (bows and arrows, machetes, sharpened sticks, etc.) and going at it with eachother. A lot of these guys have died, and even more have been injured. The police show up to disburse the crowds, sometimes. World Concern staff has had to just stay and watch as this has unfolded from their hotel rooftop.

So please pray for me and the rest of the staff that are there, for our safety. There is huge need in that area right now - thousands of refugees who have lost virtually everything, and have no access to their basic needs. It is definately a place where NGOs like World Concern are really needed. Its actually a time where it might be better for foriegners to be the ones helping - Kenya is so polarized right now, that a Kenyan that would be safe in the IDP camps (say, a Kikuyu or Kisii) would not be safe in town, and a Kenyan that would be safe in town (say, a Maasai or Kalenjin) would not be safe in the IDP camps. Foriegners have the benefit of appearing impartial. As far as I know, there has been a single case of a foriegner being harmed (except for that CNN lady that got hit by a tear-gas canister). Since Kenya has been really effective at keeping guns out of the hands of citizens, most weapons are hand-weapons and are used only very deliberately. People don’t really get caught up in any kind of “crossfire”. And I trust World Concern - they’re experienced and know how to keep their staff out of any kind of danger. So I feel safe going there, but definately very cautious.

- Amanda and I aren’t thrilled about being apart for eight days. It can already be lonely enough being a mzungu in Kenya. Eight days was kind of a shock, and neither of us are looking forward to being seperated for so long. Man, we’re still newlyweds! I’m gunna miss my wife!! Please pray that we can cope well.

By the way, World Concern has a great field blog, which has been loaded with great updates about the situation in Narok. World Concern From the Field Blog. I doubt I will have much access to the internet, so this blog would be a great way to see whats going on.

Oh, and I should mention that Nairobi has been back to its old self, at least on the surface. Businesses are back to normal, the streets are full once again. The only hotspots are deep in the slums, which unfortunately is where the most vulnerable people are. But we thank God for the relative calm we’ve seen return to this city.

We try to email our newsletters to all our supporters, but we wanted to open it up to anyone who may not be on our email list. If you don’t recieve these by email and you’d like to, let us know!

Parks Newsletter #2

So with all the attention on the blog lately being on the chaos in Kenya, I’m realizing that we may be leaving people in the dark as to what we’re actually doing here these days. Yesterday, I got this note from Brian:

and people seem to be confused over what you are doing these days. i think you need a general update on the blog (done with class, starting internship, amanda still teaching, etc)

Good point, man! Actually, a lot has been happenning this last month with us. I finished a semester of classes in late December, and Amanda finished her first semester of teaching. (More on that in the Newsletter that is being sent out.) Amanda has been preparing for the new semester, which she started yesterday. Of course, school has been cancelled for the rest of the week, due to the nation-wide “mass action” protests planned for today, tomorrow and Thursday. But she is scheduled to be back into the full-swing of teaching next monday.

As for me, I’ve been busy preparing for an internship. After talking with several different Christian organizations in Nairobi, I’ve settled in with World Concern, a Christian development and relief agency. I’ll be working with them as a full-time intern until we leave for the States in June. Its amazing how things worked out with this crew. I had been talking on the phone with them for a while, before realizing that they were located about a 90-second walk from our apartment. I was also amazed to find out that they do most of their work in the Narok district, the remote area where I stayed for 4 months in 2005. It was a perfect fit.

I started on Monday, and I can tell this place will be a good fit. I’ll be working mostly with their economic development department. Its hard to tell what exactly I’ll be doing for these months, but so far it looks like I’ll spend most of my time helping with evaluating village banks in the Embu area, and helping with the process of setting up village banks in the Narok area. The whole idea of village banks (actually, they call them Financial Service Associations, or FSAs), is to make financial services available to the rural poor. FSAs give people reliable ways to save money, but they also give the poor access to small loans to start up or expand a business or farm. Its a lot like microfinance, in that it empowers the poor to be able to use their own God-given gifts and abilities to better their lives.

I’m really impressed with this organization, I’m really impressed with their focus on proclaiming the gospel through word and deed, and I’m excited about how I’ll be able to fit in with them. Like I say, I’m not exactly sure what my experience will be like yet, but i’ll keep the blog update. I may be travelling to Embu this Saturday, but it depends a lot on the situation in Kenya. This political chaos has suddenly become World Concern’s focus - they were put in charge of management of all the displacement camps in the Narok region (at least 6,000 refugees). So who knows, I might be doing work there. We’ll see.

So that’s us right now in a nut shell. We’re staying busy, and we’re excited about the opportunities God’s given us to serve here.