A Sobering Moment

So on landing back home, November 2007, just before the elections…. Would you believe it! there were all the signs that something was likely to go terribly wrong. But really, it couldn’t… This was Kenya, the ‘Island of Peace’, what could go wrong? we thought.

A lot, it turned out! We were treated to a side of ourselves we had never seen, or had hoped never to see. The fire that had been smouldering all along now had flared. So like the good Kenyans we are we prayed, man did we pray!

I remember being holed up in my house for the whole period of chaos and subsequent talks. But I also remember something else - the prayers seemed to be working. Through a rather muddled, difficult period and negotiations, God seemed to do amazing things right before our eyes and slowly turned our beloved country around.

Kenyans prayed, wherever they were. Even before I left the UK that year I had begun to pray over the elections. Everyone following events back home knew it was time for divine intervention.

The good thing with our nation is that we still collectively believe in God and divine intervention, so leaders from all walks of life called for prayer days and people responded. We fasted and prayed. At one time I remember crying out and saying, ‘God please do something. I’m hungry, tired and sleepy, I can’t do this much longer.’ See we hardly slept, I felt guilty when I woke up in the middle of the night to be asleep when my country was tearing itself apart, so I’d jump right out of bed and go pray. Ever doubted the power of prayer? Once you’ve experienced it you never doubt again.

My country lost something that year - her innocence. We were humbled as a nation. We would no longer lecture our neighbours with our noses in the air about peace and order. We would think twice before using that term ‘Island of Peace’ again. We had been stripped of pride and haughtiness, and were now the laughingstock of the world - oh and the world press loved it!

Sure, we had witnessed election flare-ups since the 90s in a few sections of the Rift, but never since the struggle for independence had Kenya seen chaos or risen against their neighbours on such a scale.

I firmly believe Kenyans love each other. Otherwise how had we existed for over 40years so peacefully side by side? But with our complex ethnic mix it’s easy for a few people to exploit this diversity which has otherwise always been our strength. And that’s exactly what happened in 2007.

Our country is back on track and we’re busy pursuing a new Constitution (something we’ve done for the last 20 years, but that’s a topic for another day).

To all good Kenyans I say, never stop praying for this land. That way where you and I are unable to intervene, God Himself will work it out for us. Where we don’t seem to have any direct influence, we will exert spiritual influence, which is way above all the power and money the world can afford. We may not be in positions of earthly power, but in prayer we pool together a power irresistible to all human wisdom.

Our image is slowly being restored though image is subjective. People come to us for what we can offer, not for what they’ve heard. Otherwise why are some perpetually conflict countries doing so well in both economy and tourism? Think about that.

So we shouldn’t get caught up in trying to prove ourselves too much to the world. We just need to be and do our thing, the good and beneficial things, and the world will come. It’s all about ‘what’s in it for me’ people!

Hopefully now we know where we never want to find ourselves again, and what we need to do to stop it from ever happening again.

We always need a country to come back to, a land we can call our own by natural right. Thus it’s imperative that Kenyans never find themselves in another country as forced refugees. If we do go away, please let it be by choice….