NAIROBI, Kenya (ABP) — In spite of a wave of violence that has swept through Kenya over the last few weeks, Baptist groups are proceeding cautiously as they go back to work in the chaotic nation.
Classes began as scheduled Jan. 14 at the Kenya campus of Wayland Baptist University, a Texas-based Baptist school.
Staff of the Baptist charity group Buckner International, meanwhile, have confirmed the safety of children housed at Nairobi's Baptist Children's Center and in foster homes.
Several other Baptist groups provided emergency care for displaced people after a disputed presidential election and allegations of voting fraud caused violent outbursts around the new year.
Nationwide, at least 600 people have been killed and more than a quarter of a million displaced, according to official reports. Unofficial sources cited even larger numbers.
The Wayland campus, which offers classes along with Kenya Baptist Theological College, became a temporary shelter for about 200 of the refugees.
Richard Shaw, dean of the Kenya campus and director of the Wayland Mission Center, arrived in Kenya Jan. 13. So far, students there are safe, he said.
“At this point, most of our students have arrived on the campus and are diligently studying,” Shaw said in a Jan. 15 e-mail. “During tea times and meals, the students sit glued to the TV set in the dining hall, alert to any news of conflict.”
In another e-mail, Shaw characterized students as “clearly preoccupied, anxious about families and friends they have left behind, some in distant and dangerous places.”
The greatest need students face is fuel, and their greatest challenge is transportation, he added.
“Three of our students have not been able to attend [class] because no fuel whatsoever can be found in their districts,” Shaw said. “One of our students had to walk here, about 100 kilometers” (62 miles).
In his online blog, Buckner President Ken Hall posted periodic updates from his agency's staff in Kenya during the last few weeks.
In a Jan. 11 posting, he quoted an e-mail received from one employee: “The situation in Kenya seems to be returning back to normal, but there is so much tension around … so keep praying.”
Buckner officials have created a Kenya relief fund “to answer the needs of food, clothing, supplies, health care and housing repairs and construction for both the children in our care and the neighborhoods where we provide ministry.”
Other Baptist groups are working to help victims of the violence. Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance, sent $10,000 to the All Africa Baptist Fellowship for relief work in Kenya. The group sent another $5,000 to Uganda to provide for Kenyan refugees who have fled to that nation.
Baptist Global Response — a Southern Baptist international relief and development organization — provided $25,000 to relief in Kenya from the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund. The Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board coordinated efforts to help distribute food to 2,500 Kenyan families in seven cities.
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Read more:
Christians in Kenya analyze violence, administer aid, as unrest continues (01/09/2008)
Kenya violence affects Wayland students
(01/04/2008)
Buckner postpones Kenya trips due to political unrest (01/04/2008)
Election-spurred ethnic strife leads to arson massacre in Kenya church (01/03/2008)