Kenya Crisis Update

January 16, 2008

Thank you so much for your encouraging emails and your faithful prayers. Here is an update on the situation in Kenya:

Today, Wednesday the 16th of January was the first day of the 3 day Mass Action Protest against the government. In Nairobi it poured rain all morning which seemed to have answered our prayers keeping the protestors in their homes. Things were calm until about 4pm when the rains stopped. There were groups demonstrating protests in a couple of slums in Nairobi but the police kept them under control. The opposition party pentagon members did go up to the Uhuru Park in the city center to hold a demonstration but they were dispersed by tear gas and military soldiers. An opposition leader was injured which seems to have fueled her determination to protest more, as she announced that the protests will continue tomorrow and Friday. Meanwhile, in other parts of Kenya, demonstrations were held. The police intervened, attempting to disperse the crowds. In the process some protestors were injured. In total 4 people died as a result of the Mass Action Protests today.

Please pray demonstrations will not take place tomorrow and that God would protect His people in Kenya. Pray for more rain.

Last Sunday we had over 180 adults and over 300 kids show up at our church. I taught about Jesus feeding the 5000 (John 6) and shared the Gospel with the congregation. 10 people accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior that! Praise the Lord!

We distributed Maize flour which is used to make the staple food Ugali. It was fitting given title of the Sunday message, "Jesus the Bread of Life". For the Kenyans Jesus Christ is the Ugali of Life!

We had planned on doing another food distribution on Tuesday of this week and were brainstorming on the best way to have this food distribution take place in an orderly manner. So we decided to give out vouchers (which were gospel tracks) to the people in the congregation who were in need of food.

On Tuesday the food distribution took place very smoothly and orderly. We hired 4 security guards who allowed 10 people in at a time to receive food. The rest of the crowd had to line up outside the church door awaiting their turn. It took us 3 times longer to distribute the food but it was much safer for us and wasn’t a disturbance to the businesses around us. Praise the Lord!

Thank you so much for supporting this relief effort. I want to thank you on behalf of the people of the body of CC Nairobi and the community in the surrounding area. Please continue praying that the Food distribution will take place peacefully.

~ In Christ,
  David Zavala

If you feel led by the Lord to provide financial support for the basic needs of our church congregates, please click here or call our office at (951) 677-4474 or by mail:

FRM - US Headquarters
41685 Date Street, Suite 101
Murrieta, CA 92562
Please write Kenya Relief in the notes.