In our community, like everybody else in the country, we had prayed and prayed for the general elections. On the 15th of December when most of us left for the holidays, there were only twelve days before the elections and like most Kenyans we could smell change in the air.
It was now a month after the general elections. The violence which followed after the general elections was no longer news even to toddlers. The delay in announcing of the results and the disputes which emerged after the announcement had seen the face of Kenya deformed. Many people had lost their lives, many lost their relatives and property, and thousands had been displaced, forcing them to camp in churches, schools, stadiums and police stations in different parts of the country. Even our confreres were not spared.
It was saddening to remember that one of us had been harassed in Kisumu, where he had gone for his holiday. Although after returning from the holiday he had made jokes about the incident, moments would come that he would remember the little cash and poor cell phone that he had lost during the fracas. Many of us had consoled him by joking that the incident had given him a chance to be flown back to Nairobi when he would have had to travel back by road if nothing had happened to him. The jokes had however died down with time after the post electoral violence continued consuming more lives and displacing more people hence proofing that it was no longer something to joke about. Prayers for peace were being held almost all parts of the country and thanks be to God their fruits were being realised in different forms. The wave of violence was dying down and the Kofi Annan led reconciliation committee was moving closer to achieving a peace deal. In the community we had intensified our prayers for peace and some donations of clothes and other items were being made.
Although many people could have thought it differently, we knew that nothing happens by chance and that ultimately the will of God always takes place. It was this view of things that reminded us of our duty in the event – praying, fasting and alms giving. After discussing how we were to participate in the inter-seminary and the Allamano youth day, we embarked on planning how the donated items would reach the affected people. The following day the community saw some representatives take cartons of clothes and balls of child play to the displaced people camping at the Jamuhuri park. The office of the National Alliance of Churches that received the items was very appreciative of the kind heart the community had shown by thinking of the affected people.
