Of Beauty and Brokenness

Life continues to fly by here in Bungoma. The longer I am here, the more overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of this place. Most of my time is spent outside of the busy Bungoma town up in the many villages north of my home here. Almost everyone works in agriculture in these villages, and there are countless small farms filled with sugarcane, corn, beans, amaranth, banana trees, and all the rest planted on beautiful rolling hills as far as the eye can see. Throughout the day you can see the many village people out in the farms, planting, harvesting, and weeding these farms by hand (think National Geographic special, and you've got the right idea). Because land is scarce here (Western province has some of the highest population densities of anywhere in the world), crops are often planted all the way up to the road. This leaves the billions of chickens that live here to roam the streets, and the cattle to graze in the small strips of grass right along the road. The sunsets, which are almost always mixed with coming rains, are absolutely stunning. During the early evening, I often climb on top of the roof of my house to watch the sun go down, and to spend some time alone at the end of what almost always proves to be an exhausting day. The last two weekends, Brandon, Lily, and I have also been able to take some hikes up some local mountains, and really seen the beauty of God's creation here.

But there is also great brokenness here. In almost every focus group interview I've conducted, food scarcity and hunger have been major topics of discussion. If the weather turns bad, or pests attack the crops, or if the market prices fall, the same beautiful people who are so quick to offer me a cup of tea or a meal, may spend months at a time struggling to have more than a meal a day, if that. Furthermore, I have been overwhelmed by the violent conflicts that we read about every day in the papers. I am not sure how much of this is being published in the news at home, but recently, a violent religious sect known as the Mungiki have been brutally murdering innocent people in random acts of violence. Almost every day we hear of new killings. I have been somewhat overwhelmed by the inability of these gross acts of injustice to be stopped. Then this past week, in an effort to put up a strong front, police officers ravaged a Nairobi slum which was believed to be a haven for Mungiki members. The police brutally beat members of the slum at random, looted food and beverages from local kiosks, forced slum dwellers to destroy their own homes so that they could search them for weapons, and shot and killed 14 "suspects" without trial or due process, many of whom, according to newspaper reports, had already surrendered. All of this is happening at a great distance from where I live and work, so I am in no danger. But I have been overwhelmed by this great injustice and tragedy, by the violence of those claiming to be religious, and by the wanton violent injustice and murder of innocents by those who are supposed to protect the people. Please pray for the violence in central Kenya to stop, and for justice to "roll down like water" on those who have committed such crimes. I debated whether to put these stories on my blog, but Christ calls us to mourn with those who mourn, and to intercede on behalf of the oppressed. Too often, we try to overspiritualize the struggles and sufferings of Christ's people in the world; too often we try to overspiritualize what it is Christ calls us to do on behalf of the oppressed and the poor. But Isaiah makes it clear that God is looking for someone to "stand in the gap," to stand up for the oppressed and marginalized of this world. I am struggling, in the face of injustice like what has happened these past weeks in Central Kenya, on what that means for my life. Again, I want to emphasize that I am in no danger (if there was violence in Las Vegas, we in Memphis wouldn't be concerned. It's a similar situation), but I do ask that you would include a prayer for peace and justice for the people of Kenya in your prayers for me and my trip.

Research continues to go along swimmingly. For you com devers, I've even had the groups playing with magic beans (check out the picture). I'm having alot of fun with this part, and it is such a joy to hear how people working together have been able to improve their lives, and the lives of their communities. Many of the groups I met these last two weeks spend many of their resources, which are meager to begin with, on serving the widows and orphans of their communities. Seeing such generosity among those who have so little has been so challenging and encouraging.

Keep me in your prayers, and drop me an email at rhodes@covenant.edu I miss all ya'll.

Peace,

rhodes