ONE BODY, ONE HOPE, ONE LORD

In 2000 the U.S. presidential election was very close with the results contested and sent to the courts in Florida. Kenyan people watched the process and asked, "How could your country avoid riots and chaos in such a disputed election?" To Americans, used to seeing difficult issues settled under the rule of law, the questions were hard to understand . . . until the Kenyan elections of December, 2007. Because of the controversial tallying procedures and widespread claims of fraud in an election in which the announced results were very close, Kenya has experienced violence and upheaval that has left thousands homeless, nearly 1000 killed.

This week, Thursday, February 7, the last of our girls, Violet, returned to Faith House from what were supposed to be Christmas holiday celebrations with families in their upcountry homes. Today, Gretchen, our resident director, was due to be back in Kenya. The girls have returned to their schools and life seems to be almost normal. But we can't help but wonder what scars have been left in the memories of these young women.

At the very least, they have watched T.V. news showing their country torn apart. One girl reported that she was safe but she "worried where we are heading. Please continue to pray for peace and calmness." Others in relatively safe places remained glued to video clips of the violence, trying to comprehend that this could be happening in their beautiful, stable country. One of our girls watched as members of a particular tribe were dragged off of a bus to be beaten, simply because of the tribe of their birth. Another told the story of her grandmother's home being burned. On at least two occasions, Kikuyu mobs swept through Mwiki, the town in which Faith House is located, looking for Luos and Luhyas-- Mwiki is largely Kikuyu. Hellen, our national assistant, is Luhya . . . her young daughter was terrified, afraid for her life. The family slept very little those nights, wondering how secure their gate actually was. But even as Hellen sent SMS descriptions of the events, the stories were grounded with "we are trusting God for all of this" and expressions of confidence that God had hidden them when they had to walk through mobs, almost as though invisible.

When Juliah returned from harrowing experiences fleeing from her home in Eldoret, hiding for some days in the police barracks, being taken on evacuation bus from Eldoret to Nakuru, and finally being able to return to Faith House, she was told that her Mwiki "family" had been watching the events on the news. "But did you see," she asked, "the heads of people who had been hacked to death?" I pray for forgetfulness . . . no young person should have to live with such memories.

Violet was the last of the girls to return to Faith House. Her home is in far western Kenya where the violence has been most intense. For several weeks we were out of contact with her, wondering if she were okay, praying. Two weeks ago she called . . . she was in Nakuru but was unable to come to Nairobi because the buses would not travel through Naivasha . . . too much fighting. On Thursday, Violet finally reached Mwiki safely. The SMS read, "Girls are screaming because Violet just arrived home now. Glory be to God!" So many miracles in that simple message . . . of course, there is the miracle of safe return . . . but there is also a miracle in the fact of the girls' joyful screaming: Violet is Luo. Most of the girls in Faith House are Kikuyu. Though the violence in Kenya has been largely along tribal lines, these girls live together, work together, play together, pray together, study the Bible together. They struggle, sometimes, to deal with their normal "sisterly" conflicts and to solve their problems peacefully. And in the process, the girls of Faith House have learned to love each other. They are learning that they are truly one body, one family in our Lord Jesus Christ.