Kenya Mobs Burn Churches, Target Christians
By Heather Sells
CBN News Reporter
January 5, 2008
CBNNews.com - In Kenya, mobs burned two churches when political riots swept the country.Church leaders said some of their colleagues made the mistake of backing political parties. But now they've come together to restore peace.
The normally stable country of Kenya has now joined the ranks of so many of its African neighbors.
This week--unheard of violence literally shut down the streets.
Almost 300 have died and 100,000 are displaced.
The country is also divided ethnically, leading some to fear a repeat of the genocide that shook Africa 15 years ago.
Christians have been targets, too.
Mobs burned a church and other buildings in the western town of Eldoret, leading locals, aid workers and missionaries to evacuate.
A second church burned on Thursday, this time in Kibera--Nairobi's infamous slum of 1 million.
Church leaders say some churches took sides before the election--which has sparked the mobs' anger.
Nairobi pastor David Oginde says church leaders have now come together to call for peace.
"At the local level we are trying to put together the church leaders to forge a common front so that both parties can see the church is united across the divide," he said.
Kenyan churches are working across denominational lines to bring humanitarian relief to refugees.
But as ethnic suspicions deepen, church leaders face the challenge of reconciliation, even within their own congregations.
With predictions of civil war by some activists, leaders know their work to unify the church is critical to this country's future--long known as an island of stability in a continent riddled with conflict.
The violence has left hundreds of U.S. missionaries based in Kenya home-bound this week as well.
Africa Inland Mission says it's closely monitoring the situation in case it needs to evacuate its people.
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