The Word of Peace

Man waves a machete in Nakuru, Kenya. 1-27-08 SKY News

I'm not preaching today. That's unusual. Rare. I preach 4 times a week, or more, at least 50 times a year. I've not preached for two weeks... it's been a good break and I've enjoyed listening to God's Word as our son John and our friend, Pastor Dean Witkop, have shared my regular preaching schedule. God has blessed us.

But I should have been preaching... in Kenya... but the church was burned to the ground. Today, Sunday, January 27, we would have been wrapping up our Nairobi crusade after preaching in Kibera. The church is gone. The crusade would have been the same as last years- outside in a parking lot in the market place with large loud speakers, followed by the Jesus Film. The market places have been burned to the ground. Curfews are in place. The only crowds that are gathering - gather with machetes, bow and arrow, rocks in hand... hearts filled with anger. Even funerals for those killed in the rioting have quickly become flashpoints of violence and death.

The Word of Peace seems to be silenced... but God is not dead or deaf to our prayers.

Religious leaders from across Kenya are building a coalition of faith, crying out for peace. Spiritual leaders from around the world with a heart for Kenya are flying into the storm with a heart to serve. And the church, too often silent in times of crisis... so quiet as Rwanda faced her day of reckoning... is in prayer... praying for peace... praying for God to show how we can serve in this miserable moment for Kenya.

People fight poverty around the world. Violence happens in silence to children, women, the elderly, the disabled, the disenfranchised in every nation... in America. Jesus walked almong "the least of these..." and promised that when we did the same, we were serving Him. Christ has placed Kenya in our hearts but you don't have to go to Kenya to meet the need. Each of us live in community's filled with those in need of The Word of Peace in their time of heartbreak, loss, confusion, pain, poverty, hunger, anger, sin... and when it seems the skies are silent and we get no immediate response, God is working - in us - we're the one that prayed. He longs to give us a heart to serve and a willingness to share ourselves with those far from His Peace- wherever they live -whatever the reason.

May you richly experience The Peace of God today.

blessings,

Eric