The rains down in Africa (Toto song reference there)

I think I've mentioned before that Kenya has been experiencing a severe drought for the past 5 years. I've learned that "drought" here has a lot more implications that in does in the States. I've experienced droughts in Charlotte, and the biggest results in my life were not being able to wash my car or having to be careful driving a boat around the lake, but a drought in Kenya is an entirely different story. Many families here literally eat what they can grow on their family "shambas," or farms, and many other families survive by selling corn or vegetables and raising cattle. Essentially, a major portion of the livelihood of this country is dependent on farming or cattle - both of which are extremely dependent on the availability of water.

Over the past five years, the once-dependable rainy seasons have failed to materialize. Even in the few months that I have been here, I've witnessed countless cases of dried up, half-grown corn and skinny cattle driven by even-skinner herders. This has led to a serious food crisis, and stories can be found in the news every day of Kenya's entreaties to the UN or other international aid organizations for food provisions for its starving people.

About a month ago, though, the attitude of the country toward rain changed drastically. Meteorologists changed their tune from lamenting the lack of rain to warning that an El Nino rainy season was coming this month. Their predictions turned out to be true, and in the last few weeks almost all parts of the country have seen rain in abundant proportions. In many cases this is great news, and something to be thankful for! The grazing lands of the Rift Valley and western Kenya are turning green, and herds of cattle have water to drink and grass to eat. The farms of central Kenya and the Highlands have dark brown soil again, and hopes are high for a good harvest to come. Other parts of the country, though, have not been so lucky. The coast is currently experiencing serious flooding - whole towns near the Indian Ocean are under water, thousands of people have been displaced, and already reports of deaths are coming in. In other mountainous areas, people have been killed by mudslides and others are running away from their fields (where they could finally be expecting a harvest) because of fears that flooding and mudslides would destroy them and their homes.

It seems to be such a cruel irony - that this country could go from a devastating drought to dangerous floods in the span of a few short weeks. No one knows how long these rains will last, or when the next ones will come, so I would ask all of you to pray for the country of Kenya right now. Pray that people would be safe facing these flood conditions. Pray that Kenya would be able to take advantage of this rain and produce food to feed the many hungry mouths. Pray that at some point this climate would stabilize and a normal cycle could resume. Pray that the people of this country would realize that much of the drought problems are due to environmental degradation, see the bigger picture, and work to reverse the horrible destruction they have brought on the forests and water reservoirs.

At the same time, thank God for the rain. Right now it seems like the problems are huge, but it is a welcome change from a never-ending drought. Thank God for opening people's eyes to the reality that so much of life is dependent on things that we can't control, and pray that this will produce a trust and faith that we all need. Thank God for all of the volunteers who are helping those displaced by the flooding or mudslides, and pray that Kenyan believers would use this as an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ.

Oh behalf of all the people of Kenya, thank you so much for your continued prayers!