Kenya

Please pray for Kenya as there is currently much violence and social unrest in this nation - the most recent report sadly noted more than 300 deaths. This violence errupted after the elections on 27 December as an outpouring of opposition against President Kibaki's re-election. Opposition groups, specifically the ODM (Orange Democratic Movement), representing the Luo tribe argue that the election was fixed and they are now retaliating against Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe. The persons being killed are innocent men, women, and children who are associated with the "wrong" tribe. Other victims/targets include police officers or Kibaki supporters of any tribe. Honestly, in the midst of such chaos, everyone is in danger. The photo above is a woman mourning in front of a church where 30 people were trapped and burned to death in Eldoret, Kenya on Tuesday, 1 January.

For more and/or the latest details, you can visit http://www.reuters.com/ .

Some ways you can pray:

• For an end to this violence
• For our Lord to capture and change the hearts of those who are retaliating
• For protection - specifically for the women and children
• For God to be at work in the hearts of Kenya's leaders
• For the Christians in Kenya to remain strong in their faith

A prayer from John Piper,

"O Lord, the suffering in the world is so widespread and the pain is so great. Have mercy, and waken the souls of suffering millions to the hope of some relief now and unsurpassed joy in the age to come. Send your church, O God, with relief and with the word of the Gospel that there is forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ and that no suffering here is worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to the children of God."