The Boyd Family

 

Hello and how are you all? This is just a quick update to let you know how things are here and also to keep you up to date with our prayer needs. We are all well and thank you very much for the many emails many of you have sent, offering us encouragement and prayer support. We very much appreciate it all.

 

Andrew  is back at work and is "getting on" with things in the office. He is planning the next few months audits and also catching up with events in the office. MAF continue to fly in Kenya, flying some pre-arranged bookings as well as flying to assist in the aftermath of the initial unrest in Kenya after the elections of the 27th December.

So what is happening in Kenya?

 

Life is much calmer here, but there are many different activities going on and the country remains tense. The political situation is still very volatile with outbreaks of violence happening around Nairobi and the rest of the country.

 

President Kibaki announced his government on Tuesday and his Vice President was named as Kilonzo - who came 3rd in the Presidential race. As we understand it Kibaki and Kilonzo together have enough MPs to make a coalition Government but neither separately has as many as Odinga (who has claimed to the the President Elect). Odinga and his ODM party does not have an overall majority though but is the party with the largest number of MPS so it ought to be him who forms the (Coalition) Govt we understand. . Margaret (our house lady) told me this morning that more people are leaving the city to go up country to avoid the expected unrest. Our guard too is concerned about next week. It seems to be the main topic of conversation around the city. It appears that the place Margaret and the guard live in - Kawangware - is more settled now and the threat from the Munkiki tribe of killing people in Kawangware has subsided.

There are still many people who are displaced. The Red Cross has set up a Displaced Persons camp at a local Park and are providing shelter and food for those who do not wish to return to Kibera - or who are unable to return.

Jean also heard some very sad news this week too. Kipepeo, the card making project she has been helping at in Kibera, was burned to the ground during the riots. As far as she knows the ladies are safe.

 She has heard for definite that 3 ladies are still with family in their

Villages (they She has heard for definite that 3 ladies are still with family in their cannot return to Nairobi due to travel restrictions within the country and a lack of public transport at present), 3 ladies are safe in Kibera (though 1 lady - Jayne and her family are spending the nights at the Red Cross Camp because it is not safe where she lives). She has not heard how the others are. The building that housed Kipepeo was a rented property and all of the stock and equipment was destroyed. When Jean spoke with Wambui (the lady in charge) this week, Wambui was uncertain if they would look for new premises just now or wait to see if the situation changes.

 

This week Jon Parson and his team (www.tptrust.org) have been

continuing to distribute food to "People in most need" within Kibera. Jean and another lady called Fiona and several members of Jon's staff have been helping. Jean has been involved in the buying of the food/collecting food from shops, transporting it and distributing it to about 150 families in Kibera. The distribution itself takes place outside Kibera, in a nearby shopping area, which has been providing security. Today however the distribution did not go well. Too many people

arrived for food and the management have asked us not to distribute food there any more. Jon hopes to find a new venue for this

distribution before the next distribution on Sunday.

There are many prayer points here - a reminder of a few:

 

• Give thanks for a fairly settled week
• Give thanks that God is control
• Please pray for Kenya and for a peaceful solution to the     unrest.
• Pray for Andrew and other MAF personnel as they travel to work and for many of the national staff who live in Kibera. Pray for those flying, pray for safety as they fly.
• Pray for the ladies who work at Kipepeo, for safety and for new premises to be found at the right time
• Pray that God will show Jon where to find a suitable venue for Sunday's food distribution if it is His will
• Pray for the boys as they return to school next week
• Pray for Jean as she tries to study

Sorry this is not all good news. It seems as if Kenya is still very much an unsettled country. Many thanks for your prayers

Andrew, Jean, Andrew J, Fraser and Iain

 

Jean, Andrew J, Fraser and Iain Boyd

andrew.boyd@maf-europe.org MAF, PO Box 21123, Nairobi,, Kenya'