Thank you for the opportunity that some of us had in visiting among Kenyan Friends in August. In a country where so many have so little, they consider greetings a gift. The Kenyans realize something we often forget….the gift of keeping a friendship alive. And so we greeted them from the Wabash Friends Church wherever we went and they responded with smiles of joy and asked that we in turn give you their greetings. So…the above greetings are for you.
As they would say, “Be blessed.”

God is working in Kenya and Wabash Friends has been a part of this for many years. Thanks from us and from the Kenyan workers at Friends Theological College, Kaimosi Hospital, Lugulu Hospital, and the Turkana Friends Mission for the t-shirts sent with us for them. (Please see the letter from Kaimosi Hospital and the picture of some of the staff at FTC in the Missions Display case in the lobby of the church.) The t-shirts were a tangible affirmation of the prayers and support given to them by Wabash Friends.

As you probably remember, Kenya became a battleground of brothers and tribes fighting, killing and burning homes after the national election results were announced in early January 2008. There are still many in IDP (internally displaced people) camps around the country. Violence is still a threat and concern for the country as they face the 2012 election. Because of this, the Kenyan Quakers asked for a peace curriculum based on the truth of Scripture. Even though the government has hurriedly written a curriculum to teach peace and non-violent means to solve problems, it did not include a Scripture basis for peace. George Fox University has taken the challenge from the Kenyan Quakers to help the headmasters and head teachers in the 350 Friends’ high schools to develop a Christ-centered curriculum approach to peace. And Mary Glenn Hadley, Marlene Pedigo and Charlotte Stangeland of Iowa have been writing peace curriculum for the over 1,000 primary schools.

The Kenyan Principals and Head Teachers reviewed the curriculum purposes and outlines of the lessons. We were thrilled to see that representatives from 13 of the 15 yearly meetings came to the workshops for at least one day of the editing/informational workshops. While Charlotte and Sandy were leading workshops, John Muhanji, the Director of the Africa Ministries Office, was allowed a visit to the National Ministry of Education where the curriculum was given approval and the blessing of the Minister of Education. What a joy it is to be a part of this national effort to teach peace as the Scriptures outline peace! They told us, “The test will be in 2012.” And so we pray that this curriculum which will be integrated into the national curriculum will have a lasting effect on the peace in Kenya.

And, thirdly, we wanted to introduce the Kenyan Friends’ mission work to some others in our church who would come alongside us to promote better relationships with the Kenyan Christians. Please stop by the missions display case in the lobby to gain a visual image of some of your Kenyan brothers and sisters in Christ. They feel blessed that you have reached out to them!