8 Open your mouth for the mute,
Proverbs 31:8-9
for the rights of all who are destitute.
9 Open your mouth, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
I learned two important things on the same day, something that I’m sure was not a coincidence.
- First, that the nation with the fastest growing Christian population is currently Kenya. My response was surprise, and praise God!
- Second, that after the October 17, 2021 lynching of 4 older widows as “witches” – an occurrence that has been increasing and currently happens an average of 6 times a month in Kenya – a coalition of 22 organizations has called upon the government of Kenya to enact and enforce legislation to put an end to this practice. I was horrified, and when I prayed about it I was called by God to write this post.
One of the 22 signatories to the call for action is the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya (IRCK). According to it’s website,
“The major faith communities in Kenya that constitute IRCK are the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK), the Organisation of African Instituted Churches (OAIC), the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA), the Supreme Council of Kenyan Muslims (SUPKEM), the National Muslim Leaders Forum (NAMLEF), the Shia Ithnasharia Muslim Association and the Hindu Council of Kenya (HCK). Each of these religious coordinating agencies has a national coverage with structures that ensure reach at the grassroots level. Additionally, IRCK has formed local inter-faith networks to act as platforms for local advocacy and action in the counties.”
According to the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya‘s website,
“The Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK) is the national Umbrella organization for evangelical churches in Kenya. It was established in 1975 as Evangelical Fellowship of Kenya under the auspices of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa and Madagascar (AEAM) which has since its name to association of Evangelicals in Africa.
“The Alliance currently has a membership of 52 denominations most of which have a national presence that are spread throughout the country. The total membership Of the evangelicals is estimated at 10 million in about 38,000 congregations and make up approximately 32% of the Kenya population.”
With all these faith groups as signatories to this call for action in the nation with the fastest-growing Christian population in the world, it seems likely that many Christian organizations we touch have or support missions in Kenya.
And that’s where Proverbs 31:8-9 comes in.
God’s Word doesn’t tell us to look the other way and let someone else deal with it.
It instructs us to, “Open your mouth, judge righteously; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
So ask yourself, what can _I_ do?
The first thing is to educate ourselves about the issue. It’s complicated, and needs us to educate ourselves about the details in order to judge righteously. But then again, the killing of older women after their husbands die is not complicated. It’s wrong.
Then we can look at our local church or para-church organizations with which we are involved, including those we support with financial generosity. We can ask questions of the organizations with which we are involved. What do they know about this situation? How are they addressing it? How can I help?
We can certainly all pray for all who are at risk, and for those who are putting them at risk. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke both record Jesus telling us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
And finally, we can pray for God’s guidance to know what else He wants us to do about this situation.
And when He reveals that to us, we can do what He said.
GodChild 