The violence that troubled Kenya at the beginning of this year (leaving 1,500 dead and 600,000 homeless and/or displaced) has long since faded away. However, the rift among tribes continues below the surface. Only by allowing both rival parties to win (through a power-sharing agreement) was the bloodbath halted.
Meanwhile, many of our members there have been impacted by a seasonal drought. Their crops failed and they have been unable to grow food or purchase it without assistance. World prices of food, seed, fertilizer and petrol have all skyrocketed, and Kenya's 20 percent inflation rate further compounds the situation.
A Good Works project to assist the members there with supplemental food is listed on the UCG Web site at www.ucg.org/goodworks .
During July Tim Waddle and his wife, Valerie, will visit the region. Some of the items on his agenda include leadership training, Festival logistics assessment and congregational visits.
A meeting with leaders of a group that left WCG years ago and attended with another affiliation is also scheduled. They have formally requested to be part of United. Their additional numbers could potentially swell Feast attendance this year and may dictate a change of venue. Thankfully, a suitable site has become available at a price that would be considerably less per person than in previous years
