Please read below for an update and prayer request from Tom and Kerry Stickney, directors of African Christian Outreach (ACO):
ACO
Partners,
We would ask you to stop today and over the next few weeks/months to pray
specifically for the Stickney's & ACO Staff. Praying for safety, wisdom,
and God's hand to be upon their lives as violence in Kenya is on the rise due
to upcoming Presidential elections.
For
the Stickney's:
Tom received a text this morning at 2:45am from a fellow parents, who's
daughter is in Sydney's class. The two fathers had just spent the day together
as chaperones for a 4th grade field trip. They live a two blocks away and had
thieves enter their house around 2am armed with guns, machetes & a steel
pipe. We thank God that they woke up Sydney's friend by shinning a flashlight
in her room, but left her alone and moved onto the father room to wake him with
a gun in his face. They repeatedly beat him with the pipe until he could open
the safe and give them the money he had. The families night guard jumped the
fence when he saw the men come over the wall and only returned when the
incident was over. We praise God that they are all alive and safe, but the
incident brings the escalating violence into the neighborhood that is the
safest in Nairobi.
Incidents have been happening in and around the neighborhood the Stickney's
live in and have become for frequent as election come closer. The criminals
know that the Police are stretched very thin due to 2007 post election violence
that occurred in the country. Their "show of force" keeps them
undermanned in areas that are normally staffed. Tom received tweets today from
the Red Cross reporting that gangs were throwing rocks at passing cars in an
area where he visits regularly and road blocks set up by tribal gangs on roads
leading to a shopping center the Stickney's frequently use.
First, pray for safety. Safety for the Stickney's as they sleep at
night and come and go during the day. The compound has several lines of defense
with a wall, electric wire, metal and wooden doors into the house, and two
night guards with a backup silent alarm that can be triggered. With all the
precautions in place, instances still happen like the family mentioned
above.
Second, pray
for wisdom. The Stickney's must decide with the help of the ACO Board of
Directors if they should evacuate the country before and during the elections
the first week of March. Several other mission and aid agency's are requiring
their personal to leave, some for an entire months of March and April, but the
Stickney's don't want Sydney and Raegan to miss too much school and to be away
for the ACO staff team for too long. (The school is closed Monday-Wednesday of
election week). They would not evacuate due to the violence expected between
tribes, but because of the increased risk of home innovations, carjackings and
violence in typically safer neighborhoods due to the lack of police
presence.
For
ACO Staff:
Staff are spread across the country on their campus ministry sites. The areas
they live in are filled with all different tribes and are hot spots for tribal
post election violence to erupt. In 2007 families were pulled from their homes
and beaten because of their tribe. So many Kenyans had to flee their
generational homes and have never returned.
First, pray
for safety as staff continue to work with students up until campuses
close just prior to elections. Staff will stay put, stock up and lay low in the
weeks following the elections. Pray that the Lord will put His angels around
their houses and apartments. Pray that other families of different tribes will
choose to live in peace and harmony when violence erupts in their areas.
Second, pray
for wisdom as staff decide when to leave their homes to run to the
store for groceries or to collect wood for cooking. The country is expected to
have water, electrical, fuel and sugar shortages post election.
For
Virginia Home Orphanage:
Pray for these beautiful, innocent souls as one of ACO partner ministries
decides how best to protect the children that live in the home. ACO staff that
work at the orphanage will be unable to stay because of their tribe.
Thank
You for Your Prayers! We will try to keep you updated as much as possible.
Tom Stickney
Executive Director
African Christian
Outreach
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