Kenya is predominantly Christian, but several tribal groups in the north remain largely unreached, and much of the coastal region is predominantly Muslim. Additionally, in north-eastern Kenya, in the region which is part of Greater Somalia, 90% of the population is ethnically Somali and fervently Muslim. In these areas, Christian missionaries from other parts of Kenya and converts from Islam are often attacked and killed.
In eastern Kenya, the al-Shabaab Islamist terrorist group attacks Christians, bombing churches and killing believers. In Muslim-majority areas along the coast, Christians are rejected by families and communities.
As a Somali Christian, living in Kenya, Pastor Ethan knows that he must watch out each day for signs of danger. When Ethan left Islam, he was rejected by his wife’s family, who stopped him from seeing both her and their children. Even today, some years later, the family still prevents him from seeing his eldest child.
Moving to another region for safety and to look for work, Ethan grew in faith with the help of our UK mission’s ministry partner. He started leading a congregation of believers and eventually got married again. He and his new wife Ruth have been blessed with two young children. For their personal safety they remain on the move constantly. At night Ruth sometimes wakes to look out of the window. Recently she noticed that she was being followed home. Ethan knew it was time – again – to move home to avoid a potential attack by militants.
A small cell church of about ten people meets in their home each week, where they study the Bible, share communion and enjoy fellowship. He also travels to different villages in the area to comfort and disciple new believers.
Ethan is prepared for the long haul, knowing that his family faces many other pressures. For example, at school, his children have sometimes been called names because their parents no longer follow Islam. Ruth sometimes suffers anxiety and says she would like to move to another country to avoid the constant threat of persecution. However, by the grace of God, their small congregation is growing. Ethan now has a small business that helps to support their ministry.
Pray for guidance and protection for Pastor Ethan and his family. Pray that the growing number of believers will remain steadfast.
In Hebrews 11 Vs35ff we read, ‘35…There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning;[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.’
God’s people suffer in whatever age and wherever they are because of the name they bare. Gracious God and Heavenly Father, we ask for mercy upon our brothers and sisters in Kenya who suffer from indiscriminate killings, burnings, pillaging and rapes of their communities. We ask for the perpetrators to be quietened by your love (Zephaniah 3Vs17) and for grace and forgiveness to reign in the hearts of your people. We ask you to especially prosper your ministry through Ethan and his wife Ruth and to strengthen the faith of their children that as they look to you they might know the power fo your presence in the indwelling Holy Spirit. Thank you for your word read and explained and for the dependence of your people on you. give them courage and have mercy upon them Lord. May the Government be an instrument of peace and order that your Gospel might go forward.