"The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15).
We are on the verge of something big. We have been presented with a great opportunity; one that can change hundreds of thousands of lives in Mathare.
Over the past few weeks, different forces have been quietly but very aggressively at work in Mathare. For about seven years now a group of people known as the “Mungiki” have been working to take over Mathare and many other areas of Kenya. They first appeared as a harmless sect teaching that we must turn back to our traditional culture and way of worship. They rejected Christianity as the religion of the white man, and believed in traditions such as circumcision for females. With time they increased in number. With many unemployed youth having become members they needed a way to sustain themselves. They presented themselves as “angels of light” and stopped all crime in Mathare in a matter of months by forming patrol groups and informal “courts” that solved local disputes. Mathare, once a place where people were robbed in broad daylight, became one of the safest places in Nairobi. This came with a price, every household had to pay them a monthly “security fee” and woe to those who did not. People accepted this and the Mungiki were established. They soon came up with many ways of extortion.
Our (members of Lepta) first major encounter with them was when all of us were members of the teen’s class in a Mathare church. At that time they issued a decree that girls were not allowed to wear trousers and that they must be circumcised. We knew that this was no empty threat. We had seen what they had done to those who dared to disobey them. We were young then (still are) but one thing we knew was how to pray. And so we prayed and prayed and prayed. God answered our prayer and the day they had set to carry out their decree came and went. And that matter has never come up again.
Now they have arisen again. They recently started forcing men and boys to convert to their sect. They take you by force to their meeting places, strip you naked and beat you up. They then insist that you must become one of them and take you through their rituals. At any point that you hesitate they beat you up mercilessly and start the process all over again. They then insist that since you have converted you must follow their rules and lead your family in doing so. One of their key rules is that you must not go to church. The punishment for breaking their rules or telling anyone about what they have done is death. A month ago they did this to one of our parents.
Like before, we did what we know best, we prayed. We asked God that He must now completely remove them from Mathare and we got the assurance that He would but only if we prayed. A few days after we had prayed some of their leaders were arrested. This past week they went on a rampage disguised as angels of light, they stopped the brewing of illicit liquor. Since then one of the strangest sights ever has been seen in Mathare; no drunks. (One thing you can bet your life on finding at any time of the day in Mathare is a drunk). Their objective was not to really do away with drinking but rather to control it and raise money from it. Demand for money from brewers to be allowed to continue was met by violence. Their offices and businesses were destroyed and their members beaten up. That was Sunday (5th) morning. Late afternoon everything went quiet: the lull before the storm. You could sense the tension in the air and see the fear in the eyes of people. The one question on everybody’s mind was what would happen when darkness fell. What would be the retaliation of the dreaded Mungiki? It probably started with a few families but soon they were in their hundreds. Roads were soon filled with people moving from Mathare. By eight at night some areas must have looked like a ghost town. Hundreds slept out in the cold with their few belongings. To make matters worse, it rained. Mothers were with their children out in the cold with no shelter, no food, and no security. By nine at night we could hear screams and gunshots fill the air as police were came in to disperse the gathering Mungiki. That was Sunday, today (Tuesday) the violence still continues and more and more are moving out. In defiance, the brewers are back in business.
In the midst of such darkness you wonder where to start. Yet Mungiki are not the only one’s who have been working. From mid this year we have also been working seeking to bring change in Mathare. We have been praying, laying structures and systems, learning of the ways of God knowing that He is about to do a great work in Mathare. We believe that God’s light is greater than any darkness. His Light shines and the darkness overcomes it not (John 1:5). This is the hour for God’s light to shine and push back the darkness that has made Mathare its home. This is an opportunity for the love of God and His goodness to breakthrough in Mathare.
We are calling you to pray and stand with us and the body of Christ in Mathare
- Ask God not only to bring peace but to establish His Kingdom.
- That Mathare will not look to men for “security” but that they will look up to God.
- That every principality and power of darkness operating in Mathare will be cast down for we know that we wrestle not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12).
- Pray also that we as Lepta and other people that God has established in Mathare will complete our obedience that He might punish all disobedience (2 Cor 10: 6).
- Pray for the families affected. For their safety, provision, and health.
- Pray that we might gain the wisdom, the courage and the commitment to build with God in Mathare.
- Pray also for resources. A major key in our plan is to raise leaders. As part of this we currently support girls in school and we need about 45,000 Kshs (625 US $) to clear their fees for this term which ends in mid November. Pray also for resources to run our programmes till end of this year. We need 45,000 Kshs (625 US $) for this.
If we pray we can forever change the destiny of Mathare and Mathare can become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.
