Kenyan Unrest - Lutherans Helping the Innocent By-standers - Pr. Meeker Sends Photos

(Pastor Meeker took these pictures in the Kibera slums.)

Pastor Dennis Meeker made his way back to his congregation, Springs of Life, in the Kibera Slums. Pastor Meeker is making a difference in Kibera with Word of God. He faithfully preaches hope and forgiveness in the midst of third world poverty that we in the states could hardly believe.

Since the presidential elections (Dec. 27), many areas of Kenya erupted in violent protests and deaths. As we pray that the Lord will grant the Kenyan authorities to restore order, these circumstances become an opportunity for Pr. Meeker, his wife, Dcns. Lorna, and Springs of Life members to show the love of Christ as they try to help those who lost their homes from the fires and looting.

All around the church, their mud-dung huts and little road side businesses were looted and burned to the ground. The community is living on edge with fear and frustration.

Pastor Meeker said, "Please keep him and his congregation in your prayers" when I spoke on the phone with him Tuesday (Jan 1). He said, "My church council is worried because they hadn't seen violence like this since 1963. They hope it will settle down soon because they know the church members need help, but it is hard to get to them in the midst of the trouble."

Pastor Meeker sent Friends of Mercy some photos of the area around his church. Some of the businesses belonged to his members. The little shops are usually made of sticks, tin, and tarps. They sell anything that they can find on the ground, in the garbage, or find somewhere else in Nairobi. Anything to bring in a few schillings in for the family.

When you take this strife and mix it with the poverty saturated by AIDS orphans, it only multiplies the need for loving acts of mercy. The ELCK and churches throughout Kenya are doing just that.

Please consider helping out with a donation to help these Lutherans in Kenya. You can donate here.

Friends of Mercy at LWML Convention in South Dakota

We had a great time in Sioux Falls, SD last week (June 20-24) with the ladies of LWML. During my years in pastoral ministry the ladies of LWML were always there to serve. They are servants of the Lord who tirelessly serve where ever the church needs them. The ladies do everything from organize and host funeral dinners to rummage sales for missions. They volunteer to visit, help with shut-ins, work with altar guilds, attend voters meetings, etc.

The work they get done for the Lord doesn't end at their local congregation. It continues in to the community, the district, the synod, and the world. In their 32nd biennial convention, the ladies committed themselves to raise a $1.7 million for mission work throughout the world. Here are a few of their projects,

- private portable medical clinics in Sudan, East Africa ($70,000)

- send a female human care missionary to Africa ($100,000)

- expand mission work in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, and Ethiopia ($104,500)

Keep the the ladies of LWML in your prayers and support them whenever possible. Click here for more news on the LWML Convention.

We'll see you next at the LCMS convention in Houston, TX. Look for our booth and stop in, say "Hi." and learn how you can AIDS Orphans and young girls fleeing FGM.

Oprah Helps AIDS Orphans in Africa - Lutherans and Oprah Have Something in Common

Oprah is a great humanitarian, as everyone has heard. One of her projects is helping AIDS Orphans. At Friends of Mercy, we also realize there is much work to be done for millions of AIDS Orphans. What a blessing it is to show compassion and good works to others.

Friends of Mercy is the LCMS' way of reaching out to these children as Lutherans. Lutherans understand the Christian life as Faith and Mercy inseparably connected. The baptized child of God shows her love for God by loving others as one "raised in the new life." (Rom. 6)

Here are a couple of quotes from Oprah about what is going on in Africa.

"Every minute in Africa, 64 people die of AIDS. They have left behind a whole generation of children without parents, food or any way out.

There may be as many as 11 million of these orphans, according to the United Nations. It's as if every child under the age of 19 in New York were left to raise themselves. Few of them go to school, since few countries in Africa have public school systems. School costs money at least $250 a year and many orphans do not have the money for school. They are also too busy taking care of siblings.

What is a "Sibling Family?

In many parts of Africa and around the world, something called "sibling families" are being created: children left to take care of younger children. "I see myself in those children," Winfrey said. "Not only because their skin is black and I see myself in their eyes and feel myself in their hearts, but I came from that."
Read Oprah's article here.

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Meeting with Lutheran Maasai Elders a Success in Kenya (Outside the Safari Park)

In October, I traveled to Kenya to meet with church leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK). Meeting with about 40 of the Maasai Elders was on the top of the list. The meeting took place on a plot of 60 acre plot of land the Maasai tribe gave to the ELCK to develop "Entito Rescue Center."

A key factor in battling the practice of Female Genital Cutting is to work within the culture and support the education of the children.

Historically, the Maasai culture encouraged boys to become educated and the girls were to stay behind, get married, and provide for the family. However, in order to marry, an "acceptable" Maasai girl must be "cut" to be considered mature enough for marriage and become a full member of the women of the village.

"Entito Rescue Center"

In a partnership with Friends of Mercy, ELCK, LCMS World Relief, and Lutheran Evangelical Association of Finland (LEAF), the "Entito Rescue Center" will eventually be a boarding primary school for 500 female students and a rescue home for up to 200 girls who desire not to become circumcised. This will provide the educational foundation for girls to receive a liberal arts education, learn about the medical problems associated with FGC, and, learn about the Lutheran faith and the mercy and hope in Christ.

The foundation of Christian instruction will strengthen the community's understanding of creation and the gifts God gives therein. As Lutherans, we confess the ultimate gift that we have is our God who became flesh. This God, who came to earth to pay for our sins, to cleanse us and make us holy, recreate the sinner in His righteousness in baptism. This is the foundation of respecting one's own body, and loving one's neighbor.

This will be a long term project. No "one-day" miracle. It will come about by God's work through the faithful gifts of other Christians who will provide for those who do not have the funds for their own education.

The meeting with the Maasai Elders was the foundation of the future of the "Entito Rescue Center" because we heard from all levels and leadership of the community. Those who spoke at the meeting were,

• Maasai Elders, pictured above left, with me speaking to them.

• Local Counselor, the regionally democratically elected political leader

• The Chief of the region, the appointed representative of the Kenyan government
• The Lutheran Pastor, Pr. Momposhi is a Maasai pastor of the local Maasai Lutheran church.


• Maasai Education Committee, made up of Maasai Elders, Women, ELCK church leaders, the Counselor. Two Members pictured on the right.
• Friends of Mercy Exec. Director, I spoke about our work to raise awareness of this project among Lutherans in the U.S.

This was a GREAT start for Friends of Mercy in our work with the Maasai Tribe and showing mercy to girls who do not want to be "cut." What made this meeting so successful was the fact that all levels of leadership fully support this project.

So, now we need to move forward and develop the funds to get this project off the ground.

Please go to Friends of Mercy and give generously. Every gift received qualify for a 1-1 matching gift which will double your gift.

Do You Know Who Waris Dirie Is?

Waris is a supermodel.

She is beautiful, wealthy, and circumcised.

Her name means "Desert Flower" which is also the title of one of her books about Female Genital Mutilation. You can learn about her story from her foundation, the Waris Dirie Foundation which leads her fight against Female Genital Cutting.

"Born into a nomadic Somali family, 39-year-old supermodel Waris Dirie survived the traditional form of female genital mutilation that kills hundreds of women in Africa every year - including her own younger sister and two cousins...
... Dirie remembers the mutilation only as 'that horror.' As a little girl, she was blindfolded and held down by her mother, with only a cloth to bite on to relieve her pain, while her clitoris was cut out with a dirty razor. The same procedure, Dirie says, killed her sister - along with many other girls in Somalia who were cut in the wrong vein and bled to death or died of an infection. But Waris, who survived this tragic procedure, shows a strength, not only of the physical sort, but also a strength of mind, body and soul. Dirie underwent this crime...survived...and she is living AND campaigning to tell about it."

Friends of Mercy is working to raise awareness among Lutherans about the problem of FGM with our fellow Lutherans in Kenya. I met with the Maasai elders and other leaders to develop a program that will build a refuge center called the Entito Rescue Center for girls. This compound will include a grade school, a medical clinic, and other facilities so that the school could board 500 girls and up to 200 girls who want to break the cycle of FGM.

WELCOME to the Friends of Mercy Blog. Here you will find information and commentary about the work of Friends of Mercy. I expect to post at least once a week. Feel free to comment and look us up for other information at Friends of Mercy our web page.

Friends of Mercy has two international projects and one domestic project.

Our international projects are in Kenya. In partnership with LCMS World Relief and Human Care. Our domestic program is to raise the awareness of Hospice and provide materials and help from a distinctly Lutheran perspective.

• AIDS orphanages in Kenya
• Sanctuary Homes for girls fleeing Female Genital Cutting (Mutilation, Female Circumcision)
• COMING 2007 Lutheran Cancer and Hospice Society