“ As I added a praise for water (in our taps) to my bedtime prayers, I remembered the young woman I had seen earlier in the day in her ‘home’. The young woman, her husband who is the head guard on the property beside us, their toddler son and an infant, as well as the ten youth in the guard crew live in two hovels of wood frames with a roof and half-walls of tin and no flooring ... I thought of these people whose beds are pieces of fabric or cardboard on the ground...They may be among the few in Kenya thankful for the drought – At least they are sleeping on DRY ground. When the rains start, which the meteorological department says will be this week, how will they sleep?”
After reading “Two drown as rains wreak havoc” on the back page of today’s Daily Nation*, I reread the above words found in our October 14, 2009 prayer update. Our October 21 update began: "The sun is shining this morning, but the rains have arrived in Kenya - a great praise." The rains are continuing and Kenyans are thankful, very thankful** for the rains which ended the drought, but...
Why the BUT? Kenya, like most third world countries, is not equipped/prepared for, nor can they cope with the problems caused by drought OR torrential rains. Examples of the continued need for prayer are found in side-by-side articles in the Smart Company, The Weekly Business Magazine, in today’s newspaper (Daily Nation, p.7). “Coffee prices hit six year high” thanks to the El Nino rains in other parts of the world shares that Kenyan coffee farmers will not fully benefit as production is still affected by “The drought...(which) impacted negatively on both coffee output and quality.” The second article, “Rains ‘not hurting tea production’” sounded positive, yet 
included predictions of more deaths, flooding, landslides, and problems in moving harvested tea to the collection centres due to poor roads and heavy rains.
During the drought many children did not attend school due to hunger, parents moving in search of water, and illnesses. “Two drown...” shares that similar problems are now caused by the rains as children cannot attend school due to swollen streams, impassable roads and fears of drowning. Families are still on the move, now to avoid mudslides and flooding. There is also the constant fear of “waterborne diseases.”
The family and several young men still live in the makeshift homes near our home. Thankfully, they are on a rise that allows the water to run off, yet, with the current rains the ground stays wet! So how do we pray and react to all the suffering that continues in our third world country? The last paragraph of our October 14, 2009 update is still true (with additions in red): “Viewing suffering daily does lead to sadness, it also brings a new resolve to be involved in our Father’s work in our hurting world. Pray that Jack and I and other Christians in Kenya will be very alert to sharing our Father’s love and salvation with all we encounter. As you pray for rain, pray for health and safety for those in poor housing when the needed rains arrive.” Pray that this time of an over-blessing of rain, will be a time that Kenyan Christians will boldly share and be witnesses of the “showers of blessings” (Ezekiel 34:26) offered by our heavenly Father. BERT YATES
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*For more information on how to pray for the current rains, go to “Two drown as rains wreak havoc” (Daily Nation, May 18, 2010, p. 56) which includes links to several other related articles at: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Two%20drown%20as%20rains%20wreak%20havoc%20/-/1056/920480/-/o3nrexz/-/index.html
**For more pictures that show the blessings of the rain, all from our shamba (yard/garden), go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=227104&id=685050129&l=182f15e92f (Even those who are not Facebook members can safely and easily view these pictures.)
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