South Bend Indiana; Jan. 28, 2008

Letter to the Editor: CFH guest the Rev. Francis Githinji’s letter is too long for the newsstand edition—it would take up the entire issue. In it he refers to the six men from South Bend’s Calvary Temple who helped build the Assembly of God Church in Eldoret, Kenya which was burned recently. Forty people, including women and children who had taken refuge, were killed. He also calls on the political leaders of his country, President Mwai Kibaki and chief rival Raila Odinga, to act like statesmen and work together to stop the slaughter of innocents.
You can read Father Francis’ letter at http://www.homelessherald.blogspot.com/. (The letter is at the end of today's posting.)

Announcements

The Underground Railroad: All CFH guests, volunteers, and staff are invited to be in a play about the Underground Railroad.
We have many parts and need lots of people! We still need more adults.
Practices are held every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday in the Community Room from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
We will perform the play in mid-February.
Come have fun and learn about an inspirational part of American history.
Questions: see Kelly J. who works with the children.

Where was I going?
Why am I here?
Your are where you are
You have nothing to fear
Anonymous CFH Guest

Artistic Newsletter: Are you an artist, poet or writer? Place submissions for the new Artistic Newsletter in Emily Pickerill’s box. Express your talents and ideas by participating. Start submitting as soon as possible.
Art Group: Interested in exercising your creative spirit? Want to see some of your original art work on display in the hallways?
Please see Meg about details for joining a new art group at CFH
VA Hospital Van: To schedule a ride to the VA Hospital in Ft. Wayne, St. Joseph County veterans can call Doug Davis (USMC, retired) at (574) 243-VETS (8387).
The van service also provides connecting rides to the VA hospitals in Marion and Indianapolis.

ABE

▪Intermediate Computer Class: Intermediate Computer Class begins Monday, January 28, 7-8:30 p.m., in the ABE room. Sign up in ABE.
▪Masterpiece Class: Masterpiece Class begins Tuesday, January 29, 6-7:30 p.m. You need to sign up for this class and attendance will be taken. Those who are absent too many times will be dropped from the class.
▪Dead Poets Society: Thursdays, 3-4 p.m., ABE Room. All are welcome.
We will discuss short stories and poems .
▪Writing: Wednesdays, 3-4 p.m., ABE. Improve your basic writing skills under the guidance of a trained instructor.
▪Creative Writing: Thursdays, 8-9 p.m. Develop your creative writing skills. You don’t have to sign up, just show up. Volunteers from Notre Dame will be there.
All of the above activities count toward ABE hours.

Election 2008
Obama Wins South Carolina Democratic Primary: Illinois Senator Barack Obama won the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary with 55% of the votes--more than his two rivals combined.
New York Senator Hilary Clinton received 27% and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards 18% of the vote. Edwards was born in South Carolina.
Clinton will still lead Obama in the delegate count after South Carolina’s delegates are apportioned. February 5 is “Super Tuesday” with 20 states voting representing nearly 1,700 delegates.
Letter to the Editor
The six men of the Calvary Temple Church in South Bend (South Bend Tribune, Tuesday, January 15, 2008) have a reason to be haunted by the burning of the church in Kenya. It might seem as though the effort they made in the building of the Assemblies of God Church in Eldoret has been in vain but the seed that they planted was like a tender branch that never cease. When a tree has been cut down, there is always hope for the tender branch to sprout again and have roots. The testimony in the Tribune that "when they got there they worked like dogs" is never in vain! It is well fitting of true servants of God who must allow their Master to put a "dog-collar" around their necks and lead them by a chain wherever He wills.

No doubt, "the people had gone to the church for refuge and were praying inside when the flames engulfed the church." How painful! How sad! The church is "the House of God, a place of refuge for all nations" and must be held in reverence for it's sacredness. Whosoever runs into the church for refuge falls under the shadow of the Most High and is the guest of the Almighty. He must remain under this divine protection and no one has the power or authority to pursue or eject him from this holy ground that is common to all. I am sure that the international law has regard for this divine law.

The burning of the church with so many people with very innocent children among them must not only be treated as sacrilegious but must also be condemned by the international community as a beastly act and a violation of right to life. It is the highest time that Human Rights activists prove their worth by demanding that the Kenya Government and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) hierarchy both accept responsibility and account for all the post-election atrocity. The perpetrators who torched the church causing so many deaths must also be hunted down and brought to book. As I sympathize with my six brothers in South Bend, I deeply grieve the devastating situation caused by political madness in my country. This is as a result of individual ambitions and greed for power rather than tribal ethnicity. In an earlier article in the Tribune, Gwynne Dyer, the London-based independent journalist rightly said that "Kenya is not an ethnic timberbox where people automatically back their own tribe and hate everyone else." Would the leaders want to show patriotism to their country and solidarity with the people who elected them, they must give up their pride and borrow the wise words of one of the former vice-president of Kenya. After being subjected to shameful humiliation in a public arena by his boss, he declared in resignation that "there comes a time when the nation is more important than an individual." An individual's will to offer themselve as a sacrifice for a nation is a will towards a greator good. The Nation of Kenya is more important than President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga and allowing them to continue in their rigidity is sacrificing a whole nation for an individual person.

The fact is that when Kenya was under the British colonial governance, all the tribes co-existed in hamony without the madness that has been experienced since the country became a multipaty state in 1992. The lush central Rift Valley Province, commonly known as the "white highlands" was the bee-hive of the influential white settler community who virtually ruled colonial Kenya from Nakuru. In his memoirs: A Love - Affair with - Sunshine, Sir Michael Blundell - himself a settler at Solai in Nakuru - reckons that no governor would make a decision without having to travel to Nakuru to consult the settlers. "They were the tail that wagged the dog," he writes. Pioneer settlers such as the Lord Delamere set camp in this significant, hilly and most agriculturally productive province in the early 1930s. This was almost the same time that my parents migrated here from Gikuyuland in search of employment. Kenyatta, therefore, had nothing to do with the settlement of every Kikuyu in the Rift Valley. I and many others from different tribes not originally from the province were born there before the country acquired it's independence. We grew up together from early childhood, went to school, to church, hunted together and eat together. This was without acrimony and tribalism was an animal unknown to us at the time. Otherwise, we would have hunted it then instead of taking bows and arrows now to hunt, to maim and to kill the same people with whom we shared life with from such an early age.

In his ramblings in the Homeless Herald, Wednesday, January 9, 2008, Uncle Ron said that I am not concerned with politics. This is partly true. My prayer right now is that peace be urgently restored back in Kenya that we may all earnestly endeavour towards becoming one people, one nation, one country, one love, world over.

Isaac Francis Githinji
The Center for the Homeless,
813 S. Michigan St. South Bend, 46601. IN