Mission Aviation evacuation efforts 'a testimony of Christ's strength' in Kenya

Mission Aviation Fellowship's (MAF) country director in Kenya has said that the ministry's decision to stay put in the midst of widespread chaos is a "testimony of Christ's strength".

"MAF planes may be small, but their response hasn't been," said Bernard Terlouw.

The ministry has been using its planes to evacuate Kenyan nationals and missionaries from the particularly troubled western region of the country, particularly Eldoret, Kisumu, Kitale and Homa Bay.

The Electoral Commission of Kenya declared President Mwai Kibaki the winner of last Sunday's election. Opposition leader Raila Odinga, however, contests his victory, accusing Kibaki of rigging the elections.

The dispute has sparked nearly a week of violence and rioting, the worst of which took place on Tuesday when a church was set on fire by an angry mob, killing around 30 people who had been beaten and locked inside.

Terlouw said the instability is being used by some in a similar way to when the government collapsed in 1982. Looting and organised crime have added to the upheaval, and there are indications that some people may have used the violence as an opportunity to settle old scores.

He added, that MAF missionaries had not reserved fuel to ensure their own evacuation from the country.

"It is this stand that is our testimony of Christ's strength," he said. "The message that Jesus gave was that you love people who do not love you.

"We could fly out, we could just ignore the facts that some people were confessing other faiths and that some people were fighting with each other.

"We simply said, if you need evacuation, because we're a Christian organisation, come on board, and we will help you."

When the violence showed no signs of abating earlier in the week, MAF announced that it would temporarily suspend its flights with a view to resuming operations on Monday. In its latest release, MAF did not indicate whether the temporary suspension was still in place.

Meanwhile, insecurity on the streets of Nairobi has confined aid workers to their houses, making it impossible for them to distribute desperately needed food, medication and shelter to Kenyans who have fled the conflict and left everything they own behind.

"I feel very frustrated and disappointed that we cannot carry out our work," said Peter Njuguna, project manager of St.John's Community Centre, a partner of the Christian humanitarian agency Tearfund working in a Nairobi slum.

"The situation is very volatile here. I can hear gunshots from our office and the roads are blocked," he said.

President Kibaki declared on Saturday that he was ready to form a government of national unity in order to bring an end to the violence.

"The president said he was ready to form a government of national unity that would not only unite Kenyans but would also help in the healing and reconciliation process," a statement from the presidential press service said.

It was issued after Kibaki met Washington's top Africa diplomat, Jendayi Frazer.