In April, my friends visited Mildred’s* home in Mathare Valley, Kenya and took this photo. The home is gone now.

Here, in this community where the poorest of the poor live, where half a million people in six square miles, “hundreds of houses have been demolished, (tens of thousands) of people displaced, community assets such as schools, training centres and community halls that served as spaces that improve life are gone. Small scale businesses and investments that total up to millions have been wiped out of the economy of some of the poorest. Many will not be able to recover from this because they are too old, others because this is all they knew and they have not been equipped for anything else.” (Steve Kariithi, pastor of Mathare Worship Centre, eyewitness report)

In April, massive floods hit the area. Now, the government claims they are destroying houses in areas susceptible to future flooding.

So, a child goes to school and comes home to a pile of rubbish. Mildred, along with her three children, are left with nothing.

But it’s not only the loss of housing, as Steve shared in his quote, the government is destroying rich communities of people who have truly supported each other through the ravages of poverty.

In this place of physical lack, the community banded together to build a park for their children where once there was only a trash heap. They worked together to create beauty where there was only garbage before. It’s gone now.

But let me tell you what makes me the angriest. The media blackout. So far, my friends in the area estimate that 20,000-30,000 people have lost their homes, but it’s nowhere in the news. Test me – google “homes in Mathare Valley demolished.” I found one article: Families in pain as houses are demolished in Mathare.

And yet, in the middle of glaring injustice, there is a glimmer of hope. My friends, people who love Jesus, running straight into the darkness. Not leaving for peace and calm in other places, for surely they could afford to do so, but sprinting right into the middle of it all to comfort those who are weeping, to provide for those who now have nothing. They are a bright light in a dark situation.

My friends helped Mildred and her three children re-locate. And they will stand with her in the days ahead. It doesn’t make everything better. But it does give me hope.

As Mother Teresa said, “God counts in ones.” We must do no less.

* Not her real name to protect her privacy, but real photos of her house taken by my friends when they visited her in April.

What can we do?

1. Pray for Christians on the front lines in this situation. And in every unjust situation in the world.
2. Share about the situation with others. Here are links to a shareable, grassroots video created by a Kenyan about what is really happening:
   • Frustrated Residents of Mathare Lament Over Government’s Corridor Evictions
   • Over 6000 households forcefully evicted along Mathare river
3. Follow the example of my Kenyan friends – run toward the injustices in the world. Start by asking God what He would have you to do.
4. Submit to and work in collaboration with the indigenous Christians on the ground.

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