For the past nine years I have worked as a volunteer with Reach the Children, an organization whose mission is to “facilitate self-reliance in communities dedicated to the well being of underprivileged children.”

To that end, I have helped Reach the Children volunteers dig wells, organize medical clinics, build schools, teach school programs, initiate micro-finance loans, create women's enterprises, teach basic child care, health and hygiene, and whatever else those living in-country have requested.

Along the way we have laughed with, cried with, played, hugged and prayed with those whom we have come to regard as our extended family. We have witnessed miracles, heard testimonies, and been humbled by the sweet faith expressed by those who walk eight miles, without having had any breakfast, in order to attend sacrament meeting.

Our Kenyan friends from all walks of life and all venues of spiritual belief, have become in every sense of the word, our sisters and brothers.

The very busy and capable man who facilitates the work that Reach the Children does in Kenya, is Justus Suchi Obadiah, Reach the Children's Country Director. Married, the father of two young sons and a full-time student finishing up his bachelor's program, he is also the bishop of the ward that we volunteers often attend when in Nairobi.

Bishop Suchi of the Kasarani Ward in Nairobi.

It is with these saints that I have mingled my voice in a cappella harmony as we sing the familiar hymns. The people of the Kasarani Ward love all of the hymns, and sing most in joyful crescendo. But it is when we have sung the stirring, opening words, “We thank thee, O God, for a prophet to guide us in these latter days,” that I have witnessed music become testimony when they express through song, their love for the prophets Joseph Smith and Gordon B. Hinckley.

We could not have known in those tender moments how we would all come to recognize and understand the full measure of these particular words. As I was later told of the saving consequences that came to those who had been obedient to the urgent counsel of Bishop Suchi, through the guidance of our prophet, I silently committed to greater obedience in my own life.

Children of Kenya

Country in Crisis

While the last days of 2007 found most of America dealing with the winter cold of rain or snow, the equatorial sun was shining bright in Kenya. It was Election Day. Thousands of voters stood in sweltering lines, their large colored handkerchiefs fanning the young children that spilled around them like dark-colored pebbles.

Several days later, as most western countries were still cleaning up the confetti and fireworks that ushered in the New Year, Kenya was suffering the ramification of a corrupted and unacceptable election result. Riots had broken out following the re-election of Mway Kibaki as Kenya's president. Calls for a re-count of votes fell on deaf ears, and frustration turned to mayhem on the very streets and in the slums where Reach the Children has worked for years.

Some of the children who are affected by the recent violence in Kenya.

The news brought us pictures of countless murders, looting, fires and the pained faces of thousands of refugees as they fled their slum dwellings for the unreliable safety of unknown territories. Electricity was nonexistent, and cell phone service intermittent.

Kevin Clawson, president of Reach the Children, made anxious calls to Bishop Suchi to try to assess the safety of our friends. On January 2, Suchi felt safe enough to make a hurried trip to a cyber-café to send a brief report. The council of a prophet echoed across the text. It read in part,

Two days later, on January 4, Suchi wrote that, “The Church has moved in fast to assist members who live in Kibera slum. This is the slum that has been affected by food shortage very much. So far in my ward, no one has been affected and they all have reported that they have some food storage (following words of the prophet is great).”

I remember when I first read these words how struck I was by the childlike joy that obedience to the counsel of a prophet can bring. It was President Benson who said, “When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment, God will endow us with power.” This power was experienced by Bishop Suchi a few days later, when a group of angry rioters came to his door and demanded that he take up arms, or be killed. Suchi replied that he “believed in peace rather than fighting.” He was left standing in the doorway, unharmed, to testify later, “I know God protected us.”

On January 11, Bishop Suchi wrote again to tell us of LDS members from around Nairobi, who had managed to escape the synchronized bands of machete-wielding terrorists that roamed the streets. Nevertheless, with food and clean water having tripled in purchase price, and since most of the members were day-laborers and could not work, they were without the financial means to care for their families.

Bishop Suchi, right, shown here with a local branch president and his wife.

All of the stories Suchi sends from Kenya are heartbreaking:

In addition to the devastating stories from Bishop Suchi, several of us were able to reach others with whom we had worked in Kenya and the request of our brothers and sisters of all faiths was for our prayers. There is Pastor Fred Afwai and his wife Alice, who four years ago, felt called of God to organize a church and school in the slum of Kayole. They built a corrugated metal school on a narrow stretch of dirt where 250 students are now enrolled.

A child of the Kayole slum.

Every Sunday, Pastor Fred leads his humble congregation in worshiping God through prayer, song, dance and fervid testimony. When we asked about their safety, their concern was for the children and the hunger that gripped their community.

Another is the formidable Mama Lucy, who started Little Bees — a school in Huruma, one of the worst slums in Nairobi. Here she has single-handedly counseled girls against abortion, taken in abused children, built latrines, and initiated a clean water supply project.

She contacted me from a refugee camp, where she sought refuge from baton-wielding henchmen. She had lost everything and did not know what had happened to her husband or children. “My heart is too much wounded,” she said. As we wept together she declared, “But I praise Jesus and I love him.” She has since found her husband in a hospital, but has still not had any contact with seven of her nine children.

Drastic Circumstances

Although Reach the Children is typically dedicated to building self reliance in communities, sometimes drastic circumstances require drastic adaptation. This non-profit organization has now set up an emergency fund for Kenyan relief — the 1106-K2 Kenya Emergency Food Fund.

For the moment, this young child has something to eat.

Reach the Children is asking that families give up one meal this week so that someone in Kenya can eat. Then, it is suggested that the funds saved from foregoing that meal be sent to Reach the Children. The organization will then ensure that those funds are used to feed orphans and families who ordinarily do all they can to work and provide for themselves, but, because of the current political situation and crisis, have been unable to do so.

One hundred percent of all donations will go directly to the feeding of African children and families in crisis.

There are no words in any vocabulary that can convey clearly the palpable evil of abject poverty or the corruption of those who desire to strip man of his divine nature. However, as we sing, “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet,” we also sing, “We thank Thee for sending the Gospel to lighten our minds with its rays.” Organizations like Reach the Children, and gospel pioneers such as Justus Suchi Obadiah, work together to alleviate the temporal poverty of man through the teaching of self-reliance. The valiant Kenyan saints provide a shining a ray of light through the prevailing spiritual darkness by their personal obedience to and abiding testimony of, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

These Kenyans are going without food and shelter, waiting for help.

In closing, I would like to share with you some words recently written by Suchi:

We have all heard and read stories of those whose willingness to be guided by the words of our prophet have brought them peace and safety in the midst of the world's confusion. We add to these stirring testimonies the recent stories of our sisters and brothers in Kenya that teach us once again, that obedience to the counsel of our prophet can bless us even when war is raging on the streets and batons are raised overhead in blind hatred.

Those who would like to help feed some hungry Kenyan children and their families are invited to go to www.reachthechildren.org/donate, click on “Where it is Most Needed” and enter “Kenya Emergency Food Fund” in the comment box. Thank you!