September 1, 2004

Greetings from Kenya,

We are experiencing a drought here in Kenya. There was a photograph in the newspaper here recently of an older African woman giving an infant a drink from a large, plastic water bottle. The caption read: “Ms. Habiba Abdi, 70, gives her 1-year-old grandson, Abdi Kheir, bottled water she got from a motorist on the road to Garissa Town in the drought-stricken North Eastern Province. Many pastoralists have turned to begging for water on the highway. The area is one of the most affected by famine after rains failed.”

In the accompanying story, the reporter asked, “Why do Kenyans need to starve every year?” Crops are failing every year, and the problem is getting worse. Famine induced by drought is moving beyond the dry areas, and it is beginning to affect the traditional bread-basket areas of the Central Province. Why?

Problems of food production are manifold and man-made: there is chronic deforestation; neglect of agricultural technologies; and there are no plans to harvest rainwater, which creates annual flooding in some places and drought in other areas.

Yesterday, when we were in Nairobi, a little street-girl ran up to us, pulled on my dress, and asked for money. She was about 8 years old—the age of our granddaughter. Dressed in rags, her clothes were almost as sad as the burn-scars all over her face. There is no safety net for this child or for the millions of street children crushed by poverty and disease.

How do rich Americans deal with all this human misery? It is not easy for us. And we suspect it is not easy for you.

When we go home to America at Christmas, we find our family and friends building barns, and bigger barns to manage their possessions. And we, also, get into the mix (sad to say) and join in accumulating more and more things for ourselves. The sin of selfishness dogs us as well; because we are missionaries, the self-awareness of our own greed is very difficult to bear.

So, how can we move through guilt and do something good in this world? Personally, we are trying to share a bigger portion of our blessings to help Kenya develop an educated society. We give money for scholarships to the Presbyterian College in Kenya, and we also pay school fees for a few young people whom we have grown to love and admire.

Someday, an educated citizenry in Kenya will bring light to this stricken land and solve the problems of famine, disease and poverty.

Blessings and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ who showed us how to live.

Lyle and Terry Dykstra

The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 55

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