The Orthodox community in Kenya is the largest on the African continent: the Kenyan Archdiocese has about 200 churches, dozens of parochial schools and a seminary, and is part of the Patriarchate of Alexandria. This does not, however, render this community, and the entire Christian population of Kenya, any less vulnerable to attacks and persecution. Please pray that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will bring relief and protection to the embattled Christians of Kenya, and grant a vibrant renewal of the faith to the Holy Orthodox Church in Kenya.
“Local Muslims Stone Three Christians to Death During Protest,” International Christian Concern, September 25, 2018:
On September 22, 2018, a family in western Kenya laid one of their kin to rest after he and two other men were attacked by a Muslim mob and stoned to death. Fredrick Mukanda Bahati was a mason in Elwak, Mandera, a town close to the Kenya-Somalia border. He worked in Elwak for six months before his death.
The Muslim residents of Elwak were engaging the police after three suspected al-Shabaab militants were found killed outside of town. In retaliation, the irate protesters turned their anger toward three non-local Christians at the construction site.
A witness, who requested to remain anonymous, told International Christian Concern (ICC), “Fredrick was on top of a new house he was contracted to build. His two assistants were on the ground mixing mortar when the mob arrived in [a] hurry, chanting takbir, takbir, takbir. From a distance, I saw the men hurling construction stones towards Fredrick and his coworkers.”
He continued, “The three managed to flee into a nearby hotel for safety, although they had been badly injured. The Muslims relentlessly followed them up and stoned them to death.”…
Wycliffe Mukanda, Fredrick’s brother, stated, “This is a sad day in our family. We have lost a man who was skilled in construction and loved all of us. He always reminded us to pray and trust God even in difficult times. That is what is keeping us going after losing him. We were expecting to see him before the end of the year but now what we have is the memories, a widow, and two children to take care of.”
He ended with a poignant question that many of us have been asking as these attacks keep recurring in Mandera, “Where were the police to protect [them]?”
