On 13 April the two rivals in Kenya’s disputed presidential election finally agreed on the fine print to their power-sharing deal signed in February. This is good news for a country that witnessed so much violence in the aftermath of the announcement of the results. But what was it like to be caught up in the violence? Pastor Steven Munyambu’s home was fire-bombed by people known to him. He was confronted with what “forgiving those who sin against us” really means.

Rising from the Ashes

“We knew each other by name.”
Pastor Steven Munyambu pauses thoughtfully as he reflects on the people responsible for torching his home on the edge of the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya, just minutes after the disputed election results were announced.
“These were young people I had worked with in rehab programmes. These were young people I had worked with in tutorial classes. These were young people I had mentored for a long time.” He says each sentence slowly and deliberately. “I didn’t see it coming, so I was hurt.”

He and his neighbours laboured to quench the flames which spread from the petrol bombs the young men launched into his house. There was the first bomb, then a second, and more followed.
“After the fourth one, we had to say, ‘Lord, you’ve seen our struggle. There is nothing more we can do.’
“I felt bitter. I felt upset. I felt angry,” he says. He clasps his fingers together and rests his wrists on the desk in front of him. “At some point in time, before I came to my senses, I felt revengeful.”
But, just as many Kenyans have been forced to do, Pastor Steven was made to grapple with what real forgiveness looks like.
“The very people who burned my house, have we met?” He pauses. “Not once. Not twice. Not thrice. Many more times.”

As Steven was volunteering with the Red Cross at a food distribution camp just outside Kibera, he came face to face with the men who burned his home. He marvels at God’s ways. “Instead of them going to the different line, God brought them to my line. Again and again, we saw each other—face to face.
“To see them do that act [of torching my house]”—he pauses, taking in a breath—“It was traumatizing. And more so when you meet them again. It’s hard.”
Their encounters didn’t stop at a wordless exchanges of relief materials. Instead, he has talked with them about what happened, and he’s trusting God in the process of forgiveness.
“We shed tears,” Steven says of his times with the men. Tears that spoke of vulnerability and betrayal.
Pastor Steven is quick to point out that where he is now is not where he was just after the torching of his home, when Kibera and the country were first thrown into turmoil. He and his family have made choices that have pushed them toward forgiveness. The decision, when surrounded by a comforting and encouraging church family, to press on, to rise above, to be resilient. And the decision to move back into the old neighbourhood, not far from his razed home, to continue his long-standing ministry there.
“How can we forgive these people if we don’t see them face to face?” he asks. “For me, it’s easy to say I’ve forgiven you, because I don’t see you. But immediately, when I see you, something grips within my spirit—bitterness, rage and revenge come back.
“If we are going to heal, let us be able to meet the arsonist, so that as we meet with each other, day by day, God will be working in and through us to help not only heal us, but to forgive and restore these men to the original fellowship.”

Video | Forgiveness After the Flames

Interview with Pastor Steven Munyambu whose house was destroyed in Kenya's 2007 post-election crisis. He tells about his journey of forgiveness for the young men who did it.

What Hurts the Most

What perhaps tears at Pastor Steven the most, as he aches for his country, is what was lost in the Christian community and witness. “I’m saddened by the simple principle that Kenya is being touted as 80% Christian,” he says. “When this happens, is the mayhem being caused by the 20% minority? No.”

Steven recalls confronting a group of men on their way to loot a burned-out church. He urged them to consider the seriousness of what they were intent on doing. Among them was a young man Steven had stood next to on the day the man was baptized – in the very church he was intent on looting.

“I believe that somewhere along the line, Christians did not live up to their calling,” Steven says. “Because if they did, with an 80% statistical figure, [the chaos and killings in Kenya] would not have happened.”
Those are hard words for the Kenyan church to hear, but ones men like Steven are in a position to say. And this is the pastor’s message for the church, and for the country.

“Don’t let your Christian God down,” he says. “If God is for you, live for him. I see this as a purging time for the church, so that the true believers are going to stand firm. And those who have just been Christian by name would be exposed, and the Church will be able now to move faster and farther.”

Hope for the Future

Pastor Steven has not given up on Kenya. “People will come back and want to piece their lives back together,” he says. “There will be a time for picking up the pieces. Some of the pieces will never be able to be matched together again. But at the end of the day, people will want to forge the way forward.”
And he trusts the gospel and their God will guide them.
“Sometimes, in the history of the Church, God allowed persecution to be an instrument to spread the gospel, not only in terms of area, but in the intensity of the message.
“People became stronger in their faith. They depended on God more than in times before their suffering.”
And that is where Steven, along with many other Christian leaders in the country, is putting his hope for Kenya’s future—in God’s hands.

About the author

Andi Clinard, from Oglesby in Illinois, USA, trained as a journalist and worked for the Herald & Review (in Central Illinois). In 2006 she joined a Timo team in Southern Sudan. Part of the Timo programme is a month out looking at another expression of mission. Andi elected to spend her month with the On-Field Media team. It was while she was with them that she wrote this article.

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