Kenya is Burning

Perhaps you’ve read about the recent civil unrest, rioting and violence in Kenya brought about by uncertain election results. I pay close attention to news from Kenya because of Jamii Bora Trust, a Nairobi, Kenya-based organization with whom I'm very familiar. Some of you may know that I'm a co-founder and former Chairman of Unitus (www.unitus.com), an innovative organization in Seattle that helps accelerate the growth of microcredit lending programs in the poorest parts of our world.

With a group of carefully selected partners in the developing world, Unitus is now reaching over 3 million poor women and their families with microcredit loans and other products and services designed to promote economic and social self-reliance. Our partner in Kenya is Jamii Bora Trust. Jamii Bora provides microcredit loans, healthcare and training to 165,000 women and their families in the slums of Nairobi and other areas in Kenya. The founder of Jamii Bora is Ingrid Munro, a woman worthy of a golden throne in heaven.

Mike and Joyce Murray visiting Jamii Bora (2004)

We recently received the following urgent email from Ingrid: “The situation is very serious in many parts of the country. The target for most mob actions are the Kikuyu, the country's largest tribe. But even families of other ethnic background are victims when the looting goes out of hand and nobody has time to check who is a Kikuyu and who is not.

Terrible things are happening. People are killed and injured. Rape is on the rise. Poor people's businesses are destroyed, burnt and/or looted. Homes and even churches are burnt down. The fruits of their hard work to climb out of poverty has been destroyed and burnt to the ground."

If you and your family would like to help rebuild the lives of these fine people, you can make a donation on the Unitus website (www.unitus.com) and indicate that it is for the Jamii Bora Emergency Fund. Thanks!

It Keeps Getting Smaller!

The world keeps getting smaller -- or so it seems.

Last week two of our missionaries serving in Allentown, PA were stopped by a local police officer who informed them that they were breaking the law and would no longer be able to continue their missionary work. The infraction? Solicitation.

Many communities have solicitation ordinances that require door-to-door salesmen to register at City Hall, obtain a permit or license, pay a fee and often submit to a police background check. Occasionally communities will use these local laws to try to stop religious missionary work. An employee at the City Hall said that our eight missionaries in Reading would have to comply with all of this -- including paying a $50 license fee per missionary.

In 2002 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that missionaries were not solicitors as long as they were not soliciting contributions nor selling goods or services.

I contacted a law firm in Utah that helps out in such situations. This firm has 93 attorneys and is one of the largest in the Intermountain West. A very capable attorney came to my aid and with the assistance of his paralegal they contacted the Allentown, PA city attorney and discussed the situation. Once enlightened by the Supreme Court ruling the city agreed to allow our missionaries to continue their work without interruption.

What was the name of the missionary who was stopped by the police? Elder Kelby Bosshardt from the small town of Redmond, Utah.

And who was the paralegal who assisted her boss on this project? Jackie Bosshardt, the sister of Elder Bosshardt.

It's a Family Affair!

In mid-August 2007 two of our missionaries knocked on the door of Robert and Cindy. (Note: last names have been intentionally removed in order to protect the privacy of the people mentioned in this posting.) The missionaries began teaching this young couple about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and they were baptized on September 9, 2007.

Then Cindy's brother and sister, Eric and Canda, indicated an interested in learning from the missionaries. They came to church, studied the lessons, and made important promises to God prior to being baptized on October 7, 2007.


Back row: Elder Jones, Robert, Cindy, Sam, Soda, Elder Fewkes
Front row: Eric, Canda, Lina

Then Cindy's Aunt Lina got interested. She noticed that Cindy had become a much happier person and wondered why. She needed to find out what was going on so she stayed a weekend at Cindy's house and she went to church that Sunday. Then she began taking the discussions (lessons) from the missionaries. Lina was baptized on November 18 by Robert. Attending the baptism, out of courtesy, was Lina's sister Sopa and Cindy's brother Somphone (Sam).

Sopa and Sam were baptized on December 9, 2007.

During this four month time period, seven members of this extended family learned about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They learned about Joseph Smith's remarkable experience as a 14 year old boy in 1820 when he spoke directly to God and Jesus Christ. They learned that the doctrines, truths and practices established while Christ was on the earth have been restored to their original and pure form and essence. They found peace and certainty in the message and promise of the restored gospel. And they made profound changes in their lives and announced these changes through their baptisms. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ promises to bless our families, meet our spiritual needs and fulfill our deepest desires. The changes made by these family members will have positive ripple effects for generations to come.