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We cannot begin to work with Kenyans toward a solution until we move beyond pious or political platitudes.

Second, we must look inward for much-needed humility and patience. North Americans are bewildered at ethnic violence elsewhere. We wonder why "those people just can't get along, like we do." But we forget that it wasn't that long ago that Northerners and Southerners shed each other's blood, while the world stood shocked by our "tribal" violence.

Democracy is a marathon. Historian Niall Ferguson recently put it well in his massive account of 20th-century war, The War of the World. He says that while democratization has reduced violence between states, there is evidence "that the waves of democratization in the 1920s, 1960s, and 1980s were followed by increases in the number of civil wars and wars of secession." In building democracies, it's often three steps forward and two steps back.

Finally, we must keep our eyes on Kenya, staying committed to the nation missionally and politically. We cannot let the front page of The New York Times create in us "international deficit disorder." This year alone, CNN Headline News has shifted from Pakistan to Kenya to Chad to Kosovo to Cuba. We mustn't begin to think things have settled down in Kenya, so now we can "move on." Now that a power-sharing deal has been struck, there is still much work to do, including forming a South African–like reconciliation commission and physically rebuilding the country as well as trust. While the news moves on, Kenya remains a tangled web of good and evil. At least 1,500 Kenyans still lay dead, and one-third of a million are still displaced. If we listen, we can still hear, faintly, "mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children … because her children are no more."

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Christianity Today's coverage of Kenya's post-election violence includes:

Q&A: Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka | The vice president of Kenya since January, Musyoka ran for the presidency unsuccessfully in 2007. (March 14, 2008)

Post-Mayhem Woes | Tribal rivalries — including Christian-on-Christian violence — hamper healing. (February 1, 2008)

A Postcard from Kenya | A dorm parent at Rift Valley Academy on coping with the ongoing violence. (February 1, 2008)

Baptists Serve Kenya's Displaced After Post-Election Violence | Nearly 600 dead in clashes, and more than 250,000 ousted from homes. (January 15, 2008)

Air Support | Kenya's MAF director reports on evacuation and supply efforts. (January 11, 2008)

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April 2008, Vol. 52, No. 4