Today was humbling.
The pastoral staff and a bus load of 50 Parish members left the church at 5 am to drive to visit the PCEA Solai Church. It was destroyed in last week’s flooding. On Sunday, Sukari Parish collected an offeringto benefit their fellow PCEA Parish of Solai. Per their request, we brought tents and chairs to serve as a temporary sanctuary until the building can be restored. It took us about 3 hours to get there and when we arrived, we had no idea the devastation we would encounter.
The flood happened because a wealthy man had illegally built a dam to store water at the top of a mountain. Last week, the dam broke and the water came rushing down the mountain. One might think that this wouldn’t do much damage but authorities estimate 400 homes were destroyed. Along with homes, there is an undetermined number of business that were also swept away by the water. There have been over 40 confirmed deaths but they estimate there are way more than that. At least 16 of those confirmed dead were children.
I’ve never been at the scene of a tragedy like that. Though it was warm and relatively dry, I couldn’t help but picture what this place must have looked like during the flood with water two meters high. Tree roots that once existed five feet below the ground are now uprooted, exposed, and shredded to pieces by debris. Homes that once stood tall were ripped up from their foundation and washed down the mountain. People were swept up by the current and were buried beneath mud and debris. This disaster has been devastating.
Half of this pink and green building was washed away. The other half remains.
The ground around this tree was washed away and the roots have been torn, but it remains firmly planted.
These men are standing on what used to be the sanctuary of the Catholic Church.
This rock canal was created by the storm. It’s about 20 feet deep.
I know this doesn’t look like much but this hill used to be a village of homes.
By some miracle, the foundation of the Solai Parish is still in tact. The men of our community erected the tents and set up chairs in the same direction that the pews used to face. After that, we had a worship service with over 6 Parishes represented. Though everything that surrounded us was utter destruction, we stood under the tent singing and praying about hope. If that’s not the gospel in action, then I don’t know what is.
~ Nell in Nairobi
PS: and of course we passed a sign of the covenantal promise on he drive home. Ok God, I see you.
