Against the backdrop of a recent fire in Kenya’s Embu county, which destroyed the property of 17 families, a joint Christian-Muslim congregation prayed together and held a fundraiser for those affected by the local disaster. This was an encouraging thing to take place ahead of the country’s general elections.
AllAfrica.com reports:
[Manyatta MP] Kathuri said the church service had proved to Kenyans that they can help one another other even though they belong to different faiths and ethnic backgrounds. “Whatever little money that has been raised will go to help the victims in a small way,” said the MP. He said the fundraiser was not meant to compensate them but to at least put them back to normalcy “as they start life afresh.”
He said Kenyans from other parts of the country could learn a lot from from the example set in an Embu church “where Christians and Muslims can prayed together, live harmoniously and even help one another.” Kathuri. Muslim leader Hussein Njeru who acted as the spokesman for the Muslims said Muslims and Christians had opted to fellowship together because Islam “has been painted in a bad light for long.”
He advised people to pray for peace and work towards achieving the same, noting that when the country is at war it is mostly women and children who suffer the most. He said whatever happened in Mombasa recently when youths took to the streets to protest the killing of a Muslim cleric should not be taken as religious intolerance.
“All of us despite our religion or other affiliations should act as ambassadors of peace. Even as we vote in the next General Election, it is imperative to vote in people based on their leadership ability and not on other attributes,” said Njeru.