Religious Leaders Encourage Kenyans to Pray for “national healing, restoration”

Nairobi, 10 October, 2020 / 11:54 PM

Members of Kenya’s Interfaith Council have, in a statement through their Chairman, called on citizens of the East African nation to pray for the country’s healing and restoration during the National Prayer Weekend that commenced Friday, October 9. 

In the statement signed by Archbishop Anthony Muheria of Kenya’s Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri, the Interfaith Council members also encourage an attitude of gratitude and repentance.

“Let us come together to give thanks, repent, seek forgiveness, pray for national healing, restoration, and to present our aspirations to God,” the 16-member body that was constituted in June with the mandate to guide the resumption of public worship in Kenya says.

In their October 9 statement obtained by ACI Africa, the Religious leaders also invite Kenyans to “pray for our leaders in the different fields in our country and our families.”

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta announced a three-day National Weekend of Prayer starting Friday, October 9 and ending Sunday, October 11.

“Kenyans are encouraged to pray for the country in their usual places of worship in compliance with COVID-19 containment protocols,” the State House Spokesperson and Head of the President’s Strategic Communication Unit (PSCU), Kanze Dena said in the Wednesday, October 7 statement.

As part of the three-day prayer initiative, President Kenyatta is expected to convene an interfaith national prayer service at State House Nairobi Saturday, October 10. The Prayer service will be broadcast and live streamed.

In their October 9 statement, the members of the Interfaith Council further encourage Kenyans to “pray for our country wherever they are and in their usual places of Worship in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols.”

“Let us join together in Prayer for our beloved Nation. God has been very good to us, let us thank Him and give Him glory,” implore the members of the Interfaith Council.

The three-day prayer event is the second to be organized in the East African nation during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In March, Kenya’s religious leaders drawn from various faiths, including four Catholic Bishops and a nun, gathered at the Nairobi-based State House to seek divine intervention over COVID-19 pandemic, with the call to repentance dominating the event that was broadcast live streamed.

“Lord, surround us now with your grace of healing, reconciliation and lasting peace so that by the guidance of your Holy Spirit, we may walk together and restore our nation to tranquility, order, and prosperity,” the Chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), Archbishop Philip Anyolo implored during the March 21 prayer event.