Thursday, July 31, 2008

Nzimbi: Meet Mote In Eye

One can only wonder what Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi could be thinking in ignoring the problems in his own country to interfere with and parasitize American Episcopal churches. Perhaps someone should ask him.

On July 30, in response to draft Lambeth recommendations which included calls for complete cessation of such Anglican province border crossings, Nzimbi said, "We won't stop going to America to preach the Gospel. We are going to preach the Gospel. We are going to tell the good news to the people."

Nzimbi made the comments before journalists just prior to his installation as president of the Church Army of Africa, an Anglican society of evangelicals.


Nzimbi boycotted the once a decade Lambeth Anglican Communion conference in protest over their disagreement with North American positions on lgbt people in the Episcopacy. But all is not well in Kenya.

Each night, thousands of young Kenya girls, "Twilight Girls", hit the street to sell their bodies in return for money to buy food. The child prostitution problem is rampant in the country, and children as young as 12 years of age are now seen in the trade. The existent problem increased when post election violence rocked the country.

Today, the Associated Press reports that Agnetta Mirikau, a child protection specialist with UNICEF Kenya, [said] the increase is particularly noticeable in towns where the violence was the worst, such as Eldoret, Naivasha and Nakuru. Eldoret was the site of a horrific attack after the election, when a mob torched a church filled with people, killing dozens.

(For a subtitled news video, please go here.)

The article also points to sexual violence perpetrated on these young "Twilight girls" and AIDS workers are deeply concerned that the AIDS crisis may be made worse by the recent increase in child prostitution as many of the young girls are engaging in unprotected sex.

It would appear that Nzimbi has his work cut out for him right at home, in fact within 200 km of his cathedral located in Nairobi. I'm sure the men hiring little girls for sex could use a little "good news".

Photo credit: Archbishop Nzimbi, episcopallife online