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Following are excerpts from a recent newsletter by Western officer Lt. Colonel Jolene Hodder. She serves in Kenya as leader of women’s ministries, with her husband, Lt. Colonel Kenneth Hodder, chief secretary.
In mid-February, we welcomed a new session of cadets. For some, simply arriving at the training college was a major feat. One cadet, while on his way to the training college from western Kenya, was pulled off the bus and ordered to kneel, execution style. The abductors accused him of being a member of a rival tribe and after several minutes of terror, the abductors tore off the cadet’s epaulets while he prayed desperately. Then, inexplicably, he was thrown back on the bus and arrived without serious injury.
Due to the current violence in Kenya, another cadet could not get public transportation to the training college from his home in western Kenya. Determined to get to Nairobi on time, however, the young man devised a planhe called his mother, who called the secretary for program, who called Ken’s secretary, who finally called Ken (who was visiting western Kenya). She asked Ken if this young man could catch a ride back to Nairobi with the THQ driver. On his way, Ken met the young man, who already had a suitcase packed. He had such faith that the Lord would get him to Nairobi on time that he had prepared for the journey. When the candidate finally arrived at the training college, he excitedly told everyone that the chief’s driver had delivered him, but not a single person would believe him.
One astonishing fact we learned at the welcome meeting: All major tribes are represented by the cadets of the Prayer Warriors Session! Despite the violent tribal clashes that resulted in the deaths of more than a thousand Kenyans, the cadets’ love for the Lord and his mission brought them together as one.