Where to start… at the beginning. Saturday morning at 2 AM, a South Sudanese student who had been suspended for fighting from Lokichoggio Secondary Mixed gathered several friends and broke into the school compound. They shot and killed the guard at the front gate; but their mission was revenge on the principal, several teachers and the boy he was originally fighting with. When they discovered that all were absent from the property, they set their rage towards other students. It seems that they targeted the leaders in the student council and top students in the school. Peter was one of those. He was ranked number 1 in his class for grades and was part of the student council. Joel spoke with a teacher afterwards, and he stated he lost his 5 top students. Their attention then turned to targeted girls on campus. They were given the option to trade their purity for the bullet. The attack lasted approximately two hours before outside help arrived and the assailants fled. In total 6 students were killed along with 1 guard. 18 were injured.
Loki Secondary Boarding School is about 150 yards from our house – just behind us.
This is information we haven’t shared freely, as we felt God’s protection the entire time and never in personal danger. We heard the shots being fired and even knew they were close, but we assumed it was Taposa cattle raiding in the river valley about a quarter mile away. We haven’t had cattle raiding close for a while, but it certainly isn’t uncommon. Although close in proximity, we slept with closed windows and fans on, and trees and a few houses filtered the screams. God was protecting us. There was nothing we would have been able to do to help, and He needed us for afterwards.
We found out first thing Saturday morning that Peter was dead, and the day unfolded tenuously. The Turkana towns-people were livid that the police commander had taken so long to respond and ran him out of town. They turned on anyone of South Sudanese descent, including a group of 24 South Sudanese pastors at the local Bible school Joel had just brought in a month and a half earlier. There were also a group of South Sudanese midwives in training at PRDA. The instigator had been apprehended in Kakuma at the refugee camp about an hour away, and the towns-people began demonstrating and demanding that he be returned to Loki for “justice”. We stayed in contact with our Swedish co-missionaries (they live on our compound and have been in Loki for 10 years) as we continued to hear occasional rounds going off – the police trying to maintain control over a building mob. The mob moved to attack MERF (the Bible school) and PRDA (midwives), but thankfully there was no further bloodshed, just looting. We were never in danger, as the anger was clearly targeted to South Sudanese, not white folks.
Saturday night it became apparent that the South Sudanese pastors needed to be evacuated ASAP. Continued threats indicated that more attacks were directed their way. The dilemma became, “How can we help?” AIM AIR always picks these eager young men up from their villages and returns them after their Bible classes at MERF. HOWEVER, we also need to be able to continue to reside safely in Lokichoggio, and mob mentality desiring revenge may not be accepting of seeing an AIM AIR plane taking the pastors home. Joel spent the night helping to coordinate an evacuation with another operator. Sunday morning, while our family was visibly in church, we could hear the many flights of the other Caravan taking the pastors to safety. The ladies from PRDA escaped Loki (not sure how, but it was successful). We praise God for their safety.
Sunday after church we began preparations for Peter’s funeral. No funeral homes in these parts. Thankfully, a good friend, Maureen, coordinated and navigated most of the tough details: where Peter would be buried since he was an orphan with no family plot, and gathering together all who would take a part in this – the family who had taken Peter in when his parents died and he had nowhere to go, the pastor at AIC (where Peter was very active), and us. Joel took the men and started getting the casket made by a local carpenter, while LaReina, Maureen, and the ladies went to get the body in order. Peter’s body was in a nearby hospital, however, we quickly learned that the doctors and nurses were on strike (thankfully they triaged the original influx of injured and sent those who would survive to larger hospitals in other cities). Translation: No one was present to prepare the body for the funeral. Maureen is as Kenyan as Kenyan can be, and I’m pretty sure she turned a couple of shades white. Again, God had us in the right place at the right time. Although not a situation I will seek out in the future, it was an honor to clean Peter up, sing praise songs over his body, and dress him in fine black pants and a crisp white shirt. 20 years of working in the Cardiac Cath Lab, and sadly seeing quite a few deceased … it was okay.
Peter's pastor from the AIC (Africa Inland Church) performed the message.
Sunday was more than funeral day; it was an opportunity to bond with those who loved Peter as we did. Joel spent the day with Peter’s friends (who mostly speak English), while Maureen translated between the host family and me. What wonderful souls. When all was said and done, I think we all respected each other a lot more. With such short notice, it was amazing to see how many turned out for Peter’s funeral. He was known and loved by this community.
Joel was honored to be asked to speak at the funeral
The rest of the week held more uncertainty. The main assailant who had been apprehended in Kakuma was released to the Turkana mob that brutally killed him. We wondered if there would be retribution from South Sudan. The stories unfolded that the young man was not so young, and had been military (SPLA) in South Sudan. Rumors that his accomplices had been caught, then not … at this point we are not sure, but they certainly have fled Loki. Not uncommonly, we have South Sudanese students in local schools, and most are thankful to be receiving an education that would be impossible if they remained at home. A few have stayed, and we are praying God’s protection over them until this anger and desire for revenge subsides.
Today, Saturday, is the return of all the bodies except, of course, Peter. Funerals are taking place as families and friends join together to mourn. We are praying that this is where this tragedy ends – mourning the loss of innocent lives. Because the assailant wasn’t Taposa (the tribe just across the South Sudan border that Turkana has a hate-filled relationship with) and they don’t really know where he came from, the angry towns-people don’t have a clear direction to initiate revenge. We have been praying that God would confuse any attempts of the devil to propagate this horrendous act of violence. It seems our prayers have been heard.
Please join with us in prayer that healing will come, and that the pain of loss which so quickly seems to be diverted to revenge in this culture, doesn’t. There are those students who were injured and are healing. There are many students who scream out in the night with images of the horror their eyes have seen. The Red Cross is coming for counseling – pray for Godly wisdom and words to bring healing to wounded hearts.
For us? As I said in the beginning, we have felt God’s presence and peace this entire time. We were protected that horrible night, not from danger to ourselves, but from sounds and knowing what is happening. Thank you for your continued prayers on our behalf. God hears and honors your prayers. We have talked to Renee and Ian to make sure they didn’t want to be evacuated with our Swedish friends. They know what has happened, but they also feel protection from God and trust Joel and my discernment.
As of yesterday, we have armed night security on our compound. We’ve always had guards, but they have been unarmed and truly just there to let us through the gate. I think that knowledge will help Joel feel better when he starts doing over-nights again. As for me, I ask God’s protection every time Joel is away, so I trust my Savior’s protection however He chooses to bring it.
If it is possible for good to have come out of evil intentions, we feel a closer bond to this community that could only come out of shared heart-break. They saw us sharing in burying one of their own; they saw genuine tears of loss. Instead of expressionless stares, yesterday a teenager gave me a “thumbs up” as I went to get groceries. Peter’s friends have stood by us, letting us know if rumors are true and reverently promising to let us know if we are in danger. Towns-people have run to our truck to receive their own as Joel brought a recovering student home. A different impromptu flight to Lodwar (Thursday) meant that Joel could bring 3 of the injured students along with their mothers home. The ramp area was lined with bright orange and yellow vests as the towns-people came to take their loved one’s home.
Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for standing with us, and we apologize for not speaking sooner. With all the dramatics of social media and news, we didn’t want to subscribe to that and cause unnecessary panic and fear. So much of our news this week was hear-say and rumors. We didn’t want to pass that along and propagate false news that we would later need to retract.
We praise God, yet again, for keeping us in the shelter of His fortress. Being in the center of His will truly is the best place to be. Thank you for helping us remain there.
God Bless,
Joel, LaReina, Renee and Ian
