Ministering amid danger

A Spokane missionary and her children are waiting out the post-election rioting in Kenya as her husband watches the turmoil from afar during a trip home to the Lilac City.

Michele and Todd Ingram have been based just outside Nairobi for the past four years, helping children, ministering to local churches and promoting family values, especially marriage.

But now the adoptions of three children they have been caring for since arriving in the African nation are on hold as government offices are closed for safety in the tumultuous days since the presidential election.

More than 300 people have died in the recent rioting over what opponents say was a corrupt election stolen by the winner, Mwai Kibaki, a member of the country’s politically dominant Kikuyu tribe. Another 250,000 people have been forced out of their homes. Many more lack food or water.

“My wife said the last time she went to the store the shelves were empty. She waited two hours just to get in,” Ingram said.

Michele Ingram and the children have been mostly staying in their compound to avoid danger. Todd Ingram spoke to her Friday night.

“She said she felt safe. She felt covered by prayer.”

It’s not the first time the family has faced peril. Less than two years ago, axe- and machete-wielding men stormed their home, severely beating Michele Ingram, injuring one daughter and cutting Todd Ingram in the chest. The mob, led in part by the man who was hired to guard the house, spent two hours ransacking the home and stealing everything of value before leaving.

Now the rioting is what worries Ingram.

“I wouldn’t be a husband or human if I wasn’t concerned, but I have great faith in God’s protection,” Ingram said. “Some people might say, ‘How can you believe in God’s protection with those machete marks on your chest?’ But I’m still here, aren’t I?”

Ingram said the healed-over gashes aren’t as deep as the scars he carried for years from being abused as a child and then abusing himself with drugs and alcohol.

“Todd was not a choir boy growing up,” said Ron Hauenstein, a supporter of the Ingrams’ work.

Todd Ingram has been staying with Hauenstein for three months while working to translate teachings into Swahili and raise money for the mission.

Ingram said his life changed when God spoke to him at his grandmother’s funeral. Working to help others has helped heal the wounds from his past.

“It’s a real test of faith to stay there and commit your life to those kids,” Hauenstein said.

The Ingrams vow to stay in Kenya until they can finalize adoptions of three children and establish a strong base for their family-values outreach work with the nondenominational Christian group Family Foundation International and Free to Fly Ministries.

They already have several other children, some grown and three still living with them – 14-year-old Abraham, 11-year-old Isabel and 17-year-old Kelsea – but they could not turn away the three Kenyan children, Ingram said.

The couple encountered baby Moses at an orphanage.

“There were so many babies there at the time that his skin was peeling from diaper rash,” Ingram said. Moses’ sister, 3-year-old Ziporah, was left at home alone while her father worked as a night watchman. The siblings’ mother died giving birth to Moses.

Fourteen-year-old orphan Florah was uncared for by her extended family, but although her grandfather agreed to her adoption, Florah’s grandmother refused to agree without compensation. Ingram said Florah is old enough to make up her own mind about the adoption, but Ingram said he fears her grandparents will show up to try to sell her as a bride.

It’s just that sort of practice that fuels the Ingrams’ desire to stay in Kenya and work with the people there, said Ingram, who will return this month.

He said it’s important to promote marriage as a way to heal rifts between men and women and give women greater value and respect in Kenya.

“We’ve been doing seminars on restoring family values. We’re trying to restore the value of girls,” Hauenstein said. As part of that mission, Ingram has performed more than 100 weddings.

He was surprised to find that many pastors at Kenyan churches were living with women but not married.

Brides at Ingram’s weddings wear white gowns donated by American women supporting Ingram’s work.

A Kenyan couple, Josephat and Hellen Oduor, have been working with the Ingrams in Nairobi. The goal is to establish three houses for orphan girls, each with a married couple acting as parents to the children.

Ingram hopes that work will continue long after he and Michele leave Kenya and that people in the United States will continue to support their causes.

“I don’t want people to forget Kenya and those who are over there sacrificing themselves to help others,” he said.