Dear Friends, For those of you in the USA this is Super Bowl Sunday, an excuse I guess to have friends over and party all afternoon prior to the game, with many falling asleep during the game, bored with a game they do not understand nor even care to understand. And loyal Lions fans can spend their time admiring Tom Brady leading his team to victory again while wondering whether the city's team will ever make it to the big dance. Oh, I have been down that road too many times. From far away Africa I wonder whether I will live long enough to see that long awaited championship team......................................................................................................... These last nine days have been unique and quite chaotic for this nation and somewhat chaotic for our Jesuit community. Let me explain a little............................................................................................. On Friday the 26th, we had in the afternoon an ice storm, yes, a storm of hail, little ice-balls fall on us, really DUMPED on us with much force . . . sheets and sheets of hail stones falling on a 45 degtree angle and covering up most of the grass. It went on for 20 minutes while the skies thundered and thundered for more than an hour. Heavy, much needed rains followed about an hour later. I had never imagined anything like this in this part of the world, but happen it did. It took almost an hour for the ice balls to melt. They were about as big as the nail of your index finger. The chaos then followed. Electrical power was knocked out, the internet connection was broken. Then on Sturday Kenya Electic tried to restore power. The resumption of power led to surges or jolts of power into our lines and this burned up, destroyed many pieces related to our laptop computers. I lost my transformer, a plug-in to the back of my computer. It is worth about $25, a fourth of the money I get to live on for a month. Some witnessed flashes of fire shooting out from wall sockets in their rooms. the surge also destroyed a key piece of electrical equipment in the pump from which we get our water. So for three days we were ailing water from the tank that catches run-off water from our roofs. Thank God we still were able to purchase clean drinking water. But no whowers during this time, no water out of the taps. Then bubbles in the water lines blocking the flow of water for the first day water was restored. So I went four days without a shower. Pee-UUUUUU!!! Ugh. My hair was oily beyond description! Ugh! I felt like a stinking rat. On the third day I went for a swim, outdoors here. Low 80s during the afternoons. Having the chlorine residue on my skin was preferable than to no shower at all!.......................................................................................................Then on Tuesday the loser in the last national election, Mr. Raila Odinga, had himself "inaugurated as the people's president" over against an election he said was rigged against him. It would be like Hillary declaring from exile that she is the People's president and that Trump stole the election from her--which some will say is exactly what happened. The government in power allowed the rally and inauguration to go forward, I think as a way to assuage the anger of many who voted for the opponent. A large crowd turned out. All went fairly quietly that day, last Tuesday, but someone in the government shut down the TV stations that were carrying the ceremony. I was sitting at my computer at that moment and all of a sudden all power went off. We all right away said the government did this, in dictatorial fashion. And sure enough, that is the explanation. Then in the last few days the government has been rounding up the member of that party who led this sediitous ceremony, imprisoned some and have revoked the passports of them all. Where Odinga is right now is not known. Rumors have him hiding in Tanzania, the nation to our south. Three of the TV stations are still not back on the air and are said to have to re-apply for their licensces to be permitted to resume broadcasting........................................................................................... Many say this has the feel of a dictatorship, that the elements of democracy are suffering because of the way the government is handling this turmoil. At the same time, what Odinga and his group did is an act of sedition, a crime against the state. Odinga is so frustrated in trying to get reforms, constitutional and economic, in this nation. And he has a point to some degree, but his methods have boomeranged on him this time, it seems. The interenational community urged him strong not to do this, that it would not support him as a preisdent outside the country nor as a people's president inside Kenya. ........................................................................................................ I wish I had the time to study in depth who and what are the power clusters in the government and millionaires in the business community that block real reform and the opening up of the job markets and the vast parts of land in this nation so desperately needed. Islamic jihadist efforts are closely tied to young men frustrated that they cannot get a job, so they are easily recruited with wads of money provided by sources in Saudia Arabia and Qatar to join Al Shabab in Somalia and conduct raids in Somalia and Kenya. American military with drones are stationed clandestinely in Somalia and Tanzania kill many of these young men. It is so tragic for these people who are trapped in what feels like a hopeless situation. The poverty in this part of the world is so striking, over against the relatively small number who have enormous wealth and are the real power behind government decisions. Not a lot different than in most first world nations, the USA included. ............................................................................................................ Yesterday I had a young nun tell me the very sad story of how her family and all in her village in western Kenya were burned out of their homes last Friday in a raid by neighboring tribal people, people who worship in the same church they do and buy food at the same market they do. Almost always this is about one tribal group getting angry over the alleged stealing of their cattle and goats by the other tribe. You have to image the setting: a rolling highlands area, rich in green growth from generous rainfall, full of herds of cattle and goats. The people live in wooden or mudbrick shacks with tarp paper to protect against rain. They usually form a circle of the houses for protection and have a large open space on the inside of the circle for their children to play, for meetings with their elders, and where at night they bring their animals for safety. This nun teaches in a school far away from her family, in eastern Kenya, and received a phone call that the huts of all of her family members were burned down, all possessions were lost, and some were wounded with bullets from Russian AK-47s provided by government leaders who make good money from selling war weapons. Sounds like the USA!! The only things left were the clothes on the backs of her family members. She is struggling so hard with the feelings of anger and hurt and the call of the Gospel to forgiveness and reconciliation. Life is terribly brutal at times........................................................................................ Then I have learned from one of my retreatants who is a nun some shocking info regarding her efforts to rescue children kidnapped by and for the local sex industry, one of the most evil, monstrous industries in the world. Surely there is a hell for these perpetrators!! She tells of a 12 minute video shown to some of her fellow workers dedicated to the rescue of these children in which a little 5 year old Philippina girl was kidnapped and would be drugged with a pill shoved in her mouth so that she would not be all that conscious when sordid customers came to satisfy their animal cravings at her expense. Again life can be very brutal. It is truly one of the worst manifestations of today's ongoing crucifixion of Christ in His Body, God's family. It and the world of pornography are the second biggest source of money in today's world, following what the arms merchants make. It is the cravings for money and a lavish lifestyle that pushes many of these people to do such criminal things. God will not be mocked. There will be a day when justice is done, as sure as the sun will come up tomorrow. What are these poeple going to do when they meet their Creator and asks them what did they do with the life He gave them??!! I know for a fact that this human trafficking, of adults and of children, goes on everywhere; in Detroit, in Flint, in Toledo. It cries to heaven for justice. Pope Francis has spoken out on it a number of times. I pray daily for its victims. Many commit suicide; many end up in prostitution or other crimes. Yes, the world needs a Savior........................................................................................................For me I continue to plow along on the second book I am writing. I have gotten the OK to have my first book published and marketed here in Africa. Very encouraging news! The book is translated now into Spanish and I am presently looking for a publishing company to make it available to the Spanish-speaking public. Mexico, USA?? Weather here is usually wonderful: cloudless skies, low 80s during the fternoons, great for an outdoors swim. I wish all who read this a spiritually rich Lent.......................................................................................... I will have two visitors coming on the 27th of this month and staying until March 8--one a very good male friend from Troy, MI and the other a male friend from Rome. I expect to have a fabulous time with them. They are both close friends of mine and know each other quite well. We will see some of the beauty in the surrounding area and sip some scotch or sambucca while my Roman friend plays the guitar; He has been good enough to play in restaurants in Rome, so this will be a treat. God bless to you all....................................................................................................... Bernie Owens

Dear Friends, It has been a long time since I have written and so, so much has happened, too much to capture in words here and some of it too personal to share in a forum this public. Anywy, I am quite well while in the midst of being continually amazed at so many things going on here in Kenya with its poverty and political turmoil, in the USA and its unabated turmoil, its public lack of respect and verbal violence, and what strikes me as its increasing spiritual poverty, yet not without some extraordinary citizens who still believe in and live well from God's love and mercy, people for whom Jesus and His way still make all the difference. .............................................................................................................. I had a blessed December. It was especially so with a very enjoyable celebration of Christmas, a dinner for 35 people (20 of these being guests) on Christmas afternoon (with lots of turkey, wonderfully prepared, and cranberries which I love!) Then starting on December 27 my own 8-day of retreat in silence, alone with the Lord and a few scriptures and two readings that touched me greatly. Day 6 of the retreat, on January 1, seemed to be the most blessed of all the days. In that afternoon I had a very strong sense of God's depths and the quality and utter beauty of God's goodness and love. I had never experienced such like this before. It was heavenly. What was entirely new in this experience was how there is simply no "bottom" to God's depths. There is no "end" or limit to Divine Love. I knew this before in my head, but this time I SENSED it with much power and unforgettable wonder. The deeper I went into God's depths, the more this awareness simply opened out into the infinite spaces of everything good and true; not unlike what an astronout might experience looking out from a spacelab window and peering into space. Astronomers tell us the universe is perpetually expanding and we have no idea where and whether there is any outer boundary to the cosmos. Try to get your mind around that idea; Really, it is impossible. All one can do is accept and adore............................................................................................................................................................................................. So, we cannot even imagine the breadth and depth of the Divine Heart because it has no boundaries, no "outer limits." It seems to me we are all largely unaware of and mostly blind to the Source we come from and are being drawn back to. We see vaguely, maybe, but "as thorough a glass darkly," as St. Paul says. It is so, so humbling yet consoling to "taste and see" this aspect of God, to understand better why some mystics like the 14th century woman, Juliana of Norwich said that because of what God is like, "all is well, all manner of things are well." We have no good reason to fear or worry even though we suffer from the lack of love in the world, and in ourselves. And so, despite the craziness of the world and that same craziness welling up inside our own selves at times, and despite how it seems that the voices of self-centered arrogance and pride, lust and greed appear to be prevailing, there is something far deeper and will have "the last say" when all is over and death has met everyone of us. (That Presence is with us even now; we need not wait till death to claim it and live in its Assurance.) It will not be the deeds of our lives but the mercy, justice and sheer goodness of God expressed in the open Heart of His Son given totally for each of us that will make the ultimate difference. This gracious Source of all that is will write the last chapter of the book of our lives. It is good to remind each other of this overriding Truth and Power to ground us and save us from hopelessness, anger and blaming but to really intercede for the world and all of our loved ones and so too for all those whose deeds make them very difficult to love in Christ.............................................................................................................................................................................To all of you who read this, I wish a happy, blessed 2018. I will be visiting Detroit in late July and early August and hope our paths cross. God bless. I will see all of you, known and unknown, at the daily Eucharist where we are all one in Him; in Him who says, "Fear not, for I have overcome the world." We have to believe and trust Him when He says this and look for His reassuring presence and friendship along the way we are going each day. Bernie Owens

Good afternoon, Friends, I write on Friday, December 1, on a day with temps in the mid to high 70s and I am surrounded by blue skies and lots of flowers. So different from what many of you are now experiencing. It is a stark reminder for me of how life is in the southern hemisphere of the world. Our hottest months will be the next three, the heart of summer for us. I had planned on making my annual retreat (8 days mandated for every Jesuit every year) in Mombasa, a port city on the Indian ocean abut 250 miles from here during Christmas week and the first few days of January. But some Jesuits who visited there recently said, "Wow is it HOT^ there and humid too." That comment made me change my mind right away. I cannot do any work at all, let alone pray and make a retreat, when my skin is wet and I am perspiring so, which would be the case in that city. It is great for tourists. Many Kenyans who have at least modest money will take their children there over Christmas time to play in the water, which is truly wonderful I am told. So, like the last four years I am staying here for my retreat and have whatever resources at hand I will need. Besides, this setting is really beautiful for making a retreat, especially if you can be under a tree during the middle of the day. I have just finished leading 17 people through an 8-day retreat in which I gave the talks, two a day, and made myself available for numerous one-on-one conversations with any of them who needed that. I had many, many pages to xerox and staple. I established the theme for each article, then gave it to them as a summary and points/topics to pray from. The entire retreat was about who is the Spirit of God, what does that Spirit do in each of us and in the world. It seems many Christians have little or no knowledge of who is this Holy Spirit, so to provide instruction on this fundamental of our faith -life seemed fitting, reflected in how glad people were to get instruction and be able to pray much more deeply in regard to the Spirit. They loved the retreat from what I can see, but wow, was I ever tired when we finished yesterday. This past month of November has been a demanding one for me. Besides the retreat I was host, taxi-driver sometimes, and tour guide for part of two weeks for three American friends. The highlight of the two weeks was the four of us going to Masai Mara, the spacious game park in western Kenya, a 6 hour drive from here, an hour and a half of it over very bumpy roads. IN two full days and parts of two other days we saw so, so many wild animals. In one day we saw what are called the big five: lions, elephants, leopard, water buffalo, and rhinos. All in all, we saw 31 lions, all of them up close (maybe 40 feet away from our four-wheeler), some 25 feet away; 14 giraffes (so elegant!), one hyena, one rhino, countless water buffalo, wildebeasts, heartebeasts, and zebras, a few crocodiles, a dozen or so cheetahs, countless antelopes, gazelles, impalas, guinea-fowls, baboons, and many, many hippos, two of which came to the back area of our lodging and were so loud when munching grass. I woke up at 4:30 AM two of the mornings we were there because of the noise thinking it was an elephant up close to my bedroom window; instead it was a mother hippo with her baby munching in a rhythmic manner. What a site. They were probably 35-40 feet away from me. One of the most dramatic scenes was two female lions eating a wildebeast. We had come upon this scene maybe 20 minutes after the chase and kill. One lion was the mother of the other; she was gorged and lying almost on her back sound asleep. The daughter lioness, maybe 2-3 years old, had the wildebeast on its side and was feasting on the rib cage area and then worked hard to turn over the victim to get at more of the flesh yet to be torn off and eaten. One of the wildebeast's front legs was sticking straight up in the air while being worked over by this pretty large lioness. All of this happened in the middle of a shallow river; the wildebeast was lying on a sandbar and part of its body in the stream with the water running by gently. For me a bonus was the enormous vistas one gets at that park. I think it must be 50-70 miles in all directions; you can see in all directions over very gently rolling meadows with some mountains that form boundaries at opposite ends, 80-100 miles away. Very few trees over these vistas. It was so impressive to spot zebras, water buffalo and herds of elephants at different parts of the park at great distances. Binoculars really helped. One other very impressive scene was a herd of elephants up close with a baby elephant perhaps 2-3 weeks old. It was so interesting to watch the baby stick very close to its mother and be on the other side of her away from us. We would stop, turn off our engine, and stare for like a half hour. A moment of great humor came when I spotted on the side of our road in the park what is called a dung beetle. It is about the size of an adult's thumb. It rolls into a ball the dung of animals in the area, like that of the impalas and antelopes, and pushes with its rear legs this ball while pivoting off its front legs. It was hilarious watching how vigorously this beetle was pushing, doing its job to provide food for its eggs. I need to go, friends. Another batch of retreatants comes in this evening, so I go back to work with six people to guide in one-on-ones conversations each day. A blessed Advent and Christmas to each and all of you. Bernie Owens

Dear Friends, It is November 2, the day Roman Catholics especially remember in prayer the deceased members of our families and friends. It is a tradition taken from many centuries, more than a millenium, to intercede with God for those who have passed on but, we believe, may still have issues and ways of relating that indicate their not being in complete union with God and their neighbor. In other words, there is still need for some purification of their past, something that needs "correcting" and realigning with God's Spirit before they are ready to be with God face to face. When we appreciate what is needed in the human soul before it is ready to be with God, it becomes immediately obvious how many of us upon death probably do not meet the minimum state of interior freedom and purity of heart necessary to be with God. How God does this purification and completing his work of transforming us in Christ so that we are in complete harmony with Him, God alone knows. In any case today is special just for this reason and for caring for those who have gone on in the Lord. ................................................................................................................................ In an hour I leave for the Nairobi airport to meet three American friends who are coming for a two-week visit. The four of us are planning to go to the famous game park, Masai Mara, next Monday through Thursday. I am really looking forward to this--to drive in a truck next to a group (pride) of lions or near the giraffes, etc. It is such a special place in the world. Right now it is raining and leaving everything very green. Spring is in the air, the flowers and trees in bloom add abundant color, a feast for the eyes. The jacaranda trees with their light purple bells in clusters are for me the most spectacular display of nature's colors at this time of the year................................................................................................................................. The repeated election, held on October 26, is over, the incumbent declared the winner, and the political jousting continues. The loser in this second election is a big source of pain to most in the nation. Most just want the economy to get going again. It has been stagnant for so long. Many want to go back to work. At the same time some major structural changes are needed in the way government is run and the elections are conducted. This is a young nation with many growing pains. Some observers are of the opinion that the next generation is needed to come into power before the old crony system modeled by the British dies; the Brits ran this place for more than a century as one of its colonies. So much favoritism toward the few families who own most of the land. this makes bribery and embezzelment easy for the way of operating, and staying out of prison while you can continue committing money related crimes and an occasional assassination or elimination of a political foe. There is a small middle class, too much unemployment still, which make for the seeds of violence and thievery. Thank God for the Christian churches, especially for the many nuns who run so many of the institutions that show care for the ordinary citizen and then the very poor, not-so-ordinary citizens. There are so many orphans and abandoned children, idle men and alcoholism. I sense many parallels with where the USA was after the American Civil War and into the 20th century. ...................................................................... I feel good about having predicted from the beginning of the baseball playoffs who would be the two teams in the World Series and that Houston would win it all. I am also glad that Justin Verlander finally got his World Series ring after two failed attempts with the Tigers (in 2006 and 2012). The trade that sent Verlander to Houston last July 31 made a huge difference for Houston getting to the WS. As a Tiger fan I must admit I have great hopes for the Tigers picking some great talent during the next couple of years and being back in competition in the not too distant future. ................................................................................................................. Will the government of the USA ever calm down? Will our populace ever calm down and show respect and be ready to listen to the other perspective for what truth is in it, if any? It seems we have so many who have adopted a "me-first" attitude and ready to accuse the other. Our culture is experiencing the ferment of men and women using each other through lots of sexual misbehavior so that those involved can become very rich and live the wild life. If anyone is exposed, they have an excuse and then point the accusing finger as if they have nothing from which to repent. Is it possible that a truly competent, inspiring leader emerge and get elected? Will Christian voices that are not fundamentalistic and capable of speaking knowledgeably to the injustices in the USA political, economic, racial, and cultural realms get a platform so that they are heard as widely as the standard media are able to be heard?...... .....................................................................................................................I continue to make good progress on my new book. I am presently toward the end of chapter 7 and hope to have the entire first draft done by June. God bless. I need to go to the airport now! In Christ, Bernie Owens

Dear Friends, I have been remiss, yes. Too many other things getting my immediate attention, especially the time I have been putting in on writing the next chapter of the book I am writing (five chapters done with the part of the book I am most interested in yet to be written! Book-writing can be all-consuming, and after a while I don't think of anything else.)......................................................................................................................................... What is this book about? I am showing the various stages of spiritual and psychological, emotional growth possible in a person's life, if they deeply connect with Christ as the greatest discovery of their life and develop a deep friendship with and love for him. (So many do not really know Him; they know about Him but do not know Him!) I am using many sources to explain this but principally the framework of Teresa of Avila and some of the great insights of John of the Cross. Both of these people are Carmelite saints of the 16th century and so perceptive. I discuss why it is that most people do not grow beyond a certain relatively early point in the spiritual journey and miss out on realizing the greater, richer possibilities we have in becoming truly happy and fulfilled. What I seek to show in the latter half or third of the book some of the richer experiences available to us in these latter, more mature stages of life. It all depends on our taking a few basic steps to open up to and receive those deeper gifts of God. The problem is: like the Rich Young Man in the Gospel, so many of us don't want to take those few steps but would rather stay in our comfort zones and pretty much settle in to a certain level of growth and there live out the rest of our lives. God still loves us as we are but there could have been so, so much more for us if we had sought guidance and learned more about the possibilities available to us all, if we had made more courageous choices. So, I hope readers in the coming years will find my book to be like a map and guide to a richer, much happier life................................................................................................................................................ While I live far from the USA, I do read from the internet each day a quick summary of the news of what is going on in the USA. Like so many US citizens I feel concern for the deepening disunity in the US, great distress at the deepening godlessness of many elements and how the media reflect an implicit atheism in the politically correct values they approve of, then the fighting and disrespect shown in public speech and behavior, and the unthinkable consequences of a war that would be fought with the weapons now in the hands of nations who keep threatening each other. It all leaves me feeling rather powerless and praying urgently that God spare us lest we end up like Sodom and Gomorrah consumed in sulphuric fire. We so need credible, articulate voices that will witness to and proclaim in a public way a basic humble and grateful attitude, rooted in a deep faith in God, and a new dedication, especially in marriages and families, to live such values. Something has to be done to counter the hypocritical philosophy or system of values praised in the last two weeks by the media when Hugh Hefner died. The media were filled with testimonies to how he was a champion of and trailblazer toward a new freedom from repression. (Yet one twitter sent in said, "I think it safe to say this is one guy who is not in a better place!") But the media treated his death and his long life as a great contribution to a better culture and better USA, even though it acknowledged that Hefner in some interview early in his career of promoting his infamous magazine and the objectification of women admitted that women are objects (for the pleasure of men.)..................................................................................................................................... Then what struck me as so hypocritical of the media was their present obsession with and condemnation of Harvey Weinstein and how he has used so many actresses for satisfying his own addiction. I ask: is there any essential difference between Hugh Hefner and Harvey Weinstein?? Why is one so praised by the media and the other so heavily condemned? Is it that one is supposed to look and fantasize but never touch?? I ask that cynically! This moral rot is killing many spiritual lives, destroying people in their hearts to indulge their ego-centric passions and live without any intent to keep any promise or vow that would inconvenience them. They lie to themselves, helped by the media, when they claim that living this way is the new freedom, is the way out of repression and joyless living. Yet when you see the fruits, the results of their choices and lifestyles, the fury of people who counted on their being faithful and trustworthy, you say, "how can that be freedom?" I have had to listen to too many people who bemoan their addiction to pornography and their loss of freedom (yes, there is that word again) and enslavement to habits of lust. Such is the legacy of Hugh Hefner and others like him; I am sure Harvey Weinstein fed his fantasy life with the garbage that Hugh Hefner and others like him dumped on America from the early 1950s till our day. ................................................................................................................................................... With the ugliness of lust there is closely connected violence and rage, like the attitude shown in Steven Paddock, infamous forever for his murdering so many people in Las Vegas. Along with his successful gambling and spending money and time with the whores of that city he indulged his furious, bitterly angry attitude toward who knows what. Sex and violence together make for a never ending source of fascination. twisted curiosity, and perverse entertainment. (I have learned that getting hooked especially on porn makes people hide from God, hide from their true selves, and often lie to others close to them, also to stay at a pretty superficial, self-focused level of life.) Too many people in our nation are expressing their contempt and fury at someone (e.g., two years ago toward little children in a Connecticut school) by turning guns made for military combat on them. ..................................................................................................................................... Why am I so interested in this area of what troubles our nation? Because I anticipate spending the last years of what is left of my life helping teens and their parents look at their lives as a gift from God to do something God needs from them, something that will make their lives really meaningful, rooted in love and friendship with Christ and His Father, and contribute to the betterment of other people, to find their joy and fulfillment in living out of these values and cares. To think first in terms of living out a call from God rather than thinking first and foremost of choosing a career to become financially well-off (One is focused on God, the other on self): I want to give the rest of my life to precisely this and to confront the powers of evil and twisted values fostered by ex-Christians and unbelievers of other backgrounds like Hugh Hefner and other egocentric failures of our society. ......................................................................................................................................... Please pray for Kenya. We face a national election next October 26. Right now on this 15th day of October, things are very fluid. It seems the election will go forward, but who knows what will happen soon after it? I have three friends coming from the States a week after the election. We are staying in safe places, not going downtown Nairobi, and will be going to the famous game park, Masai Mara, a six hours drive west of here (on November 6-9) to see the lions, giraffes, antelope, hippos, water buffaloes, crocodiles, leopards, etc. Ironically, it will be more secure to be with the animals and some of the violent people who live in the big cities of this country!!................................................................................................................................... All for now! God bless America! May God raise up some truly great Christians in our land to live the Christian faith and be the leaven in a new dough God will create to regenerate our nation. We need a new politics, a new dedication to the family and to fidelity in marriage; we need men and women who will come not to be served but to serve and give their lives out of gratitude to Him who laid down His life for each of us, Christian and non-Christian, with no exceptions. See the second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 9 and his letter to the Galatians, chapter 2, verses 19 and 20. Bernie Owens

Dear Friends, Greetings from Nairobi on a grey, chilly, damp, overcast Sunday morning. I am trusting that by noon the sun will break through and we will enjoy a nice afternoon like we did yesterday. (Spring, yes, spring cannot come fast enough here; I miss the warm days.) I spent yesterday morning doing some long-awaited weeding and tilling soil in a large patch of roses that I had extensively pruned two weeks ago. The roses are beginning to assert themselves, some more than others, and promise to be fully grown by late September and full of blossoms again. It is such a gift for me to get outside and not look at my computer screen and forget the writing of my next book, which I am almost in the middle of. Writing for me can become compulsive; I wake up thinking about it, I go to bed thinking about it; the desire to finish the book and get out of me onto the computer all that is going on in my mind, heart, and spirit can be all-consuming. This is why working in the dirt with something that will be beautiful, enjoying no pressure nor time constraint, is truly relaxing for me. ............................................................................................................................................... I have waited a full week to write this letter while anticipating sharing with you something of the results of the Kenyan election. Perhaps you know that the loser in the election appealed the election results to the Supreme Court of the nation. Kenya waited two weeks for the seven judges with their many fellow lawyers to decide. Last Friday, at noon, during a Muslim holiday, the judges on a 4-2 vote (one judge was in the hospital) declared the election invalid, that it had not followed the Constitution's directives. (Can you imagine such a reason, such an alleged omission and gaffe??!!) So, another national election must be held in 60 days, on the presidential issue only, not on the other offices. This election, I am told, will be conducted on November 1. What is so exasperating is the waste of time and money, all the money that was spent on the previous election of August 8, the most expensive one in Africa, ever!; and over 1000 foreign observers, on their own money, had come to volunteer as observers and guarantors of the integrity of the election at various polls. By the way, they all said matters were conducted well and from what they saw the process was fine and trustworthy. John Kerry, the former secretary of state, was among these observers.................................................................................................................................................................................................... It seems to me that this outcome is a great embarrassment to the nation to spend all that money and time on a national election and have the presidential part of it declared invalid and has to be repeated. Kenya has had major strikes by nurses, doctors and also, in a separate strike, by teachers demanding the money that the government had promised them for raises. It always seems that the rich and the politically powerful find the money for what they really want, but so many others are denied. I find this situation something that leaves many, and myself, so weary. It reminds me of the very long process of campaigning, primaries, and finally an election in the USA. The two political parties, here in Kenya and also in the States, spend far too much time wrangling and focused critically on each other, and do not do enough real governing. Will the American citizens ever get a real choice, a choice that they are enthusiastic about? The USA did not get such a choice at the last national election. Will the election in 2020 be any different??!! ................................................................................................................................................. I marked four years in East Africa last August 23...................................................................................................................................... Underneath the various discouraging signs in the Kenyan economy and social structures, I experience the awesomeness of God's presence and power active in the lives and stories of the retreatants I am privileged to listen to and guide. I am deeply impressed with what I hear. For the three who are making the 30-day retreat--one from Kenya, one from Zambia, the other from Burundi-- I sense God saying, "no matter what the inequities in economics and social structures, I am with you through it all, and for those who are interested in a deep friendship with me, I will pour out my best gifts." In the midst of it all, God is singularly good to me, especially in my daily morning contemplations. At times it so moves me at how God supports me and is close. It is so awesome. .......................................................................................................................................... I must go now. With the Labor Day weekend over, the rhythm of the nation changes, children return to school, summer for the northern hemisphere is over, etc. God bless all of you. Bernie Owens

Good morning, Friends. It is three weeks since I last wrote you a letter. I do hope you read the previous two letters about an amazing missionary in South Sudan. Hr story is one of the most amazing stories I have heard since my coming to Nairobi four years ago. ............................................................................................................................................... With that said, I will now tell you a little about the weirdest week I have witnessed so far in this part of Africa. Last Monday this nation of 45 million people "shut down" to engage in national elections. The preparation for it has been very long and drawn out, like in the United States. NO work, stores closed, public transportation was at a minimum. The invective, charges and counter-charges, were played up in the newspapers. The newspapers were obsessed with the campaign and political rhetoric. After awhile you wanted to pull a blanket over your head and withdraw from all the bombast, just like it is in the US during its campaign. In this campaign the incumbent president was running against a man who had lost three times before, THREE TIMES!! It must be said in his defense that he had the election stolen from him during his second try, in 2007 (elections are every five years) and this travesty of justice led to major riots and killings with men, women and children being hacked to death, in public, with long machete knives; Scenes of such carnage were even shown on local TV. Ugh! The World Court tried to convict the incumbent vice-president for having given orders to gangs to conduct such open violence but it never succeeded in making the charges stick. Witnesses disappeared over time (threatened or bought off) and so the case evaporated............................................................................................................................. So the memory of that traumatic time ten years ago was referred to over and over again in the media and was reflected often at the prayers of the faithful during daily mass. It seemed the whole nation was holding its breath that something similar might happen this time. So police and army were seen all over the nation. Over 1000 foreign observers, including former Secretary of State John Kerry of the Carter Institute, came to monitor the whole process of voting. In the end they said the process was conducted very well and with integrity, despite charges of the challenger to the incumbent president that the process was rigged and the hand-count of votes was done superficially. He claimed victory even though the official count came to be 55% to 45% in favor of the incumbent, President Uhuru Kenyatta. Out of nearly 15 million votes in all (out of 19 million eligible to vote), he won convincingly. But then because of the long process of verifying the vote count and the rumors of violence here and there in the nation, most stores remained closed ALL THROUGH THE WEEK. Many businesses did not open all week long. It was Friday evening, two days ago, that the official voting commission announced the winner. That is a long time following Monday, the voting day. ........................................................................................................................................ Another Jesuit and I wanted to visit over this weekend the port city of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean, a great resort place, four hours by train from here, but when he called to book two rooms, the caretaker strongly advised our not coming. He said the city, which had strongly supported the opponent, was still quite tense; it was not a good time to come, he said. Since we had no retreats here for the last nine days, I (we) have been holed up in our place for almost all of this time. I did go see a podiatrist on Tuesday, the day after the election, and found things in the city of Nairobi very quiet. I was even downtown, in the financial district of the city, and easily walked around without any fear. Again, people were far fewer than usual. I would like to think that because I am white colored in skin and visibly stand out in Nairobi's public, I was the least likely target of any violence. All of the tension is tribal in origin, with various tribes vying against the dominant tribe for political and economic advantage. As usual, these tensions come down to money and security and being able to provide for your families, to have a job and some fiscal security................................................................................................................................... The advantage in getting elected is that you have immense power to acquire land for yourself, as a perk for your public service. In this way you can amass significant wealth for yourself and your family members. These lead to a lot of dishonest dealings. And this is at the core of this nation's inability to get going in the world community. (This is the case in most other African nations.) No one at that level of government ever goes to prison for dishonest dealings. Those who accuse and their family members are threatened or bought off. So, in the end, it has been very easy to drive around this week, no longer experiencing the usual heavy traffic jams. Can you imagine anything like this happening in the States, where the nation closes up for a week, where business is halted in most places, where people are so concerned about their safety and stay home?? ................................................................................................................................ In the meantime I continue to make progress on the new book I hope to have done in a year or more. Sometimes I feel very enthused about it, at other times wondering whether anyone will want to read it!! The African provincial comes for his annual visit at the end of this month. I have some very big questions and issues to discuss with him. Prayers please. Thanks. I will tell you in September the results of that conversation. Again, prayers please. Thank you very much. Bernie Owens