{"id":23490,"date":"2025-11-07T19:30:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T19:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/?p=23490"},"modified":"2025-11-07T19:30:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T19:30:02","slug":"kenya-faith-amid-the-floods-missionary-benedictine-sisters-in-chesongoch-rebuild-with-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2025\/11\/07\/kenya-faith-amid-the-floods-missionary-benedictine-sisters-in-chesongoch-rebuild-with-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"KENYA: \u00a0Faith Amid the Floods: Missionary Benedictine Sisters in Chesongoch Rebuild with Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sr Michelle Njeri OSF<\/em><\/p>\n

When the ground trembled and a roaring sound pierced the night of October 31st, the Benedictine Sisters in Chesongoch thought the generator had unexpectedly come on. But within moments, cries from outside shattered the silence, \u201cSisters, open the gate! Let us die together here!\u201d<\/p>\n

It was not the generator; it was the river bursting its banks. A powerful landslide was swallowing the community. \u201cWe knew it was the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Sister Lilian Muoti Raymond recalls the chaos of that night vividly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were many patients in our hospital, which is near the river,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe rushed to bring them to the convent, which is on higher ground. There was much singing, praying, and desperation from the community.<\/p>\n

\u00a0By morning, silence replaced the cries, revealing the full devastation: homes buried in mud, lives lost, and the hospital grounds unrecognizable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe electricity was off, and it was only in the morning that people could see the immense damage. Disappearance of many people and destruction of properties,\u201d Sister Lilian recounts. \u201cOur community in all the world was affected, for once one part of the body is hurt, the whole body is hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0A Hospital in Ruins<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chesongoch Mission Hospital, a lifeline for thousands in the remote region, offered a full range of medical services from maternity and surgery to dental and radiology. Today, much of it lies in mud.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur generators and power stabilizer were carried away. Several beds are destroyed, the source of water is completely gone, and we lack electricity,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Patients are now being treated in makeshift spaces.\u201cOur patients are using the classrooms as wards,\u201d Sister Lilian notes with quiet resilience. \u201cIt\u2019s painful because ours is the only hospital in the area with a theatre and blood transfusion services.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWithout Prayer and Faith, It Is Easy to Lose the Essence of Life\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Despite the loss, the Sisters\u2019 faith remains unshaken. \u201cI feel that the Year of Hope was for us,\u201d Sister Lilian reflects. \u201cSo many challenges have faced us, but we are hoping for a better tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faith, she says, has been their anchor. \u201cWithout prayer and faith, it is easy to lose the essence of life. But when you remember the experiences God has guided you through, it brings comfort and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Help from the Community and the Church<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amid the devastation, the Sisters have seen the best of humanity.\u00a0\u201cWe have the Red Cross, the Ministry of Health, Kenya Defence Forces, and the Disaster Management team on the ground,\u201d Sister Lilian says. \u201cThe Kenya Conference of catholic Bishops and the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret have helped us too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The community, too, has shown deep compassion: \u201cThe people are speaking well of us. We have been invited to join the disaster management team, and we are hoping\u00a0 to remove the debris in the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebuilding with Courage and Faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Sisters\u2019 immediate priority is to restore temporary health services and rebuild the hospital. \u201cPeople of goodwill can help us with food, medication, buying destroyed machines, and building a burning chamber,\u201d Sister Lilian appeals. \u00a0\u201cAnd if they have nothing to give, prayers and encouragement are important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her message to Kenya and the Church is simple but powerful: \u201cLet\u2019s stand together and pray for each other in all circumstances. Let\u2019s never lose trust in God. Seeing the intensity of the floods, I expected our hospital to be swept away, yet all the patients were saved. God is a God of miracles. In all things, may God be glorified.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWe Treat; God Heals\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>For the Benedictine Sisters in Chesongoch, the tragedy has deepened their call to serve with humility and courage. Their motto, \u201cWe Treat, God Heals,\u201d has never felt more alive, a testimony that even in loss, faith can rise stronger than the flood.<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sr Michelle Njeri OSF When the ground trembled and a roaring sound pierced the night…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":23492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amecea-news","category-kenya"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23490"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23493,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23490\/revisions\/23493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}