Mustard Seed Grant: Healing the Pain of Grief in Internally Displaced Persons

By Lilian Muthui, Kenya

Editor’s Note: Lilian Muthui of Kenya was a recipient of the second round of Mustard Seed Grant awards in 2023. She shares her completed project below.

In addition to over 623,500 registered refugees and asylum seekers, Kenya also has an internally displaced population (IDP) of around 380,000 people, ranking seventh in Africa for the number of IDPs. Displacement in Kenya can be caused by a variety of factors, including conflict, natural and man-made disasters, and human-rights violations.

My husband, James, and I conceived a project to increase and enhance the comfort, happiness, and well-being of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kenya, as individuals and as members of society. Our approach has been to preach the encouraging message of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, spreading the good news of hope and inner healing by preaching the love of God as described in The Urantia Book. Our goal was to establish cohesion and equity among members of different groups in the IDPs, to organize Urantia Book study groups, and to distribute Urantia Books to the members of these groups.

After the initial mobilization and awareness meetings held in December 2023, 46 participants showed interest in learning more about how the love of God as described in The Urantia Book can bring inner healing to their traumatized souls, and they attended our training sessions in January and February of 2024.

During our last meeting on March 1, 2024, a total of 40 participants reported feeling inner peace and a change of attitude towards God and their fellow group members; 30 participants reported good sleep after reading about the love of God before bed; and 20 participants reported the prayerful ritual of calling God their father as a way of relieving stress and feeling protection.

Overall, there was great cohesion among members of our group, and most felt a sense of belonging unlike before. We witnessed better listening skills when participants were sharing, and observed their need for more time to stay in the presence of God during meetings.

This program was life-changing for us as we witnessed how God could use us to heal his children through sharing the revelation. We are grateful to Urantia Foundation for the Mustard Seed Grant and look forward to more training opportunities.