I need to stop wearing my green t-shirt

I have a nice green t-shirt that I must stop wearing. I wore it on friday and I got too much attention. It is not a provocative t-shirt. It is not low-cut or a belly shirt. It's not super tight nor does it have any design or words on it. But the fact is that it's green and right now in Kenya, green is a significant colour.

Green is the official colour of the "YES" campaign.

Kenya's history is in the making right now. They have written a new constitution that is going to be voted on next week (August 4th is the big day). It has been no end of controversy. I guess rewriting your constitution is a pretty big deal but it has created so much drama and conflict that we are all praying for the results of the referendum next week.

I was talking to some of my friends about the post election violence in 07/08 and they never thought it would have the outcome that it did. It was a matter of minutes and the whole country was in chaos. We are not anticipating the same reaction to the referendum but you never know. All we can do is pray pray pray.

In short, majority of the christians are NO for the constitution because of the legalization of abortion. But the rest of the country is YES for the constitution. Most of my christian friends will be voting NO and are very boldly shouting their opinion.

So on friday when I happened to wear  my green shirt and the friend I was with also happened to wear a green shirt, we got a lot of attention. It didn't help that there was a YES campaign rally happening right in town that everyone was attending....wearing their green shirts.

I have decided to put my shirt away until after the referendum. I don't really want to be associated with one side or the other. First of all, I don't even get to vote since I am not a citizen of this country. Secondly, I really would be torn as to which side to be on especially concerning the abortion issue. Now, I am definitely against abortion. In no way do I think it is ok but I have grown up in a country where it is legal and it never seemed like that big of a deal. I explained this to a friend a mine and he said, " yes, but Nikole, this is Kenya. If kenyans suddenly are allowed to abort, they will all start aborting regardless of their morals. This is what kenyans are like." So I am torn.

One thing I do know is that, laws and constitutions do not change people's heart. We can't rely on laws to keep us from sinning. We must have hearts that are turned to Christ and He will change them Himself.