SSN Vet
Member
A good friend from my navy years went to serve as an "outback" missionary in the south of Kenya with his wife and young kids. They were in Masai country and lived there for 15 years. They were near the big game preserve and there was a significant army presence across the river to patrol the reserve, as it is the nations largest source of revenue. They were in very good standing with the Masai, as they built a commercial duty well for the village, a church, a school and a clinic. There were no Muslims in their area.
After a missionary couple from another group was robbed and raped in Nairobe, my friend got a Kenyan handgun permit and always carried when going into the city, as any white face was an automatic target for random crime or gang violence.
But their group also had a team in the Lake Turkana reagion, where there are many Muslems and (go figure) a lot of problems. The local police saw the Missionaries as trustworthy and a reliable force for good in their district, so when things got dicey and they started having bands of muslim fighters coming down the lake and raiding, they deputized the missionaries and they were permited for ARs (which they purchased themselves).
I guess they figured that if they really cared about these people (which they did) they couldn't just cut and run when things got ugly, but needed to stay and help defend their village.
Organization, disciplined and dedicated crew, reliable transportation, good communications... that's a platform you can build on. Just add guns and ammo and you've got a viable defense force.
I thought it was very interesting that the Kenyan police knew who they could count on in a pinch.
After a missionary couple from another group was robbed and raped in Nairobe, my friend got a Kenyan handgun permit and always carried when going into the city, as any white face was an automatic target for random crime or gang violence.
But their group also had a team in the Lake Turkana reagion, where there are many Muslems and (go figure) a lot of problems. The local police saw the Missionaries as trustworthy and a reliable force for good in their district, so when things got dicey and they started having bands of muslim fighters coming down the lake and raiding, they deputized the missionaries and they were permited for ARs (which they purchased themselves).
I guess they figured that if they really cared about these people (which they did) they couldn't just cut and run when things got ugly, but needed to stay and help defend their village.
Organization, disciplined and dedicated crew, reliable transportation, good communications... that's a platform you can build on. Just add guns and ammo and you've got a viable defense force.
I thought it was very interesting that the Kenyan police knew who they could count on in a pinch.