Miller Family Kisumu, Kenya: Youth Seminar, Red-Neck V-ball, An A Hot-Dog Sandwich Gone Wrong!!

(Saturday August 13th)

The Sunset from Acacia...

This morning we all just had a light breakfast, instead of a full course meal, an then dove into our Saturday duties, Dad was studying for the message on Sunday.
Dishon was busy scrubbing all the compound vehicles in our front yard, it usually takes him all day Saturday to wash the compound vehicles inside an out.
Then a 1:00pm. Rhoda an I walked down to ring road an flagged 2 piki-piki's down an went to cosmos to swim, it was really HOT, the sun beating down unmercifully, so swimming was great!
Carolyn joined us in swimming too, we had a grand time.

Lake Victoria

After swimming till around 4pm. we went to find a piki to take us back to the compound, there were none around, so we started walking, an then it started raining, an it poured! we kept walking in the rain, till 2 piki's came along finally rescuing us! We were wet thru an thru by the time we got back to the compound.
We were just around home in the evening, enjoying mom's awesome pizza, an peanut butter pie.
(Sunday August 14th)
Today Dad & Mom, an Steve left the compound early an picked up one of our youth guys on ring road, then headed on out to our church for IC class.
Then Stan, Wayne an I took the old stone crusher, an headed out the other way for the blind school, where we picked up Charles, (The man from our church who is a student at the blind school.) an two of his teachers, who are both blind, they wanted to go to visit Charles church with him.
They laughed an talked with each other all the way to church, an I couldn't help but notice that those three blind passengers we had, were a lot more happy an excited about life, then most people who have there eye sight are.

L to R: Stacy, Jane, an I

They kept guessing along the way which town we were passing through, an surprisingly enough they were always correct, the head teacher kept asking Charles where he thought we were, then Charles would say, "We are now approaching Ahero." an he was totally correct! It amazed me!

The Twins joined the group picture at Acacia

Charles had talked to Dad how that he lives alone since his wife left him, but he walks the road to his fields, an hoes his own sugar cane, an he plants his own crops as well, my brother Steve said the rows are actually very straight an you couldn't tell that a blind man planted them....poor Charles becoming blind only three years prior, but seeing him laugh an talk with the two blind teacher made me happy, an to see the pure joy an happiness these blind people had, was incredible! I had to wonder......Could it be that through turmoil's an things going wrong in our lives at times, that God actually has a plan in mind for our good? And instead of questioning God's plan, or questioning bad things that come our way, we really should except it, an pour our energies into finding joy, right in the circumstances God has us in, instead of begging an pleading for things to be different in our lives?

Posing at the Acacia pool, a little bit out of their element! =} (Jane wearing my sandals.)

Anyway, after church it seemed many people had needs an different things they wanted to talk to Dad about, so after us youth had a meeting about the youth seminar that is planned to be held at Nyakoko, this coming Friday, Steve, Wayne an I left with the three blind persons an others...dropping off people along the way, then Steve helped the one blind teacher who was a younger lady, get off at an intersection where there were vans taking people to various locations, an so Steve led her by the hand over to her van, an made sure she was safe in the vehicle, an told the driver which town to drop her off at, since she was going to see her mother, We then continued with Charles an the other teacher, dropping them of at the school for the blind once more.

The threesome again....

We got home, an Dad an the rest were still not home, so I started lunch, an we finally ate around 3:30pm. we all rested abit, then the three bro's an I went to hippo point, along with Stacy an her sister, an cousin, who have just arrived on Saturday from the USA to visit her.
We had a grand time at the lake, however, the sunset was hidden by a cloud cover, but it was still fun to sit on the bank watching the thin, long, wooden, boats sliding through the water as they passed by.
On the way back to the compound we passed a crumbled piki laying on the middle of the road with people standing all around, a stark reminder that the "experienced" an confident, piki drivers also have accidents at times.
(Monday August 15th)
Today Dad & Mom left with all the other pastors an their wives to have their Monday pastors meeting out in Deania with Mark Beachy instead of Mark making the long trip in to Kisumu.

Stacy an Jane helping me with the laundry.

The ladies all took the opportunity to do some fabric shopping together, an they found quite the bargains, as rumor has it...
We Miller youth were just at home, the twins were running here an there, trying to fix several vehicles, Wayne was doing jobs around the house, an I worked on the blog, an got lunch for the three bro's, then did some jobs around home as well, in the evening Stan an I walked to Nakamatt to get some groceries, was fun to go walking once more, an chatting with friends along the way.
(Tuesday August 16th)

Intrigued with the ringer, they have to twist the water out by hand.

Today the day started rather early for me, I got up, an promptly started cleaning, an moving mattresses, in preparation for the two girls from our Nyakoko church, (Stacy 16 an Jane 14) who were coming for the day, as well as, over night, then they were planning to return home, by going to our Wednesday Bible study with us. So I was trying to figure out a way that we could all sleep comfortably, I gave the two girls my bedroom, an then I used one of the bro's single bed mattresses in the office, it all worked out great.
So the two girls, along with Dad, an the dating couple from church, Joshua & Karen, an Karen's baby Mary, returned to our house around 9:30am. Dad had picked them all up at Masogo a small town close to all of their homes, Joshua & Karen were coming to Kisumu to get legal paperwork things done, concerning their soon-to-be marriage, So Bishop Wayne an Dad along with Joshua & Karen were gone all forenoon, trying to work through the hoops, an jumps, of the Kenyan government.

Watching as the washer spins the jeans....

Karen left her tiny baby at our house, Since, Stacy an Jane wanted to keep the baby while Joshua & Karen did the paperwork.

Helping me hang up the clothes to dry...

So first I made tea for my two friends, an talked about nothing (Kenyan style) for a while...then I had to get some things at the sewing room, as well as some rice in the compound pantry, so I took them with me, an ended up taking them all around the compound showing them which houses were CBF missionaries, an which were Kenyans, an which were Asians, I took them to all the CBF houses, an introduced them to all of the missionaries, it was fun to have them meet the pastors an their wives, that they have heard about, but never met, after I gave them a grand tour of the grounds, we got back home an I helped mom make a Kenyan meal for them, while the rice was cooking I took them down to ring road where we got some Chapati since we don't know how to make those yet, we then ate the meal Kenyan style, an since they were up very early that morning to walk to the closest town to catch their ride, an I'm used to taking a nap anyway, we all took a bit of a snooze.

Jane hanging cloths on the line...

I then got them to help me with our laundry, I figured that would be something different for them, since they carry their laundry on top of their heads in huge bowls, an walk all the way to the closest well or river, an wash their clothes by scrubbing them by hand.
They were totally amazed at our ringer washer! they could not believe how fast the laundry got done! then when I put the boys an Dad's clean, wet jeans in the electric washer to spin them before hanging them out, they stood outside the washer in disbelief as they watched through the glass of the front loader, as the jeans spun in a circle, faster, an faster, till they could no longer see them. they had never seen the likes!!
After laundry we went walking on ring road, Steve joined us, an upon returning to the compound we went to hippo point with them, Stan an Wayne joined us, an since they said they had never seen Lake Victoria, except on the map, I wanted to take them there, it was a little hard for me to believe that they had lived in Kenya all their lives, an had never seen the Lake, which is only 1.5 hours from their home...wow!

Jane an Stacy caring for Mary, while Karen is gone....

So the sunset was once again hidden by the clouds, an after sitting on the bank laughing an talking an eating the fresh chips from a shop vendor by the lake, we decided to take them to the place way on the top of Java house called acacia to watch the last of the sunset, an by the time we reached the top, the lower part of the sunset didn't have any clouds an the last 15 min. were beautiful as the sun turned a bright orange an red, an then slid out of our sight, the view was breathtaking.

Youth seminar at Nyakoko 2016

We decided instead of taking them down the stairs to the lower level, we would let them experience their first elevator ride, it was funny watching their faces as we descended, Jane was holding my hand, an every now an then, they let out little gasps as they felt themselves dropping down, these girls are from way back in the boon docks an anything we did was totally new to them, since our lives are so drastically different!

The one in the blue shirt having devotions, Dishon Translating...

In the segregated youth girls class, ages 14 an up......

Jacinta in the black dress teaching, an Rose interpreting....

The youth girls class...

We went home for supper, an since Dad & Mom had went on a walk an hadn't returned yet, I made hotdog sandwiches, an a Kenyan dish, along with pringles... they picked at their sandwiches, they ate the hotdog off of the bread... then the chips, then picked at the useless soggy piece of bread...my brothers an I enjoyed ourselves, but I soon saw Jane's face looking desperate, an her cheeks slightly bulging, with chewed up food that she was not swallowing, her eyes snapping first one way then the other, her facial expression looking like I might with a lemon in my mouth, I finally asked her, "are you ok?" No response. I look at Stacy who knows English a lot better then Jane, an asked, "Is she ok?" Stacy's eyes dropped an she said "No I don't think." as she stared into her lap, looking like she had to pray the next bite into her own mouth, about that time Jane suddenly jumps up from the table, an flies out our front door, like the house was on fire, I turn to look out through our open window, an all I saw was her thin form hunched over our shrubs in the flower bed, an all I could hear was someone viciously spitting contents out of their mouth! she spit around out there for awhile...an you know me, I couldn't help it people! I lost it! I laughed and laughed....Stacy joined me in laughing with a sympathetic glance out the window at her spitting friend, about that time Jane returned walking through the dining room to the kitchen, as composed as a lawyer who had just settled a case, She headed straight to the kitchen an grabbed a cup an guzzled down a lot of water, I was thinking, do you girls have any idea how often I have those same feelings of "fleeing the scene" when I'm eating at their houses! an there are ants floating around in the chia, or the chicken meat is still way too raw, with feathers still clinging to the tuff not fully cooked skin! or when I find short, curly, black hair in my ugali, or their strange minnow soup where the tiny, whole, fishies are staring blankly back at you out of your soup bowl! (I never did well with this whole thing of being able to make eye contact with my food.) but I will stop there, lest you are reading this post just before supper...but just saying, I think they understand a bit more now how it is for us when eating their food!

Joseph registering all the students, an giving them name tags...

After supper was over I started on the adventure of showing them how to use a indoor shower, with running water, I felt kind of bad... but I didn't really give them a choice as to asking them if they were planning on taking showers...I just said, now is the time we all usually take our showers. I know! I was maybe a bit forceful there, but you might recall previous posts how I explained to you how I don't do well with bad smells...ok, so we will just leave it at that... an lest you are still questioning my shower decision for them, you might recall me mentioning that they were sleeping in my bed...ok, with that settled, I will continue my story!

The one in the blue shirt is having the message, with his interpreter..

Students...students....students!

First, I showed them how you can make the water hotter an colder by turning the handles, then I told them which bottle was soap for the body, an which was shampoo for their hair, as well as conditioner...they were both in the bathroom for a very long period of time...an other then hearing out bursts of laughter, an much jabbering in Luo, I might have been scared that they may have drowned somehow! they finally came back out, an I went into the shower room finding things in a slight disarray, the floor was terribly wet, it looked like the shower curtain had been a useless piece of fabric to them, then I found my brothers container of hair styling gel in the shower... almost gone... the lid was off, an water sitting on top of the gel! since I was in the room by myself, first, I laughed myself out in there, secondly, I thought hummmm... I think that we might have had a bit of a miscommunication on which was the shampoo, body wash, an conditioner! It became more clear to me at that precise moment, the heart an goal behind "Head & Shoulders" life really is complicated, an taking a shower shouldn't be, an after all it is rather disheartening trying to figure out the difference between shampoo an hair gel....
After showers were over, I showed them different pictures, an video's of the girls sunday school class giving a program at church, then we retired for the day, an I have a feeling these two girls had more "first's" today then they had in a long time!!
(Wednesday August 17th)

Mary Keeping the cooking fires going...

This morning we got up an got ready to go to Bible study, I gave both girls a bowl of cornflakes an milk with banana's an honey over the top, they slurped at the milk, an chased the corn flakes around in their bowls, but I soon saw this was something they didn't care for either, so I told dad that we were going to start walking an they could pick us up once they are on their way to Bible study, I took them down to ring road, where I bought them some mandazi's, since I knew that is what they are used to eating for breakfast.

Cutting up skuma leaves for Sukuma-wiki

Soon Dad & Mom Picked us up, an we continued on to Bible study, Dad had one van an Mom had another, (It was Mom's first time driving in Africa.) since we were taking all of the ones who usually attend Bible study out to Anna's place to have the Bible study at her house, Anna is a member of our church, but lives a good 1.5 hours from the church, so we loaded everyone into the 2 vans, packed to the gills, with 2 guys even sitting in the way back, behind the last seat peering out of the window in the back door of the van, but at least they were along!

We had a very good bible study, an bless Anna's heart despite her poverty she cooked a full course meal for all of us!

Mom helping the cooks along...

Mom's van was carrying all the ladies, an bless their hearts they sang ALL the way to Bible study, an ALL the way home, I must say I was almost to the point of paying them to stop singing, it was LOUD singing too! but how can you stop them, when they are all so happy, an singing their luo songs....not in a million years could I do that, however tiring it was to listen to the same songs over an over again.
We returned to the compound around dark after a long tiring day...Dad returned later on since he had others to take on home, an a meeting with one of the youth guys.
(Thursday August 18th)

Aroba Youth group...

Today we were just around home in the forenoon, then by 12:30pm. the three bro's an I along with mom, went to our church, the youth were gathering there at 2pm. to practice songs for Friday, an Mom was planning to plant some flowers at the front of the church, as well as repaint the out house signs, "Men" an Women".

Kisumu youth girls...

We were the first youth there, an we were 5-10 min. late but soon two other youth guys showed up, then several more strangled in, an we started talking about which songs we wanted to sing, we sat around talking an laughing for a long time, we then say several songs several times, an by 4pm. the last youth were still showing up, so we would sing the songs again...the guy who was supposed to be in charge never showed up...SIGH, Welcome to Kenya!
On our way home we got random food along the road side shops, an since compound prayer meeting was cancelled, we went to hippo point to watch the sunset.
(Friday August 19th)

Kisumu youth group...

So today our day started earlier then normal, as it was youth seminar at Nyakoko church, with the Aroba youth joining us, after not being able to sleep till after 2am. it left me feeling tired, but soon Dad & Mom along with Wayne left early to help get everything ready, an the twins an I left later, picking up Dishon an Wycliffe from Rabour along the way, they had decided to join Aroba an our church in the youth seminar day.

The cooks watching the programs...

We had a great service, consisting of chia an Mandazi's from 9-10am. then a short devotional, we then had segregated teaching sessions, girls on Modesty an the guys topic was on peer-pressure, then we all went into the church house for the main message, a native pastor had the message so it went a little longer then usual...the service let out a little over an hour late. we finally ate lunch, then we played some red-neck volley ball, but Oh! how they enjoyed themselves, an had the best of times....the bro's an I left once everything was over with, an had a van packed full of people on the way home, who wanted to be dropped at different locations on our way back to Kisumu, we got home in time to rest a spell, an then the twins set up the net to play volley ball with the compound youth.

My friend Karen an her baby, Mary...

I have never seen so many players, since I came to Kenya! Dishon an Wycliffe came from Rabour, an Markus an Micah along with their older brother Celli, an some of their friends, I thought there were three guys coming to visit Markus an Micah, but when I got to the v-ball court it looked like a small army of them, I don't know who all of them were, but it sure was a crowd of them, then two of the native youth guys from Jakes church were there as well, we had 4 teams! fun fun!
After v-ball Dishon, Wycliffe, an Brian from Jakes church came to our house leaving around 11:30pm. the twins drove them all back to their respective homes....It was a long but enjoyable day.