Miller Family Kisumu, Kenya: A Police Chase, Visitors From Hillcrest, An A Solar Eclipse

One of Luke's little boys sitting outside the house observing all the visitors.

(Saturday August 27th)
This morning we slept till around 8:30am. an then after getting ready Stacy an I went down stairs to eat breakfast, an to meet the group of youth from hillcrest, who had just flown into Nairobi in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Surprisingly enough, I knew all of the ones in the group except two of the girls, mostly from CBS or either hillcrest campweek.
So in the group there are three boys, an three girls, along with a married couple; Travis, Tyler, an Camon, are the guys, I had been to CBS with all three of them, an the girls are Rachel, Katie, an Brittany, an I had been to CBS with Rachel, but had never met Katie, or Brittany, an the married couple, Phil & Cheryl I remember from campweek days at hillcrest.

Everyone hiking the trail to Luke's house.

Anyway, so Stacy an I introduced ourselves, then had breakfast, an devotions together with the rest of the group.

Helping each other up the trail.

We then all sat around for a while waiting on Winford who was still repairing something or other on the van, an just when we had decided to go walking down the street abit with the group, Winford returned, so we all loaded up our luggage instead, an headed out for Nakuru which is a three hour drive, we talked about the Luo culture, an tried to familiarize them with different words an greetings in Luo, an Swahili, trying to keep them entertained so they wouldn't fall asleep, since they were very tired, having a bit of jetlag, they were trying to stay awake so they could sleep good in the evening.
We finally reached Nakuru, an with out delay Stacy an I loaded our things into our vanguard vehicle an headed for Kisumu, another 2.5 to 3 hour drive, but the scenery was amazing, an so were our conversations, so the trip seemed short.
We reached the compound around 6:30pm.
I got home to an empty house, as the rest of my family had all gone to hippo point to watch the sunset.
(Sunday August 28th)

Sitting in the shade after the hike up the mountainside.

Today Dad got Daniel Okalo to teach IC class, and we all went to church together, at 8:45am. What a treat to be able to drive the 1.20 to church together! even though we had an extra youth guy along from one of the other CBF churches, it was still amazing to be together as a family!

Listening to the topic.

The church was a nice size with around 140-145 in attendance, Dad preached an after the service had to have a meeting with the board, an a excommunicated brother to see if he had changed his ways...I think it was a little bit stressful for Dad...we finally left for home with sick people, an people who needed to go to Kisumu, an even a man with a severely broken leg was with us, we drove him as close to his home as we could on our way home with the rest of the people, then we paid a piki-piki to take him the rest of the way to his house, the poor guy was in so much pain that he was sweating an gasping in pain over every bump in the road, we had so many people in our van, that I ended up sitting on a small ledge right behind the drivers seat! we were stacked in there! we finally got home around 3pm. an all decided that we were more tired then hungry, so we decided to all just eat a banana or something small an take our naps first, mom then made a good supper for all of us around 6:30pm. an I hung out with the single girls most of the evening, the rest of my family were just around home.

Two of Luke's youngest children.

(Monday August 29th)
Today Wayne washed all the towels, an mom worked on some sewing projects she was doing.
I went to town with Stan in the forenoon, to buy some things I needed, an to print some pictures, Stan needed some things in the hardware store, we then ate a bit of lunch at a roadside stand.
I got back an worked on the blog.
Dad was at pastors meeting all day, an because it was a joint pastors meeting with Nakuru it went later then usual.
In the evening Wayne an I went walking....

Dad preaching to the mountain dwellers.

Steve an Stan worked on welding an fabricating a new door for Dishon's house, since Dishon said his lock on his door is not working properly anymore, an thieves could easily kick the door in, so he said he has not been sleeping the best knowing his door is very weak, an also he has had some issues with robbers coming to his house before so...he said some nights when its windy the door blows open on its own! so the twins are planning to help him install a new strong, steel door with a solid lock on it.
We were just around home in the evening.
(Tuesday August 30th)

Two dear ladies from church.

Today Dad once again went to try to see this young man that is in prison, he is serving his 3rd year in prison, his sentence being 30 years for rape, his mother is a member of our church, an is hoping that the presence of her "white pasta" will somehow help shorten the sentence once he appears in court the next time, so Dad is trying to see how he can help, an today being there at the prison for the second time an waiting most of the day, trying to get visiting rights...he again returned home in the evening, fruitless.
I did the rest of our laundry today.
Mom was sewing herself a new dress.
Wayne was helping around home with small odd jobs.

My two friends Stacy an Jane also went along.

Steve an Stan were on their way this morning to actually install Dishon's door, that they had been measuring. welding, an working on for a while.

Mary sitting in the grass listening to the pasta.

On the way, Steve was getting ready to make a right turn from being on the left side of the road, (keep in mind that we drive on the opposite side the road here.) he looked at his oncoming traffic lane an there was no traffic coming, he then looked into his rear-view-mirror an saw two vehicles following each other, but they were still a good distance behind him, an he could easily make the turn, so he put his turning signal on an was merging into the oncoming traffic lane, when all of a sudden those two vehicles that were behind him, were right on him! they were doing such high speeds that he didn't calculate the distance correctly for the unreal speed these two vehicles were traveling at.
The first vehicle was a jacked-up , fancy rimmed government vehicle, an as Steve was turning into the oncoming lane, they passed by, honking loudly an swerving dangerously in order to not clip the edge of Steve's vehicle!

After driving, it was time for a snooze.

He caught his second wind, an is now sharing a testimony!

Luke's wife trying to do the cooking, an still listen to the preaching

Steve recalls looking over as they whizzed by, an said he saw that they had all the windows rolled down, giving them a clear view of the people inside, Steve said there were three people in the vehicle, all dressed-up even wearing long sleeved shirts, looking like business men. They were all hunched low, their heads bent low, the driver was bent low too, with only his eyes being eye level with the dash-board so he could see to drive, an right after the government vehicle passed, the second vehicle was right upon them, an that vehicle was a police truck with police an some soldiers in it, they not being able to see ahead as far as the vehicle in front of them...tried slowing down to swerve around Steve's vehicle, squealing an dragging their tires on the pavement, an still going terribly fast, he swerved as well, but then over corrected, an went sliding over the pavement an hit a concrete culvert in the one ditch, an with the tremendous speed with which he hit the culvert, it sent the entire truck into the air, an as the truck glided through the air about 4 feet off of the ground, it sailed into the opposite side of the road, dropping nose first into the ditch, the back end of the truck coming up, up, up! an almost flipped on its top, but then slammed back down on its back wheels.
My brothers sat beside the road in their vehicle, very shaken up, an wondering what had just happened!! even though they watched it all right before their eyes, but it all happened in a matter of seconds....

Luke an his wife sharing how happy they are that everyone came.

The dust settled and the doors of the truck swung open, an although my brothers saw the passengers inside the truck being thrown towards the wind shield when they slammed into the ditch, they all jumped out staggering around abit, an fingering their AK47's as they looked at the advancing runaway government vehicle, seeing that the thieves were long gone...

This is the kind of landscape I never dreamed of seeing in Africa...

So as for what was really going on here? the twins talked to the police an they said that some professional thieves from Uganda stole a government vehicle, an were fleeing for their lives...they were wanting to shoot at the vehicle, but after the thieves swerved around the twins, the twins vehicle was right in-between them. (In Kenya if a thief is caught stealing he is usually killed by the police, or the people or mobs around him. It is a very serious thing to be caught stealing!) Thankfully, the police told the twins that they were not to blame for the accident, an thankfully they were all ok. So my brothers apologized several times, an talked with them for awhile, then started to unload the door an all tools they needed to install the door at Dishon's house, which was just right there beside the road, from where the accident happened.

The Beachy's with their visitors from the US, an as well as Dishon.

But later on once the shock of it all wore off, the police seemed to be upset, an came to ask the twins who were now working on installing the door, for some money for what happened, typical Kenya.

They asked Steve for money, an he truthfully told them that he doesn't have any money, since he had been scared that this might happen, an sent Stanley home to get some tools that they had forgotten, an also sent his wallet home with him, Steve said he didn't want to have any money on him in case they would start begging, an sure enough they did! At first the police didn't believe Steve that he doesn't have any money on him to give, so Steve turned his pockets inside out an said, "look I don't have any money with me! just one small piece of candy, is all." so Steve told him he could have the piece of candy but the police said no. but after further questioning an finding out that Steve indeed did not have any money, he said, "If you are not having any money, then give me the piece of candy that you have." ha! ha! only in Kenya would a police stoop to such a low degree of dignity, for the benefit of getting something free!

The other Wednesday a kitten joined our Bible study.

Later on in the day, as the police were trying to assemble their vehicle an get it out of the ditch, they came over to Dishon's house again, an demanded that they make lunch for them because of the accident, so of course Dishon has such a big heart, an made lunch for all of them! only in Kenya will lunch, an a piece of candy suffice for being caught in an accident! unreal.
The police worked on the vehicle awhile, putting on a spare tire, patching another one, an ratcheting things in place, an the last my brothers saw them they were driving the truck away, with a lot of oil leaking out of the bottom of the truck as they went! unbelievable! that they drove that truck back to wherever they came from!

MMMMMMM..........Ugali!

It was a day my bothers will not soon forget! An as our family gathered together that evening, we especially thanked God for his protecting hand, an that we are all still together as a family...we were starkly reminded of the email that we got from home saying that the church was especially praying for the twins an Wayne last Sunday! you all might not have been thinking of an accident, but God hears your prayers for us, an we thank him for his care.... an most of all for a praying church at home who supports us!
(Wednesday August 31st)

Little guy enjoying his soda

Today was Bible study at Luke's house, a faithful member in our church,( I have written about Luke before, how that he bikes an entire day one way to attend church.) an since he is living very far from the church, we took three vehicles, an hauled all the members who wanted to go, to Luke's house.
Dad drove one van, Mom drove the second van, an Stan drove the "stone crusher" as we call the old land cruzer, all the vehicles were overloaded! we drove the 1.45 out to Luke's house, or I should say we drove as far as we could then hiked the rest of the way up to Luke's house, his house is high up in the mountains so we had to walk quite a ways to reach his home.

Big guy enjoying his soda as well!

First most of the group piled into his house along with dad to have the traditional prayer of blessing on the house, then because of our number, we sat around outside for the Bible study, but as the people were coming out of Luke's house from praying I was counting them, an there were 22-23 people crowded into that tiny front room of his house! I'm pretty sure these Kenyans can somehow shrink themselves into tiny spaces in order to get more people in! its unreal how many people they can crowd into vehicles, houses, etc.
Anyway, we had our bible study, then some testimonies, then we quickly ate our Ringo, ugali, an skuma an with thunder cracking over head we hurried down the mountain trail back to our vehicles, trying to help the blind man, an the old man that is lame over the rocks an uneven path back to the vehicles as fast as possible, an just as the last of them were climbing into the vehicles, the flood gates of heaven opened an it poured rain.
We drove everyone back to the central town of Masogo, an arrived back to our home around 6pm.

Joshua & Karen to be married later this month.

Burning the clay pots, to make them very, very strong.

On the way home I told Stan to drop me off at the beginning of Ring road an I wanted to walk the rest of the way home, as I was passing by my friend "mamma Kay's" hair braiding place, an also the place where the "Muslim lady" usually hangs out at, I hear Mamma Kay calling out, "Sylvia! Sylvia! Karibu!" I couldn't believe it! because since the Muslim lady told me to leave I steered clear of the shop, an didn't go back, an I even walked on the other side of the street when I passed, so as not to irritate her anymore. an I decided if Mamma Kay wants me to come back then she can make the first move, so after weeks of no change, here she was calling out! so I turned in an sat down an talked with Mamma kay an her friends for a long time. (The Muslim lady was not there.) we had a great time talking an laughing, an Mamma kay assured me that she an her friends love me, an she told me, "Don't worry about that other one, (Muslim lady) her temper was being a little hot that day, but don't worry about it." so after conversing with them for a while I walked the rest of the way home, my heart feeling lighter, knowing that things might be getting better once again.
(Thursday September 1st)

A very hot pot right out of the fire...

Today we woke up to an eerie lighting outside, an by noon time it was very noticeable that something unusual was going on. there were no clouds over the sun but somehow it wasn't hot in the direct sunlight, being in the shade an being in the sun felt exactly the same, then we found out that there was an eclipse going on! so we looked at the sun through a welding helmet an we could see exactly how the moon was sliding over the face of the sun! It was really neat an I had never experienced an eclipse in the middle of the day before!

The family at hippo point. (I was still in Nairobi.)

Dad was out visiting today, I think he also took one of our youth guys to a Doc. to get his itchy-watery eyes checked out, it ended up being some kind of allergy that has been bothering his eyes for several years already, so they got medication drops to put in.
This evening everyone gathered at Jake & Janice's house to have a welcoming supper for the group from hillcrest, who just arrived in Kisumu after spending several days helping out the missionaries in Nakuru, Markus an Micah an some of their visitors from the states also joined us, so there were a lot of youth there, which was really cool, we sat around the fire visiting, an talking till around 11pm. it was a great evening!
(Friday September 2nd)

Mom with one of her friends that sells baskets.

Today my brothers an I along with Stacy an Clarissa, went with the hillcrest group, an Joe & Glenda(youth leaders) to pass out 101 Bible story books at a school, as well as visit a church were they were having an orphan food drop.

The group from hillcrest.

So first of all the hillcrest group gave a short skit at the school on the compound here at 8:30am. then we all left at 10am. to go to the school at Lela to pass out the 101 Bible story books, the school had around 500 students, an we assembled all our boxes an got a system together, an as the students passed through the line on their way to file past the kitchen to get their porridge, we gave them each a book, wow! it took sometime but finally they each had a book, we then visited just one of the classrooms were it was an all girls classroom, they wanted us to sing some songs for them, then they in return sang several songs for us! it was really a neat experience, an after we were finished there, we went to a small restaurant to get lunch, I was really impressed with the group from hillcrest, they were trying food that I haven't even been brave enough to try yet! like whole fish, an ameno, that is basically small dried, an then fried, minnows! I tasted two minnows with a bite of ugali, an I was sure it wasn't gonna go down, then once it was almost down, I thought it was gonna come back up! a truly frightening experience for any individual to suffer through! but with the aid of many gulps of sprite I manage to get it down...but the terribly gritty, fishy taste was almost more then this girl could handle! it was perfectly horrible....but like any good missionary would, I should probably tell you that, "you really should try it!!" snort!snort!

Getting organized to hand out 101 Bible story books to around 500 students.

Lining up to file through

After lunch we sang several songs in a busy market place, then we headed for the church were the food drop was going on, at the church our whole group sang several songs to the orphans, an then the hillcrest group did their skit once more, then the guys helped unload boxes, an it was neat for the hillcrest group especially, since they had helped to box all of the supplies when they were at the Nakuru mission, an now they got to see the faces that received those supplies, we were there several hours, then we returned back home, an got ready for the volley-ball game that evening, it was splendid! with more youth around then usual!
An I think that concludes my post for this week.
have a good week!
-Sylvia
For The Miller's