Miller Family Kisumu, Kenya: Gerold Becomes A Funeral Director, A Modern-Day Miracle In The Mud!!

(Saturday September 10th)
Today I was planning on going to "mamma Kay's" hair braiding shop, an she was planning on putting my hair into "corn-rows", I might insert, that its not that I enjoy the looks of "corn-rows" I don't. And whenever I do have my hair braided like that of the natives, I usually stay away from all mirrors as much as possible, because of the fright I experience when seeing how closely I resemble a "Skinned rat" when I have my hair braided. so anyway, you might be thinking, so why do you get your hair braided then? an all I can say is, Its amazing what you find yourself doing for your friends here in Kenya! An they think it looks so good!
So I get to her hair braiding shop where we had planned to meet at 10am. only to find her shop locked up an no one was around...so I sat down beside her shop to wait for her for a while, as Kenyans are usually late, I waited...and waited some more! watching the Saturday morning hustle-n-bustle all around me....piki's an tuk-tuk clattering up an down the street, their mufflers filling the air with the smell of exhaust....a man hanging on tightly to a goat as he balanced himself on the back of the piki he was on....people walking to an fro greeting each other with a good morning...dogs running everywhere...cows slowly crossing the road, making so traffic had to stop, till they were across...the men across the street were in the "gambling shack" playing their cards an laughing loudly....cows ambled past me, with no one leading them or following them....I sat there waiting with my mondozies, an the thermos of hot chia, waiting for mamma kay to arrive. I had gotten special mondozies where they make them with yeast, an then we glazed them with glaze, so they were more like a donut...I had wanted my friends to try them, but it appeared like they were not coming to the shop today...I finally asked a guy across the street if he knows where mamma kay is, to which he half-heartedly muttered something or other about her attending her church on Saturday's...which made no sense since she had told me to come on Saturday. (I later found out that she had gotten visitors, an like all Kenyans would, never mind making sure that the people with whom you have appointments with would find out that they wont be there, they just let you find it out on your own, I guess. mamma kay told me later when I went back to braid my hair that, No she does not attend church on Saturday's.)
So as I started walking back home, I stopped along the way giving my friend Rachel some chia, an the guard Patrick at the hotel right beside our compound.
So I got back home an immediately got my swimming things together, I then took a piki an went to cosmos where the rest of the girls had went to swim just a little before I did, so we all had a blast there, enjoying the bright sunshine...then instead of paying a piki to get back home, I decided to walk home, since I love walking anyway, Rissa an Shonda joined me, was great to get to hang out with them as I don't get to do that much.
In the evening we were just around home, Mom made her delicious pizza, an thanks to Carolyn's parents who just flew in from America to visit, we got a great big cheese ball, MADE WITH REAL CREAM CHEESE! an we even got fresh club cracker, all from America! We ate our prized possession, in an almost reverent manner, relishing the taste of real cream cheese, we even made sure to divide the portions evenly, even going as far as debating whether we should eat it all now, or leave some for later...some suggesting to leave some for later, so this prize would last longer, an others voicing the concern that with late night prowlers around, who like to eat treasures such as this while the rest are deep in their slumbers, (I'm not mentioning any names here.) we couldn't take that risk, so we ended up eating all of it together, till we ran out of crackers an there were only several bites of cheese ball left.
So as you can tell food means more to our family then most, I might add (obliviously) here. but it was a really good cheese ball, an we concluded that we had all but forgotten how good food back in America really was! Thanks Carolyn!
(Sunday September 11th)
Today Dad left early, like usual, for IC class, the rest of us (except for Stan who is sick) coming at the regular time.
I had not slept well Saturday night so I wasn't feeling quite well either, so during the service, an after I had finished teaching my Sunday school class, I was resting outside in the shade, as well as trying to care for a young girl that was burning up with a fever from malaria.

We actually made it home from church around 1:30pm.
We then ate left over pizza from Saturday night for lunch, then all retired to long naps....after which I went walking on ring road with Stacy an Rhoda, we had a great evening, an even happened to be right outside the mosque when the Muslim call to prayer went off, echoing through the valley with an eerie sound, sung in the usual slow mournful sound, over a loud microphone, we then looked at the temple a bit, an talked with a gardener there that said that we should switch religions, he said that we are probably missionaries, an that we should join them instead, "since the Muslim religion, is a good religion." we kindly said no when he suggested we go inside to see the worshipers, we left, feeling like we got to get a peek into a different religion an culture. A truly unique experience!
(Monday September 12th)
Today was compound chicken butchering...which famously starts at 6:30am. while some faithful souls start at that time, I came several hours later. Imagine that!
It was all finished by 11:00am. an while the rest ate breakfast, I came home an started the laundry as we had a lot of laundry to do, I then finished that up around early afternoon.

The rest of the day, we were all just working around home here.
Dad was in the Pastors meeting till late because of the late start they got due to the butchering...
In the evening I was busy putting away clean dry laundry, an helped make supper.
(Tuesday September 13th)
Today Dad an Mom went to have a meeting with the needs committee about Joshua & Caren's wedding that will be happening this Saturday.
Us kids were just at home, I worked on the blog most of the day, an made food for the three bro's.
Stanley was still sick, an I was starting to feel sick too...
Dad an Mom returned with more plans for the wedding made, saying that they had to ask the couple if they wanted flowers, or if they had any witnesses in mind, that they had planned to have.
It is a very low-key wedding since Caren is still in IC class, an is not a member, they will not have the usual food an reception part at the church, if they would have waited to get married till Caren was a full member, the church would have helped in the way of money to help with food an so forth, but they were ready to be married so things were done a bit differently, an the wedding was just the basics that they could afford. I guess it is kind of a thing that AMA has always done, as far as weddings concerning full members an IC class applicants. (More on how the wedding went in the next blog post!)
(Wednesday September 14th)
Today Dad & Mom went to the Bible study alone.
I got up feeling more sick then the day before.
But spent quite a bit of time on the computer trying to get a wedding program made for Joshua & Caren's wedding on Saturday. Interestingly enough the week of the wedding they decided they would like a wedding program, so I tried to print it out kind of like what they wanted, nothing professional at all! but I think they liked it so....it worked.
(Thursday September 15th)
So today I was officially SICK. Stan was still sick as well...
I didn't write anything for today.
An nothing important happened. so there you have Thursday.... =/
(Friday September 16th)
Today I was feeling some better, an Steve took me to town to buy roses for the wedding tomorrow, an to get some pictures printed out, that I wanted for the gift table, as well as the guest book table.
So we drove around Kisumu several hours till I had every thing I needed to make corsages, an a bouquet for Caren.
Today Dad an Wayne went to a funeral home to pick up the body of a deceased person whom they had never met before. (those kind of meetings are always abit awkward, with the whole thing of "this is the first, an the last time we meet" thing kinda ruining a flowing conversation.) lol anyway,
Dad reported that there were several bodies to be picked up there at the funeral home, an he wasn't sure who was who, an there were friends an relatives, an innocent bystanders everywhere wailing an crying hysterically...the one man yelled out, "pastor come pray with the family here." so dad assumed that this was the body he needed to pick-up, so he prayed with the loud wailing crowd at the casket, only to discover after the prayer that another man said, "Mista Milla! the body is here now, so we can help you load it on top of your van." So I guess he had happened to pray with the wrong crowd, but I'm sure they all needed prayers anyway so....they loaded up the body, on the top of the van, an strapped it down with ropes, hoping for the best.
After traveling back in fairly far, an unloading the body at the families house, where more hysteric mourners were there to greet them, moaning an screeching in distress, as Dad an Wayne were working on unloading the body, ladies were reaching up toward the casket wailing an praying to the body, some singing songs as well, they finally unloaded the casket amongst the chaos, the one lady even collapsing to the ground in a dead faint, Dad an Wayne felt a little out of their box, but when don't you feel out of your box here in Kenya, so they loaded the ratchet straps an ropes back in the van, an headed for home again, ready to be away from the mourning crowd, an having some peace an quiet again.
They started for home, an then it started to rain....they soon were in slippery mud, an traveling over deep ruts the wide mud tires spinning slower...an slower....an then the gears quite working as well! no reverse. no four wheel drive. nothing. so being hopelessly stuck in the gooey mud, Dad looks at Wayne an says, "All we can do now is to pray, we are a long ways from home, an its getting late." so they started praying that God would make so the gears in the vehicle would work again, or that someone could help them get unstuck, and Dad confessed to the family later that he also reminded God that he was just out here today to do a favor for someone, an now he got stuck!
So anyway, while they were sitting there trying to decide what to do, an trying the gears again an again to see if they work, a man runs up beside the vehicle, an standing there in the pouring rain, he yelled, "White-man Pasta! How are you!? Do you remember me!!?" Dad said, "no I don't remember you." The native said, "I'm the one who was stuck in the mud that one day, an you came along an pulled me out of the mud with your vehicle! So, now you are stuck, an if you just wait here a little while I will run to the closest town an get my tractor, an I will pull you out an help you, like you did for me that day!" Dad then said he remembers that he pulled a guy out of the mud once, but would never have recognized the man, since they all kinda look the same.
Dad then suggested that they see if they can push it out of the mud, an in no time there were 20 barefooted black guys there helping him push the vehicle, an taking their shovels, an hoes an digging the mud away from the tires, an then all of a sudden the gears started working again!! an before long they were out of the slough an on more solid ground again! Praise God!

Chicken butchering...

Dad gave them "something small" for helping him, an told the "first responder" that he needed to share it equally amongst the other helpers, an thanked them all profusely! Dad said, it touched his heart when he left, to look back an see the group of men standing in a circle, in the pouring rain, plastered in mud dividing up $2 amongst themselves....God can do the impossible if we allow him!
That is all I have for this week...

*Sorry that I don't have more pictures this time, I promise next time to have a lot with the wedding.

~Sylvia

For The Miller's