Miller Family Kisumu, Kenya: A Kenyan Christmas, A Night In The Jungle, Vacation To Mt. Elgon!!

(Saturday December 24th)
Today was the day that our youth from Nyakoko were coming to the compound.

Dad holding a small child while preaching...

I got up fairly early for a Saturday, an started last minute cleaning, an also prepared beds in the big guest house for my brothers an the youth guys, an also prepared beds an several floor mats for 7 girls at our house...I then put some laundry away, helped with other last minute preparations, an then grilled 5 chickens for our supper.
The twins were also rushing around doing different vehicle repairs, then Steve left to pick all the youth up at the dusty, central, little town of Masogo.
They arrived back here at the compound around 3:30pm. We then played yard blitz, corn hole, an just hung out at our house till supper was ready, we ate our Kenyan meal that Mom had prepared, then played v-ball on the street till 9pm. I guess if you can call it v-ball! lol it was mostly laughing a lot, kicking the ball around, one girl kicked it so hard, it flew over the wall an landed over into the Asian compound beside us, they just loved kicking the ball with their feet an heads instead of their hands, it was interesting to watch, an I had to remind myself that even though it was not v-ball like I'm used to, they were all having a lot of fun, an that's what counts.

At Richard's Family, Dad preparing to preach...

There are so many other little details I could write about this evening but where do I even start?

We all went to bed after v-ball, but of course first I told all the girls that we will now have our usual shower time, so hours later they were all finally in bed...For some reason I had another horrible night with not being able to sleep.
(Sunday December 25th)
Merry Christmas everyone!! Really!? 85*- 90* sweat running down my face an back....the sun beating down with out a cloud in the sky....dust swirling everywhere, burning my eyes an lungs...But Yes! Christmas it is!!
A Black "Santa" waddled around our main grocery store (Nakamatt) looking uncomfortable, an sweaty in his heavy traditional "Santa" clothes.

We took all the youth to church with us this morning, Dad left early to teach IC class, an the twins each took a vehicle to bring all of the rest of us.
The Sunday was pretty interesting, mostly testimonies, group singing, more singing, an then some more singing, an the highlight! A gift from "pasta an Mamma Becky!" We took packaged candy for the children, an banana an pumpkin bread for the rest, an also a new AMA 2017 calendar for every household.
Our family sang three songs together for the church, then we dismissed, an everyone went to their family or relatives house for their respective Christmas meal....We were invited to Joel & Milkah's house for lunch, where we had a good traditional Kenyan meal! An wow was that ever good!! Its crazy how I have started craving the Kenyan foods so much! things I used to gag over, now go down very easily!
We were just at home in the afternoon enjoying quiet time.
Joe an Glenda had invited the compound to their place in the evening then.
(Monday December 26th)
Today Dad went to pastors meeting like usual...
An the rest of us scurried around home packing an washing clothes, an making sure the vehicle was in tune for the journey, we were preparing food, since we were planning on doing most of our own cooking, on our family vacation to Mt Elgon National Park.

The house I slept in that night in the jungle...

It was a busy day of preparing for vacation...
In the evening Stan started feeling sick, an was running a fever....we held our breath, Mom attacked him with all manor of healthy things, an he went to bed early, hoping tomorrow he would feel better.
No "blog Time" today people!
(Tuesday December 27th)
Today was the day we were finally leaving for our vacation to Mt. Elgon, an after a terribly busy an long weekend it didn't come a day too soon for us!
Thankfully Stan was kicking abit higher this morning, an said he felt halfway healed with all of moms potions, but was still feeling a little weak.
We were planning on leaving around 7AM. which I thought was such an out-of-character time to start a vacation, but with Stan feeling a little dazed, an Dad still moping around with Malaria we didn't leave till around 9AM. (Yeah, that's more like it) Its just when I get up so early my body goes into a shock an I feel kinda messed-up an guilty the rest of the day...
Anyway, we drove till around 2-3 in the afternoon.
We met up with Richard at a small fueling station close to his parents house, where, if I hadn't told you, we had first planned to go visit some of Richards family before heading on out to our vacation.

Christmas morning at church...

So some of Richard's family are still Muslim, including his father, so I couldn't wait to get out there an see what a night in the jungle was going to be like...So like I said we met him at the fueling station, an he then guided us through the narrow paths as we made our way back into the boonies where his family was waiting for us, as we neared there were a group or singers standing on either side of the dirt path our vehicle was traveling on, tree branches were scraping on either side, an after turning left an right several "hundred" times, an knowing I was going to sleep back here tonight when it gets dark, was...well, an uneasy feeling, because if something would happen...which way do I run? which way is to civilization? that's what I didn't know...but you just don't think about that when your way back in like that....so back to the singers along the dirt path, they lined up on either side, an we drove through the middle, as they danced, shouted, sang, clapped, an one mother was pounding around on an empty barrel for the drum, an I'll admit she had the empty jug making sounds I never knew a persons hands and an empty jug could make!? Somehow these people can make a beat out of anything. I guess its in their culture...

Some of the youth girls singing, on Christmas morning...

Their faces split in two with grins, an the happiness an joy all around, in the midst of poverty struck my heart, they were so happy, with hardly any earthly possessions, where is my contentment, with the things God gives me?

all the commotion an racket they made when we arrived somehow felt wrong...like we were being held in too high esteem, all we had to offer was the Love of Christ....an yet such a show upon our arrival!

We got out of the vehicle as the choir was marching back, singing, whistling, dancing, an drumming, I took several pictures, much to their delight, I gave them thumbs-up! an they waved back to us, as we were quickly ushered into Richards father's home, where there were first things first! An first the White pastor from America was supposed to pray a blessing on their home, then they washed our hands an served us chia an mondozies, after talking through an interpreter since Richards father knows basically no English, we greeted Richards parents, an they welcomed us over an over again, they had a humble home an dwelling place, Richards father has been a drunkard most of his life, an only in the last several years has left that drunken life to a better more disciplined one, so they have always been poor due to the father always drinking away their money.

Joshua an his new little family singing...

Richards father is not yet a Christian, but is also no longer attending the mosque, an Richard says that he is seeing the changed life in his son Richard, as well as his own wife, who is a Christian, an Richard also has a younger sister who is a Christian, an Richards father sees the change, an is trying to make up his own mind who's kingdom he wants to be a part of, the kingdom of love an grace, or the kingdom he was raised an taught in....Richard told us that he had several other siblings who were also Christians, but the family tribe killed them upon discovering their new found faith.

I have not had the privilege of hearing Richards whole life story, but he did say that after he was converted from Islam he had to flee for his life because his family an tribe where hunting them out to kill them, an when Richard an his younger bother were running away, they caught his younger brother an killed him, but Richard escaped!! What an amazing story he has, of a life changed completely.

Lydia Singing with her two sons...

But that was a bit of a side story from what I was actually going to write about, but I guess knowing that all this had been going on quite an number of years before, still gave me a mixed emotions feeling about it all.
I couldn't help but notice whenever Dad was praying Richards father wouldn't close his eyes but would look straight into Dads face the entire time he was praying, such a dear old man, with a wrinkly black face, an oh such searching eyes, as he looked into Dads face as we bowed for prayer...Pray for Richards father, he was friendly, as kind as could be, gentle, an good but I know his heart is not fixed yet, but God can show himself strong!

So after Chia an mondozies we went out to greet all the people gathered under the tent listening to the choir singing, an waiting till we came out of the house an the service would start.

Jared an his family, an daughter-in-law singing...

We then all sat in the shade while they set up a flimsy speaker system, then they wanted Dad to share his life story an then preach, so first our family sang two songs, an introduced ourselves, then Dad shared his life story, an journey to Christ, then we sang several more songs as a family, then Dad preached a salvation message, an after testimonies an special prayer for several in the audience as well as a small child with Malaria, we sang another song as a family an closed with prayer, Dad an Mom had a special prayer for Richards Parents, an Richard an his wife Janet, it was a special time together...after dismissal, they served everyone ugali an meat, then people hurried home in the gathering dusk, an Richard took the three bro's to a hotel in town where they shared a small dismal room together.

A group of widows singing..

Dad an Mom slept in the living room of the main house, on a mattress on the floor, with a mosquito net hung over them, an I slept in another little mud house, where Richards wife was sleeping in the tiny bedroom with her two little sons, Peace an Peter.
I slept in the living room of that house with a small mat on the floor, Richard had to take the car he was renting back to its owner, an would sleep in Kisumu, returning the following day with his piki.
So we were all set, I was excited about sleeping out here in no-mans-land, in a mud hut! what a first this would be!

Joseph's family singing, a very faithful, an complete family in our church...

Before we went to bed, we all gathered in Richard's fathers big living room, an ate a small sweet melon they called it....I like it ok, an Mom did too, but Dad was less then amused, he didn't like the fruit an plus he was half sick yet with Malaria, an so tired out from the days events...he just wanted everyone to get out of the living room so he could rest on his mattress in the corner, but the rest of us ate the fruit, then Janet wanted me to yodel for the children that were still there, so I yodeled an they danced an laughed! they had never heard anything like that, an were completely thrilled with it, an even tried making up their own yodels, we had a great time! then after that Richard's Mom who was cooking all evening in her kitchen, served us egged toast, an chia, but made her husband ugali an meat, since that is what he preferred to eat before bed, Kenyans eat supper late at night, it was prolly around 9pm. when she had served her husband food, an then fixing a small plate for herself she sat behind his chair on the ground to eat, since husband an wife don't usually eat together.

Even cute little Andrew was helping...

Then after he finished eating we all went to our separate beds, an as I sat in the mud hut, I couldn't believe where I was....in Africa....in the jungle...in a mud hut...I had no idea where I was...so dark black I couldn't see my hand in front of my face....The stars an moon were brighter then I had ever seen......no sounds except an occasional barking dog, an crickets chirping everywhere! At that moment I felt so thrilled an so utterly fortunate to be able to have this experience, I just couldn't believe God had called us to this beautiful land of Kenya, an I get to have this once in a lifetime experience...no wifi...my phone was dead...everything was so silent!

Janet an her two little boys an I made our way to our little hut, I was carrying a burning oil lamp to light the way, while she unlocked the door, I killed a big ant, an a too-big spider outside the door, thinking there may be more of you creepy crawlies out there, but at least these two wouldn't crawl over my face or feet tonight while I was sleeping on the dirt floor....I actually slept fairly well, I woke up several hundred times it seemed like, but was always able to fall back to sleep right away again, so that was great! I found out how hard dirt flooring with a several inch pad over it, is to sleep on.

A few of our youth at Nyakoko...

But it worked, an I was just thankful that we only consented to staying one night instead of 3-4 nights like they had begged us to.

(Wednesday December 28th)
Today we got up early an had breakfast with Richard's family, then after Richard came back from Kisumu on his piki he ate some too, then there was a neighbor lady that wanted us to come pray for her but after we got there, we discovered she was planning on us staying at her house for lunch too, but Dad an Richard kindly explained to her that we had a schedule an needed to leave now...she was so sad that she wouldn't be able to make us some food, but we told her we would be back later.
After going back to Richards parents home place one last time, an had one last prayer an many many handshakes an goodbyes, we finally left for our family vacation to Mt. Elgon!

Evans an Kevin playing corn-hole...

We drove till about 5:30pm. an reached the park gates just before closing time, we paid our entry fee an headed to our small cabins, we quickly unloaded our things an settled in before darkness covered everything, then Mom an I cooked some supper with the food we had brought, an with the help of the gas top stove we soon had a warm supper....the cabins were ok, an kinda nice I guess, they had electric an such hot water that it almost blistered your skin, or else it was cold, but other then that we were ok, however no wifi was a stark reality for us children, but Dad just kinda chuckled, thinking he had finally done it, bringing us to a place where we had no choice but to talk to him rather then our friends! haha!
We all felt tired, an some of us half sick again, so we all went to bed early...it was so freezing cold though that I was wishing to be nice an warm back In Kisumu!
(Thursday December 29th)

Wycliffe playing music from his phone over the speaker for us...

Today Dad was rather sick again, an I tried telling him that maybe if he would hold real still long enough he might be able to recover instead of once he feels halfway better hitting it hard again! oh my! anyway, we all slept in, (I know SURPRISE!) then we didn't do much more then relax, read, snuggle up in coats an socks, an eat! it truly felt like fall weather back home, an like we were all going into hibernation!
The twins an I did manage to go to the closest town to buy more drinking water, an to use wifi while we had it.

We got back an sat around a campfire that the grounds keeper had started for us, then we sat around roasting hotdogs, an thinking of the days when we roasted s'mores at campfires! what is that even...I know! waaahh! waaah! Us poor, little, deprived, missionary souls.....listen people! We just happened to think of s'mores with the fire an all, its not like we really wanted any, or that we would even think of eating some. ok!? just clarifying things...We then sat around the fire talking with the grounds keeper who lived in a small house close to the cabins with his wife an two children, he was a friendly soul, an talked English well, an knew more about Trump an building walls then all of us put together, so it proved to be an interesting conversation.

Watching the corn-hole games...

Dad was feeling pretty bad by this evening an went to bed early, I feel so bad for him because I can tell he isn't enjoying the vacation since he is still battling this Malaria, an the Doc. told him that people in Kenya get sick when they get Malaria, but for someone his age that never had it, its a different story, you somehow get sicker with it, an it keeps returning for a while sometimes, till rounds of meds defeat it.

He was so freezing cold tonight, an sat very close to the fire, an warmed himself all up, then when he went to go to bed, he took a shower an the water was basically cold, somehow putting his body into a shock, an he started shaking uncontrollably from head to toe, when Mom found him in the shower, he was almost crumbling to the ground, I don't think he passed out, but was weak an the cold water shocked his system, but it was a scary experience, an not a cool way to spend a family vacation, that evening Wayne also started with a terrible stomach ache, he moaned an groaned around so much that we thought he may have appendix, but obviously he didn't, since he's alive an well again... but he said he had never had that much pain in all his life, an I promise I wont start in on my rant about pain tolerance levels in guys verses ladies, because if I had a stomach pain I wouldn't want a girl to say that about me! lol

My good Friend Stacy playing corn-hole...

(Friday December 30th)

Today we all slept in...and why not? its better to sleep, then to get up an look at each other all puffy-eyed, an slowly an mournfully describe to each other the pain we are currently feeling in our old an feeble, missionary wrought bodies, an waiting for the clock to tick up to the time we were allowed to load our things an head back to good ole Kisumu.
I will admit, it probably looked worse to me since I wasn't sick in any way over our stay there, an would have loved to go do something...but alas! after sleeping in this morning, we had the grounds keeper take us to a huge cave, were he took us on a tour! Stan went but had also had his share of the stomach virus, Wayne went to get at least some footage for his video on his youtube channel, but was also holding his stomach a good amount of the time, wondering if he should have come...Steve had a stomach ache this morning an stayed home.... But the cave was awesome, an had hundreds of bats hanging from the ceiling, an when u flashed your light on them, there were glowing, blinking eyes all staring back!

Our crazy youth, I love them so much!

Also there was a small pond in the mouth of the cave an on top of the water was a plant that I had never seen before, it looked abit like moss, but it actually glowed! I have never seen anything like it! It honestly looked like a light was shining underneath it! so amazing!
We also saw grooves worn into the cave walls, an the guide said elephants usually hang out in this cool place an dig salt form the cave walls, an we saw Elephant poo everywhere, so I knew he wasn't just saying whatever came to his mind.
So we got back in time to eat abit, an finish our packing, then we found out we had a flat tire, so with a lot of help from the grounds caretaker we soon had the spare on, an were on our way home!
We drove the rest of the way home, arriving back at the compound around 7pm. It was a long day, an we, our vehicle an everything inside was covered in red-ish dust, so after showers an unpacking it felt like we were ready to be at home for a while!

Kenyans don't use wagons so this was something different for them...

Today The Lester Stoltzfus family from Pa. came to serve for 3 months until Mark Beachy's replacements arrive, their family brought 5 girls to the compound from ages 19-6 so that adds a lot to the compound life! An we are thrilled to have them here!! feel welcome!
So that is it for this post...
We miss you all at home, an somehow wish we could crawl into Steve an Stan's luggage an come see all of you again!
Love an miss you all so much!
~Sylvia
For The Miller's

P.S. I will put our pictures of our vacation to Mt. Elgon on the next post, since I have so many pictures this time.