Life In Kenya Since Our Furlough!

hello to all you fine folks out there...hope you all are doing great!
I finally got my blog on my phone, an although I need a microscope to be able to see what I’m typing because it’s so tiny an not made for my iPhone, it will work better then a laptop that Doesn’t work right! Anyway, I’m back!
An finally in the mood to jot a few lines again...

Over the time I was home so many people told me they missed my blog posts that I almost started feeling special, an almost sorry I wasn’t writing more. But I didn’t manage to actually feel too sorry for them because, well first of all it was nice to have a break an not write every week, an second of all, no offense to the dear busy people that side of the big pond, but it’s not like our Email is clogged up over here! Hahaha thats not why I stopped writing anyway, jus needed a break, an felt uninspired by writing about our everyday life over an over again, seemed like the same blog every week!

So everyone asks, “how is life since furlough...” well it’s good. It was so good to be back an get into a routin again, to live in our own house, an simply to belong to a familiar setting again. Yes life here is rough at times, but for now it’s more “home” an more “normal” then living in America.                   Since we are back I did the famous lemonade master cleanse, where you don’t eat any solid food for ten days. The reason I decided to do it was because, well okay “furlough” could also be called “fatload” in my opinion. So much good food you wanna try after several years of not having it! An I gained some major weight. The scales An I had a falling out after furlough....but boy!! the food was as good as ever! Someone innocently asked me, “well, if you gained so much weight, how will you do it when you come back for good?” Hahaha I wanted to let out a big belly laugh, “pun intended” like seriously? You jus use more self control when your around all your favorite food all the time, but when you have only a few weeks to have a little bit of all of them....then tada! You gain weight. So anyway so much for that. So the lemonade cleanse went great, lost ten pounds in ten days, ate lemons, drank lemons, An guzzeled lemonade till I thought it wud never end, I felt right smart “cleansed” too! It was a diet that made you look fondly at food you never liked to start with, once I gaze at cooked spinach in adoration you now I’m tired of my diet. But all in all it was a boost an was worth it. I did experience night mares with the cleanse though....not even kidding about this! I would dream that I randomly started feasting on good food, waking up in a panick wondering what ailed me that I forgot I was on my diet, jus to wake up so relieved it was a dream...you might be laughing but this was some intense stuff, I was so focused on doing this cleanse! So I ran out of maple syrup an used honey instead, An did it another four days making it fourteen days of fasting but I only lost one pound in four days, so I don’t recommend using honey. Your welcome for the tip!
If your tired of dieting stories An wanna hear about other things let me change the topic!

The church people were over joyed to see us back, or else did a great job at pretending they missed us, An we were delighted to see them all too!
Dad is preaching a series of messages on leadership/pastoring since we wanna have an ordination at our church soon.
Last Sunday we served up an American meal for our church people, which was actually all Kenyan food except for sausages that we brought from America! We had a great time serving them “American” food an watching their delighted faces at trying mustard, something most of them never tried before. We learned a valuable lesson though. We should have close the church gates after church started becuz we ended up running out of some of our food, becuz after church was over it was like every child that was there ran an got all of his cousins out of a bush an brought them to eat food! We fed well over 200 people, needless to say the sausages got cut up into really small pieces an everyone got a tiny taste...we had a good time An everyone was happy.

Questions they have asked us about our stay in America:
~does America have free WiFi everywhere, even in the toilet houses?
~Did you greet Trump for me?
~pastor did you eat in your mother’s house?
~when your flying that high an that fast, how can you drink water?
~how many days does it take to get to America?
~so up in the sky is busy with planes jus like traffic in kisumu?
~how cold was America?

Life back in Africa has been interesting an also very normal. We eagerly wait for all those people to contact us that told us “we are planning to come visit you guys yet.” When we were home on furlough. An are impressed with some that are planning to come! It sounds terribly carnal, but it’s true! We live for visitors!

Dad has malaria again An is under the weather....we about despair with all his malaria rounds An it seems he keeps getting over  it more slowly every time....let’s hope he can hold out another year here! He finally invested in a mosquito netting so we are hoping that will help.
I don’t have much else to add here but I’ll try to add some pics, if I can figure out how to do it on my phone here.
Keep praying for our family....we have our share of struggles, sometimes more then our share. We certainly found out that life in the mission field is no picnic, but it is rewarding.
Makes me think of a friend of mine who I’ll name Emily who’s is in our church An is in instruction class. She has had a hard life, her father died, an several years later her mother died, she’s the youngest one in her family, all her brothers an sisters are married an left home to other areas of Africa, an the oldest son who inherited the family plot of land after both parents died, lives in his house with his wife, an Emily now 19 lives in her mothers house that she left behind when she died.
She is probably my best friend from our church, because I see so much potential in her life. She shared with me how her brother An his wife don’t care for her other then feeding her a meal after she comes home from school. She said she can’t wait to finish school so she can go look for a job an move out on her own. Thankfully due to the agape program her school through high school is being paid for An she is only having three more months left till graduation! I’m so happy for her.
But the other Sunday dad asked all the people who have the Holy Spirit to stand up, I was sitting beside her, an as I rose to my feet I noticed she remained seated, so after church as I was walking home with her, (dad an mom usually have a ton of meetings after church An it’s takes them long, so I walk all the way that I can with her till our roads separate to where she goes home An we keep going towards kisumu.) I decided to ask her about why she didn’t stand today. So I told her, “Emily, I saw today when the pastor asked all those to stand that are having the Holy Spirit that you didn’t stand...why didn’t you? An she told me, “because I don’t have the Holy Spirit” I was alittle shocked with her statement, but continued asking her if she ever prayed the sinners prayer, An she said yes, they were taught at school An she memorized it. Thence I asked her if she only memorized it or if she ever prayed it on her own, like for her own heart an soul, An she said that yes she did, she invited Jesus into her heart at a dark time in her life. Then I told her, “then you have the Holy Spirit!” Then she said, “no Sylvia I don’t, I haven’t been baptized yet, so I don’t have the Holy Spirit, An that’s why I didn’t stand up today.” Then I started explaining to her how that baptism is an outward sign of what happened inside, an the moment you invite Jesus into your heart you have the Holy Spirit because God, Jesus, an the Holy Spirit are one, you can’t have one An not the rest. She looked surprised, An I told her everytime she faces negative peer pressure in school, An she chooses to go the right way, that’s the Holy Spirit in her life working through her conscience. An as we walked that hot dusty trial in the blazing sunlight, my mind went back to Leon Troyers house in Brown county where 8 of us youth sat around his kitchen table evening after evening As Leon explained to us these important truths that I otherwise would not have known about, I’m so thankful for my rich heratige! Instruction class shouldn’t be treated as an afterthought but should be a special occasion for our young people. We would always study our lesson an Mary Troyer would make a snack an we would have a lovely time of fellowship, an on that day when I had my opportunity to share the truths passed down to me, I was honored to do so, knowing without a shadow of a doubt how I believed about it. An I hope one day Emily will share that truth with a friend, family member, or her children too. Since the way she believed about having to be baptized before you have the Holy Spirit, actually came from her catholic family. Anyway, opake Jesu! I thank Jesus for his love an forgiveness.
May each of you have a wonderfully blessed week!
-Sylvia
For The Millers