BURYING THE DEAD @ 31 Aug 2010

There is much that i LOVE about living in Turkana...but dealing with the dead is NOT one of them! Since I am the only one here with a truck, it fqlls to me to transport the body back to the village for burial...if they die at the hospital in Lodwar. I really do not mind so much, it is the very least I could do for the grieving family and church. But dealing with the dead is something I never easily forget. The smell that lingers in my truck (though I think it is mostly in my head), the primitive way folks are buried (no casket, no vault...dig a shallow grave, place the body wrapped in a shuka or lasso, say a prayer, close the grave), the hard expressions (no crying allowed), the culture that forbids ever mentioning them again...all of it makes death in turkana difficult for me. An old brother from Nanyangakipi named Musa died late yesterday evening at the hospital. I baptized him in 2006 when we organized our church in that village. I got the call and made plans to carry his body back early this morning. Taking the Spiritual out of things (though I am thankful God has called me here to help folks like Musa hear about Jesus and be saved), today was really hard! Not exactly how I planned to kick things off in Turkana again...but it is all part of the work. Please pray for us... Much love, Ekiru