Well, we only thought that we were through with these funeral matters. Yesterday afternoon Nazo and Mr. Iddrisu told us that the family of the Mion- Lana was performing his funeral. The Mion-Lana is the chief that my dad bought the land for the Kulkpeni church building from. He died 6 or 7 years ago and was buried but the family is just now getting around to performing the final funeral. When he died we took a gift to help with the burial and as custom dictates we also have to take a gift for the funeral. Zorash and I spent 1 ½ hours in the market this morning buying our 200 pounds of shelled field corn. The corn was part of our gift; it had to be put in a special burlap bag. We then made envelopes of money for the chief, elders, and sisters. We also gave monetary gifts to the grandchildren (which are actually grown men and women) and gifts to the man that “lead” us to the funeral ground. The place was very hot and dusty. It is amazing how much dust the drummers and dancers can kick up! The high temperature today was 113 degrees and I forgot to wear my hat to the funeral ground! Timothy Niligrini, the evangelist, Zorash, Amama, Mr. Iddrisu and Nazo went with us to Mion.
Amama came back to work this morning after a successful naming ceremony. She had lots of work to catch up on. She is going to come on Saturday to make up one of her days off. She appreciated the baby clothes we sent to her “rivals” baby. They actually call the second and third wives their rivals.
While Zorash and I were in the market Steve and Mr. Iddrisu manned the Child Center. They had a steady stream of babies today. Most of them were suffering from runny noses and cough which can be attributed to the massive amount of dust that is in the air.
The man with the water tanker brought a load of river water today. We bought it so Nazo will have enough water to weave the thatch. The grass has to be soaked before it can be woven. He will dig a pit and we will line it with a tarp so he will have a nice place to soak the thatch.
It is almost time for evening Bible study so I will close for today. We covet your prayers!
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
