THE ZIATUNE ACHIENG FAMILY

Ziatune is the name of a sister in the Kajulu church. She's a young widow with three young children. Perez is ten years old and the twins, Philip and Titus are 6 years old. The children are nearly always pumped full of energy unless they're sick.

Ziatune comes from an area an hour away. "It's so FAR away", she said, "I only get home once a year." Her father had two wives with the first having eight children and the second eleven children. Ziatune was the oldest child of the first wife. She related that her childhood was good and she misses home and her siblings very much.

When Ziatune was eighteen she married Erastus, a bush doctor, and became his 3rd wife. She made her home with him in the local Kabonya mountains. A lady generally will move to her husband's homeland and he will make her a house in his "dala"(homestead). Each wife has a house for herself and her children. The houses are set close together in a circular fashion and may even turn into a small village depending on how many brothers the husband has. The sons stay and the daughters move away. When the husband dies the wife will stay since she is the dala's property. The next brother may try to inherit her. It can cause quite a problem if she joins the CBF church and refuses. Seldom will a widow remarry. The children may need to stay because the dala owns them. Sometime the dala is peaceful, but many times it is not.

Perez was soon born to Eratus and Ziatune. Meanwhile at her faraway home, Ziatune heard her mother gave birth to twins. The following year, in 2004, Ziatune herself was blessed with twin sons, Philip and Titus. When the babies were only 3 months old, the husband became sick and died. Ziatune was only 23 years old. When asked what caused his death, she said he was an old man; he was 43 years old! I was rather taken aback and said that's how old my husband was when we married. She looked abit shocked but didn't comment. Ziatune struggled with the small babies with Titus, the smaller one, not doing well at all. Steve Esh was pastoring the fledgling church of Kajulu at the time and heard about this young widow and assisted her with food and clothing. The second wife of Erastus also died leaving only Ziatune with her children and the bitter, childless first wife. Ziatune requests your prayers. There is no peace at the dala. The first wife in her envy makes life very difficult. With this being Luo land, it also may cause a problem since Ziatune comes from another tribe. Numerous other church sisters live in the neighborhood and she leans heavily on them.

Ziatune and her little family. Pray for protection and faithfulness in her life.

Ziatune, 29, is a fiesty and no-nonsense person. She works hard to provide for her children. You will see her in the government fields with her jembe, hoeing away. She is often very tired and fights to stay awake in church.

Perez is a such a pretty, happy young lady. She reminds me of a young deer with her lilting, skipping ways.

Titus and Philip are so energetic, their mother finds it hard to keep track of them. They often sit with me in church and I try to teach them to hold still. They try, but they wiggle and squirm with their legs a-swingin'.

Such is life for widows and their children. Pray for the mother. Pray for the children that they can grow up standing strong in spite of the environment they're living in. At best in Kenya, life is pretty lean with a husband. For a widow without a husband, it's downright tough! We have many widows in our CBF churches. They get material and emotional support and are so grateful.

Linford and Kay Bontrager from IN, are back visiting for a short time. It's always good to have former missionaries come and encourage us. They pastored in Oroba for 5 years from 1996- 2001.

John and Barbara Glick also enjoyed their two sons, Lester and Crystal Glick and Ernest Glick, for 2 weeks. They enjoyed showing them around, especially the Masai Mara. Going to the game reserve is like a page from National Geographic come alive.

Joseph Hostetlers are also hosting 3 of his siblings and a cousin. Darvin, Leon and Rachel Hostetler and Rhonda Hostetler are from Belleville, PA. It's also fun to show relatives the sights, sounds and smells of Kenya.

Sam Kauffman family