The call came in while I was in the midst of a counseling session with a dear Cameroonian lady whose life is in shambles.  I apologized for the interruption and answered the phone.  It was our Eyene village house landlord.  Wanted to know if we would allow him to put his mother's casket in our living room.  She will be buried a week from Saturday.  We had already given permission for him to use our house on the day of the funeral.  But they have decided that since our house is much better decorated than their house, it is the logical choice.  Having her laid out in state in our living room means that people will be streaming in and out for hours to view the body one last time.  It also means that our landlord needs to make the room as fancy as possible.  And in this particular case, he wanted our permission to send a painter in to paint the living room.  Plus a carpenter to put a ceiling in the living room.  A ceiling in the living room at our Eyene house??  Wow!  That's an amazing concept.  Of course we are happy to let them use the house and we will benefit greatly.  

Ndzana II has decided that he will spend the entire week leading up to the funeral in the village.  He needs to be there to protect our things.  And he will have many, many opportunities to minister to the grieving family in this time of great loss.