We all believe in life after death, and there is no better way to be prepared for your last journey to eternity by a powerful bishop who shares the same belief, ama namna gani?
At 35 years, Stakus Owino has already forged a reputation as a revered Spiritual Superintended, the Overseer of the Lord’s flock at the Israel Assembly Church in Bondo.
It is here where he gives powerful sermons every Sunday, asking people to turn their ways to God for he is the one true Messiah. He is the Bishop, Mtumishi wa Mungu.
But that is not his only job, Owino has three children who must feed and dress, so he ekes out a living working at the Bondo Sub-County Hospital as a morgue attendant.
His job description at the mortuary entails; receiving bodies and cleaning them; ensuring that they are correctly and properly labelled for easy identification and preservation. He also prepares the bodies for postmortems and has to be present when the bodies are released for burial.
The man of God describes his duties at the morgue as ushering souls to heaven with dignity, and his job at the church is winning souls to God. You see the two jobs are interconnected.
But growing up, Owino never saw himself as a morgue attendant, especially coming from a community where the dead are treated as bad omen.
He started off as a cleaner at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Referral Hospital. One day he found himself cleaning the morgue and that is how he developed interest in the job that so many fear.
With the help of the hospital, he went for a three month mortuary management certificate course at the University of Nairobi’s Chiromo Campus.
He did his internship at Bondo Sub-County Hospital, where his passion for the job impressed the hospital administration who decided to retain him.
And he has been there for the past 10 years. But his job has come with a lot of challenges.
For example, his in-laws did not want him to marry their daughter. But let’s just say his prayers worked at the end.