Winning souls and ushering them to heaven with dignity are two roles that Mr Samuel Thairu juggles with ease.
On a normal working day, you will find Mr Thairu donning a green uniform, hand gloves and white gumboots at the JM Memorial Ol Kalou Hospital mortuary in Nyandarua County, busy taking care of dead bodies.
At the facility, which is one of the biggest in the county, Thairu’s main work is to ensure that he ushers the dead to heaven with dignity by ensuring that they are well preserved before their interment.
But every Sunday, you will find Pastor Thairu at the Kenya Assemblies of God Church in Ol Kalou town, where he ministers as a pastor busy winning souls for heaven.
When the Saturday Nation visited him at the hospital, he was inside his office doing some Bible study. “This is what I usually do when I am not working or while waiting for some work to do. The word of God gives me motivation to work and handle my work with ease,” he said as he ushered us inside the morgue.
However, he said working as a mortician was never one of his desired jobs.
“I used to work as a casual at the Nyahururu County Referral Hospital when they announced a vacancy at the mortuary department. That is when I decided to apply for the job,” said Mr Thairu.
He said he, just as any ordinary person, was initially afraid of dead bodies, but financial constraints left him without an option.
“When I was new in this job, I had fears and challenges handling the dead, but I asked God to give me strength to tackle what awaited me in my new job — that is taking care, preserving and handling dead bodies on a daily basis,” says the man of God.
He said that it was after working for several months at the Nyahururu County Referral Hospital, then known as Nyahururu District Hospital, as a junior staff that a position came up at the JM Memorial Ol Kalou Hospital.
“I applied for the position and I was hired for the post. By then, I had already adapted to the job and I was comfortable,” he said.
The 38-year-old father of three says that he also fills a gap at the morgue because in many cases there is usually no one to console the bereaved families when they come to pick the body for burial.
“Most families usually don’t have anyone to console them during bereavement, especially while taking their loved ones for interment from the morgue. As a man of God, I knew I would comfortably fit in the shoe,” he said.
“When I told them that I was taking up the job, they had no problem with it. To date, they take my job just like any other job. My congregation, too, does not seem to care much about what I do at the mortuary. I interact with them freely without any fear,” he said.
Pastor Thairu added that contrary to many people’s belief that morticians often use hard drugs before getting down to work, he has never abused drugs.
“I have never abused any drugs. I have never tasted alcohol. Some morticians are said to rely on drugs to perform. I believe that having a sober mind allows the families of the deceased respectable preservation of the bodies,” he said.
And like any other person who prays before leaving for work in the morning, Mr Thairu says he prays for his work every morning.
“When going to work every morning, an umbrella hawker prays that it rains so that he can make some money. I, too, pray for my job while leaving the house. However, I don’t pray that people die so that I can get some work to do.
“In the morning, I pray that God protects His people, gives them long lives and grants them strength and serenity in case they lose a loved one,” added Mr Thairu.
His job 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 postmortem examination and has to be present when the bodies are released for burial.
Pastor Thairu has challenged fellow pastors to not only depend on offerings and tithes from their faithful but their own sweat.
“Even the word of God clearly states that one should eat from his own sweat. This will kill the narrative that pastors only depend on offerings and tithes from their congregation,” he added.
