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Frederick teacher, coach returns to African homeland BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUITYMEDIA.COM
Though he was born in Denver, Frederick High School physical education teacher and boys basketball coach Enoch Miller had one thing he particularly wanted to do. Return to his family’s native Africa. Miller joined an entourage from Rocky Mountain Christian Church in Frederick and Mission of Hope International to spend a week doing missionary work in the Mathare Valley, part of the Mathare slum in Kenya and a short distance from Nairobi. The population is about a half-million people who take up about half a square mile. “It’s one of the poorest slums,” Miller said. “There are a million people in an area that extends from Frederick High School to state Highway 52, maybe Colorado Boulevard. It’s unbelievable. You have to see it to believe it.” But for Miller, the week-long trip was more personal. “I am a product of missionary work through the Pillar of Fire Church,” Miller said. “My father is from Liberia. He lived there until he was 21. That’s where he met my mom. The church didn’t like it. He was black. She was white.” The couple eventually moved to the Denver area, where Miller was born. “It’s always been near and dear to my heart,” he said. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for his missionary work.” VBS Miller and the group (including his 13-year-old daughter, Savannah, the church’s pastor, Shawn Moyers, his daughter, Grace, and the church’s campus pastor, Matt Cote) spent a week teaching Vacation Bible School to some 800 youngsters and taking the kids to such things as health check-ups. The church group raised money over the past eight months to cover about 80 percent of the trip.
Smiles, smiles and more smiles during Frederick High School teacher and coach Enoch PHOTOS COURTESY OF ENOCH MILLER Miller’s recent missionary trip to Africa.
“There’s no playground,” Miller said. “There’s an armed guard at the front. There’s a little bit of a roof, but there are pillars in the way. Outside, it’s pandemonium. It’s the world’s biggest flea market, people selling trinkets, old cars, trash that comes up to almost the top of the driver’s side window.”
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After school, the group was able to visit some students’ homes in teams of four to five people at a time. “That was the most impactful part,” Miller said. “Most of these homes were the size of a master bedroom closet. It’d be easy for the temperatures to reach 100 degrees. There were wild animals outside.
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“But that was the best part,” he added. “The kids were 10 times more happy to see us. I’m not exaggerating. We all gave a million hugs. But my daughter gave about 500 hugs to kids. They were so excited to see that people came all the way across the world to see them.” The oldest kids were in eighth grade. “They wear uniforms, and some of the pants are down near their ankles, so you can see they’ve been wearing them for a year or two,” Miller said. “We were encouraged to ask them questions about their lives, to show that we care, to tell us about their situation, what they do for work. Some are temporary workers, wash dishes. Most of them live on a dollar or two per day. They don’t know where their next meal is going to come from. “We asked, ‘What can we pray for you?’” Miller added. “Some of the answers were pretty heavy, that we help need jobs. So we prayed with them. We did that a couple of times each day. Almost every single one of their situations was dire. “It’s difficult walking out of those homes,” Miller added. “We asked, ‘What can I do?’” As much as Miller and the church group wanted to do beyond the visit, they realized those options were limited. “We can’t give them money,” he said. “The kids get sponsorships, and outside donations (such as the ones from Miller and his wife) help. The goal of MOHI is to empower. Most organizations throw money at them. But in general, that’s not enough to change things. MOHI teaches kids trades, helps parents learn a trade. ‘It’s nice to meet you … and me?’ Miller never thought he’d meet someone with his first name. “After services, we were congregating with people in the church,” Miller said. “One of the kids came SEE HOMELAND, P6
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