Hiking up a dirt road with motorbikes whizzing by, their loud music flattens out with space. So to, time and distance make my stories feel flattened like that. They were too sharp, too dangerous to publish earlier. So today we have invited some guest bloggers to give you a glimpse of what it looks like to visit Daktari life. Here's what they have to say:
A
few years ago at our beloved home church in Birmingham, Alabama we had the
privilege of meeting Mike and Katie Davis—connecting immediately because we
both have strong family ties to Kingston, Tennessee—we worshipped together,
celebrated welcoming Annie to the world and were sad when they moved to
Jonesboro, TN but kept in touch as we could via Facebook. As our family made a big decision last
January to spend a month in Kenya, we reached out to Katie to ask for advice,
guidance and prayers as we navigated this mission trip with 3 teenage
girls. Katie was 100% joyous in
her response…in fact, her very response was “My first time to Africa was when I
was 13, just be ready for them to fall in love with this place!” Midway through our trip, our family
descended into Tenwek—smack on top of this amazing, dear family. Mike is changing lives, touching
families and stretching his heart and brain to negotiate the medical needs,
wants, challenges and successes at Tenwek Hospital. Katie is changing lives, touching families and stretching
her heart and brain to negotiate cross cultural dynamics, kids’ lives and
now…our unwieldy family. With
grace, calm and welcome, the Davis family absorbed us into their mission lives
here. I’ve posted some on facebook (Rachel Estes)about this rhythm but want to share some here. To a family with constantly hungry teenagers, I’m noticing
Mike and Katie anticipate, savor and celebrate food. Each bit of food is deeply and intimately connected to
someone’s life here. Joseph is
selling eggs to have funds for an orphanage…Amos walks two hours to sell
carrots on Sundays for his school fees…every piece of food is a story. That translates into this family. If you finish all the eggs on Friday,
you need to wait until Tuesday for Joseph to come…what a concept for our
American-paced family. Meals are
about relationships and connecting…savored and enjoyed. If there is something from this whole
mission that we bring home to our house, I pray it will be this anticipating,
savoring and celebrating of food. I’m watching Katie connect in the community through
ministries that have her driving far away on bumpy dirt roads…bringing the
Bible story (yes, the WHOLE BIBLE) to a gathering of women on a Saturday
morning-she helps connect the neighborhood kids with activities, she weaves
people together to strengthen the community and she does it with beauty and
God’s love. Driving us out to an
orphanage today, Katie spent her own time and energy making sure that our family
had a very Kenyan experience. Mike
comes home for lunch with prayers of joy and of sorrow for those whom he serves
at the hospital. He knows their
stories, their families and despite many sad moments, he sees miracles.
Mike
and Katie, Josiah and Annie are having their hearts broken and widened by all
they are experiencing here…they are changing lives…those they serve and their
own. What a blessing for this
community and all future communities in which they serve this family will
bring. Below are three reflections
from my daughters:
We
went to the hospital to check out what is going on there, there were many sick
people there and we saw all the doctors and nurses working diligently to help
each person. Every day Mike comes
home and tells us what happy, crazy, or sad thing that happened that day. While
Mike is working day AND night to help the residents of Tenwek hospital, Katie
is working to keep the kids happy. Yesterday the whole neighborhood was over at
her house and she managed to keep all the kids engaged (which did not look
easy!) and she seemed calm the whole time. They both work really hard at their
VERY different demanding jobs and still come home to their kids with a big
smile on their face.
-
Lydia Estes
(12)
I
have loved getting the amazing opportunity to spend time here in Tenwek. Learning
their amazing way of life, from their great relationships with their community,
to their always-helping hearts and hands. I have loved getting to help many
parts of Kenya, so it was fun to see another side of Kenya in a more day-to-day
lifestyle. It was really cool just to see what its like to live in Kenya. I am
truly blessed to have gotten this experience with this great family.
-
Isabel Estes (14)
Today my family and I went to an orphanage in
rural Bomet. When we first got there some of the kids were lined up to shake
our hands and greet us. We then got a tour of the place and almost everywhere
you looked you had an amazing view of the land and mountains. My two sisters
and I each shared a scripture verse with the kids. After all this we went
outside and played with them for almost two hours. I played volleyball with
some of the older kids which was really fun while my parents were turning the
jumprope for some of the younger kids. We then went down the road a ways and
had chai with the pastor who ran the orphanage and his family and we talked
about the joys and challenges of running an orphanage. He then invited us to go
back tomorrow and play volleyball at the high school where he taught.
- Virginia Estes (16)
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