We're off!!!
HI, everyone. The Davis family is now only one day from departing the United States on our way to Nairobi, Kenya. We leave Sunday, June 4th at 6:20 to be exact. We are flying from Detroit to London, staying in London for only 3 hours and then on to Nairobi. We will arrive in Kenya at 8:50 P.M., Kenyan time. (around 2:50 EST on June 5th) Since we know that you all are praying for us and thinking about us, we thought we would send one last email from the States to let you know how we are feeling and how we are doing.
Overall, we are both quite surprised at the sense of peace that we have. Don’t get me wrong, we have our moments, but they almost seem to pass as quickly as they arrive. We’ve had to say some unbearable good bye’s and we are learning that this will be a familiar process for us for the rest of our missionary lives. Emotionally, our kids are hanging in there, but both Lexi and Beckett have displayed signs of being unsettled and disrupted. Already we have had numerous emotional outbursts and some regression on several developmental stages. We learned at our training in Colorado that this was “normal” for an MK (mission kid) in transition. Thankfully, we were also coached on how to validate, listen to, and respect their feelings.
As for packing up our belongings, well, that is proceeding a bit more slowly than we had anticipated. Trying to think ahead in an organized way is not our strong suit apparently, and it is showing as we try to predict what we need to bring or leave. We are also finding it difficult to carve out time to spend in quiet communion with God. There is no way to put off the rush, rush of leaving the country. However, there MUST be a way to slow down enough to take time to be with the One who loves us the most.
Lets see, what else do you want to know? Email us and we’ll try answer any questions you have about what is going on. Believe it or not, asking questions of us actually helps us to know that you are thinking of us and it’s a real encouragement. Don’t EVER feel like you are intrusive or bothersome. As we are unsure as of yet what security concerns regarding communications we may have, please try to use caution when discussing the ministry as we will be working in some very sensitive countries and never know who may be looking in on our email. I have attached some guidelines, we will have a better idea how much we can communicate once we get settled.
Here’s a quick “God sighting” that we wanted to share with you. We sent 3 containers down to Atlanta to a friend named Bill that happens to be flying to Kenya on Memorial Day. He offered to bring a few containers of ours with him on his journey to Nairobi. We sent them to Atlanta and the post office said it would take 4 days. The packages were to arrive in Atlanta Friday, but they did not. They did not arrive Saturday, either. We reminded each other that this is the time that we need to practice “being flexible.” Inside of these containers were the things that we predicted that we might need right when we arrive in Kenya. On Memorial Day, the day of his departure, Bill got a call from the US Postal Service saying that they had his containers (On a Holiday!!!! What are the chances?). So, he was able to pick them up before his flight and take them to Kenya. Isn’t that so great? Our God is pretty cool.
With that we just wanted to take this opportunity to let you know how excited we are to be trusting in such a faithful God. Thank you ALL for partnering with us in this call to Kenya. We love you and cannot wait to let you all know how we are doing a half of world away.
We think that this will be our last opportunity to write until we get to Kenya, so until we are in Africa – We love you!
Kyle, Jess, Lex and Beck
Overall, we are both quite surprised at the sense of peace that we have. Don’t get me wrong, we have our moments, but they almost seem to pass as quickly as they arrive. We’ve had to say some unbearable good bye’s and we are learning that this will be a familiar process for us for the rest of our missionary lives. Emotionally, our kids are hanging in there, but both Lexi and Beckett have displayed signs of being unsettled and disrupted. Already we have had numerous emotional outbursts and some regression on several developmental stages. We learned at our training in Colorado that this was “normal” for an MK (mission kid) in transition. Thankfully, we were also coached on how to validate, listen to, and respect their feelings.
As for packing up our belongings, well, that is proceeding a bit more slowly than we had anticipated. Trying to think ahead in an organized way is not our strong suit apparently, and it is showing as we try to predict what we need to bring or leave. We are also finding it difficult to carve out time to spend in quiet communion with God. There is no way to put off the rush, rush of leaving the country. However, there MUST be a way to slow down enough to take time to be with the One who loves us the most.
Lets see, what else do you want to know? Email us and we’ll try answer any questions you have about what is going on. Believe it or not, asking questions of us actually helps us to know that you are thinking of us and it’s a real encouragement. Don’t EVER feel like you are intrusive or bothersome. As we are unsure as of yet what security concerns regarding communications we may have, please try to use caution when discussing the ministry as we will be working in some very sensitive countries and never know who may be looking in on our email. I have attached some guidelines, we will have a better idea how much we can communicate once we get settled.
Here’s a quick “God sighting” that we wanted to share with you. We sent 3 containers down to Atlanta to a friend named Bill that happens to be flying to Kenya on Memorial Day. He offered to bring a few containers of ours with him on his journey to Nairobi. We sent them to Atlanta and the post office said it would take 4 days. The packages were to arrive in Atlanta Friday, but they did not. They did not arrive Saturday, either. We reminded each other that this is the time that we need to practice “being flexible.” Inside of these containers were the things that we predicted that we might need right when we arrive in Kenya. On Memorial Day, the day of his departure, Bill got a call from the US Postal Service saying that they had his containers (On a Holiday!!!! What are the chances?). So, he was able to pick them up before his flight and take them to Kenya. Isn’t that so great? Our God is pretty cool.
With that we just wanted to take this opportunity to let you know how excited we are to be trusting in such a faithful God. Thank you ALL for partnering with us in this call to Kenya. We love you and cannot wait to let you all know how we are doing a half of world away.
We think that this will be our last opportunity to write until we get to Kenya, so until we are in Africa – We love you!
Kyle, Jess, Lex and Beck
