7 February 2018

Ruth Michael, here are some things Mimimo told me about you after you spent some time with her:

We were able to keep the kids for a few days while Sarah and Chris took a trip back in October.  There is just something about keeping the kids without their parents.  Sarah and I had just been talking before she left about the joys and challenges of living in Kenya.  She wondered if the kids would get the education they needed, if they would be missing out on certain social developments, and other different culture concerns.

One afternoon while their parents were still away Ruth Michael, Abby Jones, and I were playing house in the back yard.  I had spread three blankets on the grass and we each chose one to be our “house”.  We then proceeded to “furnish” our house with necessary things for our make-shift kitchens, bedrooms, etc. from our backyard shed.  As we were busy setting up housekeeping Ruth Michael came out of the shed with a mama doll and her baby and said, “Mimimo, this family doesn’t have a home.  We will need to help them.”  I responded, “Well, Ruth Michael, what do you think we need to do?”  She took a minute to look at each of our “blanket homes” and replied, “Mimimo, I think you have the most room.  They can come stay with you.”

A night or two later as I was preparing supper Ruth Michael asked  if we were having visitors that evening.  I said, “No...we are just having you and Iddy and AJ.”  She responded thoughtfully, “But we haven’t had any visitors!  Why can’t visitors come?”   I realized that in her home in Malindi her family have visitors so often that for her it’s abnormal NOT to entertain visitors often. For her it just felt weird.

So I thought back to the conversation Sarah and I had about what the kids might be missing out on living in Kenya.  It suddenly seemed so clear.  What would they be missing out on if their parents had NOT followed that urge, that longing, that calling to go and serve and love the people in Kenya?