In 2006, I established the best partnership of my life. I married my husband Tim and we began life alongside one another, teaching each other about our own unique ways of doing things, helping to meet one another’s needs, and, over the years, growing in empathy and understanding.
That same year, our church also began a partnership. A team from Parker Hill, accompanied by staff from The 410 Bridge, visited the Kenyan village of Karogoto for the first time. Since that initial visit, strong friendships have been formed between the Parker Hill and Karogoto communities. Like a marriage, there has been a mutual exchange of values, the meeting of one another’s needs, and the sharing of empathy for each other.
When we lived in Pennsylvania, I would watch groups from Parker Hill head to northern Kenya several times a year. I longed to go to Karogoto as well, but the timing never worked out. When we moved to Georgia in 2014, I began volunteering with Canopy Life, a residential school in Kenya not far from Karogoto that prepares students to create a better future for their communities.
I’ve been reminded over and over again lately that God’s plans often take time. This summer, the timing was finally right for an overseas trip, and Tim and I joined Canopy’s summer team to the school. Earlier this year, Canopy Life welcomed six students from Karogoto to the Academy and, on June 29, we had the privilege of accompanying them for brief visits with their families. As we parked our vans in the town center, I felt like a kid who had finally made it to Disney World and, completely awestruck, forgot her jaw was hanging open.
Seeing Karogoto through the eyes of Canopy’s class 4 students was surreal. Nelly was quick to run into her yard, and returned to the van with large stalks of sugar cane to share with her classmates. Chris, who lives on a small plot of land surrounded by coffee trees, was warmly welcomed by his parents, siblings, paternal grandparents, three sets of aunts and uncles, and oodles of cousins of various ages. His cousins were especially intrigued by Tim’s beard and dark hair, and were not shy about rubbing their faces against his arms. Milkah’s mother made us tea in her apartment that is located right across the alley from the shop she owns as a seamstress. While we visited, Milkah and her two sisters played with a doll that’s tiny shoes did not seem to want to stay on its feet.
At the conclusion of our morning visits, all six families gathered at one home for a big lunch together. This time of food, laughter, and sharing was the perfect picture of the special community that exists in Karogoto. Sitting next to me during lunch was Pastor James who, if Karogoto is my Disney World, is kind of like Mickey Mouse, the central figure that brings all the other characters together. While we were eating, Pastor James became distracted by the sound of singing outside. He got up to peek into the yard, to see Canopy’s kids sitting with their siblings and parents in a small circle. The parents didn’t know all the English words of the song, so they nodded their heads and hummed along, some holding their kids on their laps. Pastor James came back to his chair, a small smile on his face, and muttered to himself, “Amazing…”
Over the years, Parker Hill has resourced students to engage with the children and families in Karogoto. We raised money for clean water and micro-enterprise projects, sent letters, and said prayers of encouragement. I am thrilled to say that family ministry is alive and well in Karogoto. To sit in their homes and watch them pray and worship God together, and to see the brightness in their parents’ eyes as they looked at their children, brought our time at Canopy Life in a full circle. While Canopy Life is a residential school that currently sits two hours from Karogoto, what they invest every day in their students is impacting the families and communities of the villages where the students reside.