Lucianna's guest post

Dearest Friends and Supporters of the Davis's

My name is Lucianna Alderfer and I have been a long time friend of the Davis's. The kids know me as "Aunt Lucianna" and even though we are not blood relatives, the connection we share is as strong as if we were. I had the privilege of spending my Christmas break in Belize with this amazing family and wow am I excited to share with you my experience!

My visit was a brief five and a half days, but I walked away with a very clear sense of what this family is doing, what their impact is and how God is using them and will continue to use them. 

We started my visit at the home of dear friends of the Davis's, a lovely Christian Belizian family who fed me a full course meal and welcomed me into their home. They also had Nathanael chop down a fresh coconut for me to enjoy! And boy did I! I was quite impressed with how quickly Nathanael is learning to use a machete! 

I arrived on a Saturday evening, so my first full day was spent at Jesus Deaf Church of Orange Walk (forgive me if I got the name wrong Nathanael!). What a privilege to meet the families that the Davis's work with and to get a taste for the ministry. Most of the adults were Deaf and most of the children were hearing, but there were some hearing adults and one Deaf child. It was clear they were a close knit community and had a strong connection with the Davis's.

After service we walked to by $1 tacos and as we walked to the taco shop it was amazing how many towns people knew the Davis's and wanted to talk with them or connect with them. I could see how the Lord had quickly knit them with this community.

While we were at a Taco shop we saw a family from the deaf church who I got to know a little (the hearing daughter). I found out later this family had great needs financially and if not helped would need to take measures that would put them in harms way.

While I sat at their home, people would come to the door asking for help or money. And clearly everywhere they went there was so much opportunity for ministry. They shared with me how it is so easy to just spend all day helping and to feel overwhelmed. They had to keep focused and be wise with their time to be effective in ministry and faithful to God's purpose there.

I went through bit of a culture shock while I was there. As you can see above, this is the Davis's make shift laundry room, on their roof. I watched Spring carry laundry up 2 flights of stairs and hang it all by hand. I took a cold shower every night and watched Nathanael take water jugs a mile away to a filling station (normally carried by bike) to get drinking water for the family. The kids picked up glass bottles on the road and exchanged them for penny candies and they have their favorite dogs that wander the streets. Many of the kids they know didn't get many Christmas presents if any and the living conditions are so much simpler than we have here. 

(we ate rat!!)

But it was a country of very loving and kind people. They are hungry for the gospel and the Davis's are clearly being used to reach a community for Jesus. What I love about the vision they have is that it's to work themselves out of a job. It's to establish a good work there that is sustainable and that is what I think missions should be.

When I returned home I was taken by how impacted I was by my trip. I wish you each could go down there and experience first hand what I saw and experienced. I'm proud of this family and so privileged I was a part of their lives for those brief five and a half days.