A Partner Story: The Douglas Family
For nearly eight years, the Douglas family has partnered with Untold, first from a distance, and later in person, on two Impact Trips to Kenya with Landmark Christian School.
Matt and Olivia Douglas were first introduced to Untold through friends in their Landmark community, at a home gathering where Untold co-founder Cornel shared about the ministry's work. The connection deepened through Landmark's own ties to Untold where U.S. co-founder Justin is an alumnus of the school.
What convinced the family to partner, Matt says, wasn't a personal connection at first but the clarity of the work itself. "It was purely about the impact that they were having," he says. "They did a great job of articulating the need, how they were solving the need, and what the success has looked like." Over time, as Matt and Cornel's friendship grew, through visits in both directions, and the partnership became personal as well as mission-driven.
Visiting firsthand
Matt and his daughter Rachel traveled to Kenya together during her junior year of high school, and the following year, the whole family, Matt, Olivia, and daughters Rachel, Josie, Marley, and Noah, made the trip together as part of a Landmark school trip. Their days included Untold's core Impact Trip activities, home visits, group therapy sessions, and time at the center, alongside a visit to a school Cornel and his wife Irene started in their home village, and a day and a half of safari.
For Olivia, one home visit stood out above the rest. Her group met a woman named Sylvia, a client living with HIV, who welcomed them into her home for hours.
"She didn't have a lot, but she served us this beautiful feast," Olivia recalls. Sylvia taught the group to make chapati and, when they declined a drink out of politeness, left to buy them bottled water simply so she could serve them well. "It was just a beautiful picture to me of the love of Jesus," Olivia says. "That was one of my favorite things on that trip."
Fourteen-year-old Marley remembers the joy she encountered at the school Cornel and Irene built. "All the kids were just full of joy, especially in their circumstances," she says. "I thought that was so precious." For 19-year-old Rachel, the most lasting impression came from sitting in on group therapy sessions. "Being able to listen to the women... hearing them pray for each other and be so vulnerable. That was very impactful to me," she says.
Matt was struck by how present loss is in the stories Untold's clients carry. "Everybody had experienced the death of somebody," he says, "things that we would view as tragic, they just viewed as normal part of everyday life." He also points to what he sees as the heart of Untold's work: helping clients not just live longer, but discover their worth. "The most important part is Jesus giving them all value," he says. "That's really the only thing that gives them the motivation to do what they do."
Olivia, an educator herself, says watching her daughters step into unfamiliar and difficult moments, including sitting through group therapy sessions with clients twice their age, left a lasting mark. "They did really hard things," she says. "It's something they'll remember forever."
For Rachel, the relationships formed on the trip have outlasted the trip itself. "It's a bond you don't have with anyone else here," she says of the friends she made along the way. The family also built lasting friendships with Untold's Kenyan team, including Cornel, his wife Irene, and staff member, Patrick. "We have people over there that know us, and we can have a relationship with them," Olivia says. "I think that's special and unique that Untold has done well."
Asked what they'd say to someone considering getting involved with Untold, Matt points back to the evidence: "The work that they do speaks for itself." Olivia's advice is simpler still: "Go and give." For families weighing whether to take the leap and see the work firsthand, she doesn't hesitate to encourage them. "It changes your perspective, how you see the world, how you spend your money," she says. "It changes things when you see it face to face."