Two Stories

Let me tell you a story…

In 1941 Poland had become somewhat of a holding pen for Jews. They had been corralled into overcrowded ghettos, forced to sew the Star of David on every item of clothing they owned, and were forbidden to use the same water fountains, stores, or streets as the so-called “superior race.” After several months of progressively stripping them of their liberties, the Nazi Secret Police began to take their lives, as well. After their parents lives were taken in this way, four young men named Tuvia, Zus, Asael, and Aron fled to the forest with a few other relatives. Over the next few years, Tuvia, the most compassionate of the Bielski boys, continually brought other Jews who were in danger into their makeshift camp, even at the cost of his own meager rations of food.

Tuvia became the Moses of his generation of Jewish people. He led them in circles in the forests of Poland, running for three years to avoid confrontation with the Nazi forces. At certain low points in his life, he became a murderer in the name of justice, killing those who struck down the Jews (just as his forefather Moses had done in Egypt). There came a point, however, when Tuvia realized that the Torah’s “eye-for-an-eye” decrees were not the example he was to follow as the leader of this despairing but hopeful group of people. Instead he insisted that this group’s act of defiance against the Nazi regime simply be to survive.

And survive they did. From a group of about 40 people in the beginning, the forest refugees numbered over 1200 by the summer of 1944, when they marched out of the woods and into a free Poland. During their time in the forest, they had developed a virtual metropolis among the trees, with schools, hospitals, mills, kitchens, nurseries, ranch land, and synagogues. They had lived through bitterly cold winters, epidemics of typhus, and attacks from the Nazi soldiers. Perhaps more incredibly, their faith was not shattered, but strengthened by the idea that once again God’s chosen people were running for their lives, and wandering in the wilderness.

Because of the Bielski brothers, the 1200 who walked out of the forest with them in 1944 have become tens of thousands over the last five generations, somewhat filling the gaping hole left by the 6 million Jews killed by Hitler.
A picture of the Bielski clan in the forest

Let me tell you another story…

In 1995 Dr. Kelly Hamby, Dr. John Estes, Jr. (my great uncle) and a few others made a trip to a country called Zambia in Africa. They had access to only one vehicle while they were there and treated about 500 Zambians in need of medical or dental care. For Dr. Estes, these 500 treatments were not even close to sufficient. In his heart he felt a stirring to provide for this country, and in his soul he knew he would find a way.

Over the last fourteen years, Dr. Estes (among others) has worked tirelessly to recruit doctors, dentists, optometrists, pharmacists, nurses, and evangelists to go on the Zambian Medical Mission each summer for three weeks. Through countless speaking engagements he has steadily helped to raise money for a hospital to be built in Namwianga, Zambia, brick by brick. I had the pleasure of standing by him in 2004 and 2006 as he administered injections to the hundreds of patients seen at the makeshift clinic those weeks. I stood by my Uncle Gary those summers in Zambia and aimed a flashlight into the patient’s mouth so that he could (vaguely) see to extract painful, infected teeth. Gary goes to Zambia every 2 years and stands for 8 hours a day, bent over in the only cramped position that allows a man over six feet tall to reach a small Zambian child’s mouth. This work is not for the faint of heart or the weak. It is back-breaking labor in tiny buildings with less than ideal supplies—truly a labor of love.

Uncle John’s little trip to Zambia in 1995 began a miracle. Last year alone, over 200 volunteers went on the Zambia Medical Mission. These 200 saw over 9,000 patients in the medical clinic, over 2,000 patients in the optical clinic, over 1,700 patients in the dental clinic, and 143 baptisms were performed. New facets of the project have sprung from Uncle John’s original ideas. The ZMM personnel have begun counseling Zambian citizens about AIDS, and providing free HIV testing. They are also supplying the women with “Clean Birth Kits” that consist of several antiseptic necessities for labor and delivery of babies that make it 13 times more likely that the mother will survive the birthing process, which often occurs on a dirt floor.
Because of Dr. Estes, Dr. Hamby, Dr. Linn, and the others involved with the Zambia Medical Mission, tens of thousands of people in Zambia sleep at night without bodily pain. Because of the evangelists who go with them and share the good news, thousands will join us in Heaven someday.

These men—Tuvia Bielski, John Estes, Gary Linn—these men all share something in common: they did something ordinary. Tuvia just wanted to live; he wanted to live as a free man. John just wanted people who were sick to be seen by a doctor. Gary just wanted to help someone feel better. Ordinary expectations, but somehow in providing these basic needs to those who did not have them, they have done something decidedly extraordinary. None of them would ever dream of asking for recognition for their valorous actions, in fact, they probably think of their service as quite ordinary, but to me they will always rise far above the rest. Their stories must be told--to teach our hearts how to do the "ordinary extraordinary" things that we are given opportunities for every day.

These men—Tuvia Bielski, John Estes, Gary Linn—these are my heroes.
Jeffrey and me in Zambia in 2006

For more information about the Bielski brothers, see the book Defiance, by Nechama Tec or the recently released movie Defiance on DVD.

For more information on the Zambia Medical Mission or to donate, go to zambiamission.org.