Well, its still raining ALL the time here, so on Monday, Catherine, Kristen and I decided it was high time to embrace it and do a little puddle jumping :)
Our 'Foundations' study with the girls at Rehoboth High has been going SO well! Here is the group we had this week, making funny faces...

Tuesday was 'Shrove Tuesday' in England, which apparently involves making lots of Brittish pancakes (like crepes) so Catherine spent the afternoon in the kitchen preparing a shrove feast!
All for now!
Much Love,
Mackenzie

My Hope, Secure

“We who have fled for refuge have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf…”

Hebrews 6:18-20

I have spent the last weeks studying the book of Hebrews, and have found it both challenging and encouraging. Something I read on Monday has stuck in my mind, and had me asking myself many questions such as: ‘What is my hope in?’, ‘What do I hold fast to?’, ‘What is my soul anchored on?’, and ‘What holds the anchor in place?’ As I’ve continued to spend time praying through these questions, the Lord used His Word to answer some of them…

Our souls were made to be anchored in heaven. We are not to drift freely by winds and waters of culture, popular belief, or whims. He wants us to constantly know our position, and thus has given our soul a sure and steadfast anchor.

When Jesus entered the ‘inner place behind the curtain’ to purchase the forgiveness of sins once for all through His death and resurrection, He secured by His blood and righteousness the everlasting joy that is promised to all God’s people.

So, the anchor of our soul is the absolutely confident hope of everlasting joy with God. It is held firmly with the guarantee of God’s Word (vs. 17).

So I know the end of the rope attached to the anchor is fastened and secure, but where does that leave the other end of the rope? The end attached to my soul… is it equally secure? It is too held fast by the unchanging hand of God, or am I merely gripping with white-knuckles a rope that is liable to be ripped from my hands with the next crashing wave?

The answer I have seen to these questions in the book of Hebrews is both resounding and relieving! The anchor IS SECURE at both ends – and while I am strongly encouraged to hold fast to the anchor, I am evermore aware that my ability and capacity to do so has been made supplied by the blood of my Savior. The death and resurrection of Jesus opened the door of the New Covenant, which claims our salvation is secure at BOTH ends… verse 21 of chapter 13 tells us so. It says that the Eternal (or ‘new’) Covenant will equip us with everything good to do His will, as Jesus Christ works through us according to what pleases Him. So when God ‘strongly encourages’ (or commands!) us to do something, He couples the instruction with the empowerment to do it. We are able to firmly fix ourselves to the hope of everlasting joy with God by the power He gives us to do so.

My holding fast to hope is done by the working of God in me through Jesus Christ. Praise God for the enablement through Jesus to do what He has commanded!

When it rains...

it POURS! This 'flood' was the result only 45 short minutes of rain! We left the internet store and were ankle deep in water!And when Africa makes bugs, they make them BIG... and scary! This killer jumped from outside, through my window, into the corner under my bed. Don't worry though... Kristen and I creatively found a way to promptly remove him :)
Are those eyes or antennas?
Stick Bug... huge!!
I'll work on something more interesting for soon :)
Much Love,
Mackenzie

Divine RE-Appointments...

Many of you may remember the story of a young girl named Ester that I shared with you in a blog post last fall. Ester is about 16 years old, and has a horrific story of prostitution, rape, physical abuse, alcohol abuse, HIV and TB… and that’s just the part of her story I know. Anyway, when she ran away from the hospital last October, I honestly thought I’d never see her again. We had spent good time talking, I had been able to share the gospel with her, and continue to spend time together, and when she left without telling anyone, my heart just hurt thinking about where she had run to. I was sure it was not her Heavenly Father, who I knew was the only one with bandages strong enough to bind up her wounds and throughout the past months, the Lord has brought her to mind many times and I have continued to pray for her and for the child she was pregnant with when I saw her last.

Well, as I was walking to Lebensschule on Monday (I pass by the hospital to get there) I heard a voice yelling, but wasn’t sure it was for me. I kept walking, and soon realized that there was a young girl chasing after me. I turned around, and much to my surprise, there was Ester!!! “Hi Mackenzie!” she said as she opened her arms for an embrace. I’m sure my face conveyed every bit of shock I was feeling as I wrapped her up in a hug I was so thrilled to be giving. Words started flowing quickly from her mouth, and I sorted out the details that she was back in Rehoboth (she is currently living on a farm south of here) because she had just given birth to her baby girl! As I followed her up to her room to meet her new baby, the verse from Psalm 41 that says “the LORD protects him and keeps him alive” kept running through my mind. As far as I know, Ester has not trusted Jesus with her life, but I couldn’t help but sense the overwhelming knowledge that it was Him who protected both her life, and her unborn baby’s. Praise God for His Sovereign protection and provision for these two beautiful girls!

Here is a picture of Ester and her new baby girl, Ashandy:

And here is a picture of the two of us :)

Please continue to pray that God would take ahold of Ester’s bruised and broken heart in a mighty way… that she would come to know the perfect love of her Father, and the saving grace of His Son.

Much Love,

Mackenzie

Foundations

Praise the Lord! On Tuesday afternoon, after months of praying, planning, and building relationships with girls at Rehoboth High School, we started our first bible study! It could not have gone better! We had no idea how many girls to expect, so we made 15 copies of the study (called ‘Foundations’; a 5-week follow up study after sharing the gospel). When we arrived, guess how many girls were there for the study… exactly 15! Kristen and I had the chance to share our stories, and open the floor for them to do the same. Many of the faces were familiar ones we have gotten to know over the past months, but there were a few we had never met before, and we are excited to develop those friendships as well.
Here is a photo of the group:
And another one… Katrina (L, an old friend) and Doreann (R, a new friend)!

A huge thank you to those of you who have been praying with us about this – it was a huge encouragement to see the Lord answer in such an exciting way, and we are looking forward to these meetings in the weeks to come!
Much Love,
Mackenzie