The Last Lap

It hardly seems possible that our departure day is approaching SO quickly... the words surreal and bittersweet only begin to explain this wild mixture of emotions that overwhelm me. I'll work on a 'thought' post when I process a bit more, but for now, here are a few pictures from our last week in Africa...

A few of us hiked up a 'mountain' outside of Rehoboth at the beginning of the week where we were able to get a spectacular view of the place we've called home for the last 8 months...

The other side of the hill... totally reminds me of 'The Lion King'...
We've perfected the jumping pic :)I said a sad goodbye to some of my favorite kiddos at Lebensschule. God has taught me a lot through working with these very special children. Here is me with good 'ol Brandon... when I showed him this picture after I took it he grabbed the camera and started kissing himself!!
I was able to have a great time at a goodbye dinner with the interns I have worked with this term. We laughed a lot, and had great conversation - it was a wonderful way to end my time with them!More goodbyes were said at St. Mary's Hospital in Rehoboth. This is dearest Denzyl, who has been there since January. His eyes stole my heart the first time I met him, and he quickly became one of my favorites on the floor. My last hug from him was a hard one for sure...

We had an incredible final week with the High School girls at RHS. My teammate Brittany helped put on a 'Girl's Night' last weekend where we were able to share, laugh, and love on these precious friends of ours. Our last bible study was on Tuesday and we were able to use Crusade's 'Soularium' cards to open up some great conversation...This week my team also went on a 'clown tour' to the farm schools in the surrounding areas of Rehoboth, which was an absolute blast. We were able to share the gospel without words, which was so much fun given the intensity of the language barrier in the more rural areas. The kids loved it (and so did we!!). All the driving through rocky, horribly kept roads left us with this...

Fortunately the men on our team took care of it quickly and the tour continued :) Here we are having fun at TokoKoopman Primary School...Saying goodbye to our host family was really hard, especially our 2 sisters, Stacy and Jemca. We had some good times with them this week and left on a really great note!!Sweet Jemmie... I'm gonna miss this girl SOOOOO much!I'm looking forward to some sweet reunions with many of you in the next few weeks!
Loving what the Lord has done in me the last 8 months,
Mackenzie

Easter in Rundu

This last weekend myself, Kristen, and Catherine had the fortunate experience of travelling about 8 hours North to Rundu. We had a great time visiting our friends Tricia and Nicole, and were able to see their ministry with Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) there...

Here are some of the kiddos at the OVC project:
Sweet Christina
Me and Tricia on our way to the Open Market in town...
Nicole and I in town...
Beautiful sunset over the Kavango River, which borders with Angola (right side of pic!)

I hope you had a wonderful Easter as well, celebrating the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Much Love,
Mackenzie

Pics from the Week

On Sunday my team and I were blessed to make over 315 Peanut-Butter and Jelly sanwiches and spend the afternoon giving them to kids in town...Things at the hospital are still going well. Sydney loves to 'read'...
and Amalia started walking!!! (she couldn't even sit up when she was admitted back in Sept!)

Like Jesus

I was listening to a sermon this weekend that posed a question that really got me thinking…

“Do I like Jesus, or do I want to be like Jesus?”

To ‘like Jesus’ could include a comfortable life. One where I merely ‘tack him on’ as a sort of extracurricular as I try to live my life as a generally good person while still pursuing my interests, desires, etc. To be like Jesus, I’m afraid, will look radically different.

I think it’s beautiful that Jesus loved the outcasts, the sinners, the ‘hard people’, but am I willing to get dirty in the lives of people who do not know Him?

I am thankful that Jesus laid down his rights, but will I spend my life fighting for and trying to defend mine?

I’m amazed that Jesus’ life on earth was filled with suffering for the joy set before him, but will I spend my life trying to make sure I have a ‘good time’ while I’m here?

“Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” {1 John 2:6}

I want my life to look like Christ. I long for people to see Jesus in me. I know that there is nothing more worthy, more satisfying, more joyful, more life-giving, than to spend everything that I have every day of my life to BE like Jesus. And I know that it is only by the grace of God and power of the Holy Spirit that I will be able to serve joyfully, love sacrificially, be self-forgetting, and willingly submit my will to the Father’s Sovereignty… just like Jesus did.

Much Love,

Mackenzie

Blogging Block...

Sorry I've been bad at keeping up with this lately! I think the idea of leaving so soon and the emotions (both thrilled and sad) that go with it have left my thoughts swirled and poorly articulated. I'll work on a 'real' update soon, but for now I thought I'd leave a few pictures...

My sweet teammate Lulu left on Wednesday - we miss her dearly already!

The most AMAZING dance party I've ever witnessed...Seriously, I wanted lessons!

We started our new study, 'My Heart- Christ's Home' with the girls at RHS this past week... it went really well and has been such a JOY to watch some of these girls falling more in love with the Lord.
Hope you are well. Thank you as always for your support and encouragement!
Much Love,
Mackenzie

Victoria Falls!

This is the incredible Victoria Falls... they are absolutely breathtaking! Just standing and looking from far away you get soaked from the mist that comes off of them. One of the many adrenaline-inducing activities I participated in... stepping off a nearly 200 ft. cliff! It catches you at the bottom and swings you out - such a blast!
Ah White Water Rafting! Definitely the most scary for me (sitting in the back on the right), but I'm so glad I did it!
This is our group eating a delicious dinner we made ourselves one night...
These are some of the fun new friends we made at the Backpacker we were staying at:
Lastly, here is the 6 of us from Rehoboth on one of our last nights in Zambia:
We had an amazing, refreshing, wonderful week in Victoria Falls! Its good to be back in Rehoboth now... we only have about 6 1/2 weeks to go!
Much Love,
Mackenzie

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