What Papa Meant To Me

As many of you know my grandfather, David F Mack passed away this last weekend. Our family appreciates all the sweet words, texts and gestures during this time.

I never really understood the weight of losing someone. I have always thought of myself as a strong individual who can carry on during times of hardship. But this is another type of hardship. The saying goes, "you never know what you have until its gone". I DID know what I had though, and that is why this is so difficult. This weekend has been trying and draining but I have comfort knowing that Papa is in heaven singing away playing on a giant organ. The first things that ran through my mind when I heard the news that Papa had gone to be with the Lord is NO. NO because he never seemed old to me, NO because I wanted him to be here for my wedding, NO because I wanted my children to know what a great man he was. NO because Christmas and Thanksgiving will never be the same without him praying and toasting to our family. But in the midst of that I had to say yes. Yes because he was getting older but I was denying it. Yes because while I am being selfish and wish he was still here no matter his earthly condition, that is not fair. Yes because he is with Jesus. Yes because that is what Papa wanted more than anything, he wanted Jesus, all of him. He showed that daily to us all. He showed that through the way he interacted with us. He always made time for us and our activities. Papa always came to my shows, to Choir concerts, athletic games, if he could come, he would be there with a big smile and cheering me on. He loved making other people smile and was the life of the party. Looking back at pictures yesterday, there are many where he is being silly in his own way to make others smile. He received a gift one Christmas, a moving talking yellow Teletubby. He would pretend to play with it and make it move while his whole family burst into laughter. It became tradition that every Christmas, the Teletubby made its appearance.

He cared for many things in his life but the most important where God and family. I got a chance to sit down and sort through tons and tons of old photos yesterday while compiling pictures for his funeral slideshow. I always saw grandpa as my Papa, but he was so many other things too that I never really took into account. He was the most handsome young man from Pennsylvania who worked on a farm. I'm sure girls swooned all over him but he probably was too shy to even talk to them. Than he met my grandpa at the young age of 16 and they were pen pals for three years while she went to nursing school and he stayed home. They got married at 21 and started their lives together. He was stationed in the air force in Maine after they were married for one year. I read through some of the letters he sent my grandma and every one started with, "My darling Doris". The love he had for her carried on and translated into their children, which passed down to their grandchildren. Many of my friends comment on how lucky I am to have strong family bonds. This is something that has always been instilled into who I was raised to be. But this starts at the head of the family, it started with my grandparents and their commitment to one another. My grandparents had been married for 60 years and they are a testimony of love and commitment.

The last memory I have of papa occurred this weekend. We were all over at my grandparents house having lunch, mourning and being a family. I went into his office to see everything, trying to catch as many memories of him as I can and store them in my heart. I sat down at his desk and on it was a pad of paper. On the pad of paper was his do to list that he made before he left that weekend. The tasks that were written down were things such as, "water plant, take umbrella down.." They had all been marked off except for one, PRAYER. Well Papa, I know that you no longer need to pray because you get to talk with Jesus himself. I can't wait to see you again, I know we will have a large time. <3

Ain't no party like a Kenyan party!

Hello friends! 

This past weekend we had a great party in order to celebrate Rapha center and all the people who make it happen. It was a wonderful time to thank God for all that He has done and appreciate His provisions of food and family. The children at the home were very excited to eat meat which is a delicacy for them. But they don't get the meat from a supermarket, they kill it themselves. In total, we had two lambs, 7 chickens, and one goat. At first, being a vegetarian, I was very nervous for this slaughter to take place. But I realized that this is a very sacred and normal tradition within Kenyan culture. My anthropological side took over and I had to witness this feat. The boys all came together to help in killing the animals and it became a community event. Most things in Kenya are very community centered. They work together as a well oiled team. It amazed me when the boy as young as 5 knew what to do. The older men killed the animal by cutting the throat and the younger children were eager to get a front row seat! Once the animal died they all got to work skinning the sheep and goat and cleaning it. It was a really cool process to watch. The boys and men coming together, this cultural practice running deep in their blood as they worked to create a meal for the rest of the community. I felt honored to be apart of it. Some of the boys killed their first animals as young as age 5. Two boys are from the Maasai tribe where they must kill animals to prove they are warriors at age 16. And I thought these things happened books but they still happen here in Kenya! 

The party in Sunday was a success! The kids had a great time eating, dancing, and taking pictures. It was a real treat for them as they do not get soda or sweeties  very often so they thoroughly enjoyed the blessings. It was a beautiful moment to reflect on all of God's goodness. The children celebrated with full hearts and praised God for providing. While the children may be orphaned, or close to destitute, they put their faith in the one who is a good Father. I admire them so much for their faith. In America we can simply buy meat, candy, cake every day if we want. We don't take the time to realize how lucky we are or to acknowledge that someone labored so we did not have to. I want to appreciate life and God's blessings in full when I return. We should not short God the glory just because we have an easy life. He is the one who makes all things work together, bad or good. Overall I was so thankful to be apart of the cultural experience and celebrate with the children. 

On Monday, Sami and I sat in on classes so we can help the children study at night. We sat in on Biology, math, Christian learning, English, and Swahili by accident. Funny story, we thought we were sitting in on math class but then the Swahili teacher walked in. Kenya time is whatever time. You never know what you are going to get. For example, we took a motorbike than got in a matatu, or a large can that had 20 people in it and 12 seats. They were all very surprised when two muzungos got on. But we had to get off before the police checked and we took another motorbike to town. As the locals say, it's Kenya. 

Sorry goat!! Also on the left is my family's sponsor child Dennis!

It is a family affair.

The finished product! Such a crazy practice 

A Kenyan feast 

The best way of transportation 

Building, painting and playing

Let the digging begin! Our team of 5 plus two kenyen workers dug out the base for the school office yesterday. Which means today my back is killing me! Imagine using a hoe to level out enough room for a school office with third world tools in the hot sun. That is what we were doing. But needless to say we got it done! (Yes my family members, that blonde girl in yellow did manual  labor thank you very much). With the base done we need to lay the foundation and build the room. This is a very important project because without the office the school will not be licensed to run. We only have $1,000 dollars so far in our project fund and need $800 more!! Please if you can donate anything click in my link below so we can directly get the money to continue our project and continue to run the school at Rapha!

https://m.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.paypal.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Fwebscr%3Fcmd%3D_s-xclick%26hosted_button_id%3DX2NRNWEAGGRZN&h=jAQH2Fs7U&enc=AZPHFbZ4psOW5t-iBuDUO_OFhOXdvNKM7KeLnmfIjuCoTUZJ1MtS6Ua-mtOVjuV_HPAw5Ivac930IvHGU14HeTx31p1vlY2WeA2LzRhfSRxeTye-Hn3JQCqF_wNjn99bi96xnKTg12bIeHXi0x6XNyIQ&s=1

Today we spent all day painting the inside of the girls dormitory. I thought when we were going to paint, it would be easy because of the lovely tool, a paint roller. Well dear friends they do not have paint rollers in Kenya which means we painted with little paint brushes. Yet we did it and now the rooms are bright yellow and cheery. I will post final pictures once the girls are moved in and the curtains my mother and Penny spent hours sewing by hand. Tomorrow me and Sami will be moving in as well! I'm a little nervous to be living at the center because I will be without some of my normal "comforts" such as running water, toilets, and showers BUT I am very excited to be living with the kids. A lot of the kids don't want me to leave at night because they want me to sleep there. I know my relationships with the people and kids there are going to be much stronger which I am excited for. 

Today it was raining so we had to stay inside after painting. Sami and I went to go play with the little boys and ended up having a dance party. The boys have so many great dance moves and we had a blast dancing around! Afterwards we played Simon says which was a great English teaching tool as well for the 5-10 year old boys. Every time someone didn't listen to Simon, they all jumped up and down and hugged me since I was the Simon and screamed with joy. It was a great great time that made me remember why I am here. To have all their little arms hugging me with huge smiles and giggles flowing was a little slice of heaven. 

we love Rapha!

Working away! 

Cutting kale with the girls! 

The kids obviously love my hair 

The boys post Simon says 

The rains in Africa really are quite beautiful 

Karibu! Welcome to Kenya

Day three in Kenya! Yesterday we went to visit the kids for the first time and it was great! We had so much fun playing with them all. We picked up the older kids from school about 20 minutes from the school. We walked back with a massive mob of students eager to follow the "muzungus" or the white people. Some of my favorite memories are simply walking hand in hand with the children and just being. It was surreal to be back in the same place from two years ago. I will be updating with progress pictures of the home later. The second story of the girls dormitory is built , the classrooms have been remodeled and the kitchen is twice the size. Tomorrow we will be painting and starting on construction work. Today was church and it was a blast. The kids sing their hearts out and dance and worship the Lord with everything they have. The whole room was filled with worship and I could feel the Holy Spirit in that space. It's amazing how we can feel the presence of the Lord anywhere in the world. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing soccer with the kids and making friendship bracelets with the older girls. It was a sweet time to be with the older girls as we got to sing together, tell stories and craft. The girls are all very sweet and have such love for one another. I had the brilliant idea of getting cornrows/braids for my time in Kenya. It took a total of 3 and 1/2 hours of tedious pulling, yanking, braiding with 2-10 people working on my massive amount of hair. It was a fun project for the girls but my scalp definitely took the beating. The final project is very.... Interesting. We shall see how long it lasts. Overall I'm so happy and blessed to be here. Seeing the kids made me realize how beautiful and simple life is. The kids are totally content to just sit in the grass, play with one another hours on end and just be. I'm so excited to see my relationships with the kids deepen and grow within the next month. The kids here are fighters , survivors and lovers with their own individual stories that I have the privilege of hearing. 

"Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted amount the nations. I will be exalted among the earth"-Psalm 46:10

Kenya Day One: traveling mercies

We made it to Nyharururu today after a 22 hour travel day yesterday. We landed in Nairobi and to my great dismay, both of my bags were lost in the flight from Amaterdam to Nairobi. I was so anxious and worried because the donation bag and all of my clothes for the next month are currently in the void of the international airports. Please pray they make it to Nyharururu which is 3 hours from Nairobi. It was no coincidence that I was doing my devotions on the plane reading about spiritual warfare. Then when my bags were lost, I realized that the spiritual warfare is already starting. I kept reminding myself that God is in control and will always provide for me. All the time God is good and right now I'm just focusing on the positives from His blessings. I thank God that me and Sami are the same size, I thank Him that we are all safe, and that I get to see all the kids tomorrow! We had dinner tonight at Thomson falls lodge with our group of 6 people including the owner and founder of HEAL and meet up with the director of the Children's home. It was so great to see her and talk about the changes that have taken place over the past two years. It is truly amazing to see how God's hand has been over the Rapha home. I just can't wait to go see the kids who have been asking about us every day, wondering when we would be coming to visit them. The anticipation of tomorrow, when we will finally see the kids, has been building for the past 6 months!! I just want to hug and kiss all their cute little faces already!! In short please please pray my bags make cit, and for my personal  perseverance. 

Back to Kenya!

I am so happy to announce that I have the privilege of living in Kenya, Africa for a month this summer. I will be going back to the same orphanage that I worked at two summers ago. I will be living there with one of my best friends Sami and the leader of the organization, HEAL. We will be focusing on building projects, and spending time loving on the kids there. It is so crazy to see how God works.
 The beginning of this year I knew that I wanted to travel back to Africa, but was not sure if it was a possibility with traveling. I also had to choose between Africa, or going back to the Czech Republic. Both places have a very special pull on my heart as there are people I love in each country. After months of praying, and seeking counsel, God revealed that it was my choice. That this decision was different then Spain, Czech or other missions trips, He was giving me the task to decide. When God gives you the reigns, sometimes we just want to give it right back to him. Why? Because it's scary knowing we hold the future in our hands, I was constantly struggling if knowing which decision was the "right" one. After seeking wise counsel, God revealed that in life, sometimes all roads lead to him. Either decision I made, God would be present and work through me. I kept pressing into what God's heart and did not let anxiety get the best of me. I made the decision for Africa and through His good timing, everything worked out! I know that God has amazing things planned for me and the rest of the team. It is just crazy to think that I will be able to see all the precious faces of the children there. I cant wait to hug them all and sing and dance in God's presence. I know that this will be a tough journey as well. We will be living in the home with 50+ children day in and day out, sleeping on less then ideal mattresses and using the oh so lovely squatty potties, but I know that it will be worth it.
 I recently read a book called, "Always Enough" by Heidi Baker,who is a radical missionary in Mozambique ministering to the poor and oppressed, and she put it simply, "All I want to do is love God and care for His people. I find them in the garbage, under trees, dying of AIDS. I’m just really simple. Jesus said, “Just look into My eyes,” and everything completely changed. His eyes are filled with love and passion, and compassion. Jesus always stops for the dying man, the dying woman and the dying child. That’s all I know, passion and compassion. He calls me to love every single person I see every single day."
My life was changed when I went to Africa. Not because I came back and felt "blessed" or because I valued all the material things I have in America, but because of the love of God that emanated from the children in Rapha children's home. So I am taking the challenge with Jesus leading the way. I am saying yes to being smelly but being totally loved by little arms wrapped around my waist laughing, yes to being worn down but revived by Jesus, and I am saying yes to seeing a little bit more into the heart of God. 
If you would like to speak to me more about my trip please ask me! And please pray for me, and the rest of the team as we prepare to journey to Africa. 
Use me God so that I may see the love in your eyes.