Colossians 3:17

“Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

This was the verse talked about it in church this morning, and it got me thinking about this past week, and all of the weeks ahead of me. Did I act, serve, work, and love in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ this past week? In all that did no matter how small was I proclaiming the name of the Lord?....

It is kind of daunting question to ask yourself, even if you aren’t in Africa. But I have found that especially need to be asking myself this question everyday. Like all things in life, we settle into a routine. We find a niche and make it work. In everyday life I believe that is being passive. Being here in Africa, I feel like that is being wasteful. How could I waste one moment on things, thoughts, or actions that do not bring glory and praise to the Name of Jesus.

I can look at this week full of new things, different adventures, but I still have to ask myself what was the driving force behind all of those things. If I can’t answer Jesus, I know I have to change something.

I have been challenged by that so much today. I am here for a year. Yes, that seems like a long time, but in the realm of how fleeting this life is, that is nothing. My prayer and desire is that every day, every moment, every breath that leaves my mouth has purpose and meaning. I challenge you with that as well. Examine your days, your everyday life, and ask yourself the same question. Take it to the Lord and I know He will reveal to you ways in which He wants you to step back and allow Him to move.

So I hope the some of you who read this blog are interest in my everyday life and the happenings here in Namibia…. So now I will fill you in on this past week.

Hopefully everyone read my previous post about the beautiful new baby boys we welcomed into Zion…. If not, scroll down and take a few minutes to read it. We will be here waiting when you are done!

Tuesday I, yes me, learned to drive a stick. I know I know. Take a second to process that. Oh wait, don’t forget the driver is on the opposite side, and you drive on the opposite side of the road. Okay, now process that. Oy vey, is correct. Talk about an experience. But don’t worry no one was injured or killed in the process. Just frightened some I am sure.  That night I was challenged and pushed to think about why I am here. Why did God call me to this place? What is my purpose? It was a rough night; I spent a lot of time crying out to him seeking comfort and normalcy. But I knew nights like this would come.

Wednesday and Thursday, I spent the day in the classroom. One day with the 1^st-3^rd graders and the second with the Kindergarten class. What cuties they are. I am excited to be in one classroom full time. The principal is away at the capital city, Windhoek, for training and wont be back till the 25^th of this month! So hopefully after he is back, I will have a better understanding of my days! These afternoons were spent watching the kids train for the regional sports event that was on Friday. Man these kids can run!! It is so fun watching them compete, and especially when the little ones try and keep up with the olders!

Friday morning was an early one. We met at 6:30 to load up and head to the sports complex in town. We packed all the kids in the 3 vehicles and headed off. Once we got there, Laura (another volunteer), Maria (one of our girls), and I headed to the hospital. With me driving, by myself for the first time…. She needed to go to the TB clinic for her checkup and get her meds refilled. So, I take off in the van. Lets just say, getting to the hospital was purely a miracle. I had a few issues to say the least. The drive back to the sports event wasn’t as bad. But I will say it’ll take awhile for me to get behind the wheel again! HA! The rest of the afternoon we spent at the sports field in the scorching sun. First sunburn, Check. I know understand why people carry umbrellas with them everywhere. Sun protection. Definitely bringing that along next time.

Saturday, oh Saturday, a day to sleep in!! Except on this particular Saturday, our little friend Joshua thought he would be funny by banging on our door at 7:30am. Ouch. Of course I can’t fall asleep after that, so I spent the morning doing devotions, journaling, and reading. I am currently doing a bible in a year reading plan. Its been really nice having set readings everyday, no matter how hard getting through some of the old testament can be!! Around 11 the girls and I (Laura, Heidi, and Jessie) took 4 of our older boys to town so they can get out for a bit. It works out nicely for us because we get the chance to go the market and mess around town. The market was fantastic. There are so many amazing things you can get! I can’t wait to do some shopping! We got back just in time for a HUGE storm to hit. It rained for about 5 hours or so! It was kind of nice! Around 4 we led the children’s bible study. We read the book “The Legend of the Three Trees.” If you haven’t read this, you absolutely should. Saturday nights are movie nights around here, so indulged in chocolate and a good Disney movie!

Today we had Church, led by Travis, and had some fun after playing board games and puzzles while the rain fell outside. This afternoon is consisting of rest, laundry, and cleaning around the East House (our humble abode).

I am excited for tomorrow and having my first Birthday in Africa! Maybe 23 will be the best year yet! The girls and I are going to go for pizza in town tomorrow night! I’m excited!

I have loved hearing from lots of you throughout the week. Send emails, it keeps me sane!! Haha!!!

ELEPHANTS!!!!!!!!! This was on our drive through Botswana!

 
The view from my house as a storm was coming across the river!
 
This is the school here at Zion.
 
This was at the sporting event in Katima this past Friday afternoon!

A glimpse of Christ

A glimpse of Christ…

Monday morning started with staff devotions followed with an immediate departure for town. Why, you ask? We had a court appearance at 9am to pick up one-month-old twin boys, who were born a month premature. Yes, you read that correctly, 1 month old. So Jessie and I piled in the van with the Curry’s to head to court. When we arrived we waited outside as the hearing proceeded. After a little bit, out walks the family with the babies. We walked to the parking lot and there in that moment, a family gave their nephews away to be cared for and raised by someone else. In that moment, a family made the decision to provide something better for these two lives. I praise God that I was present to witness this moment in time. I was the first Auntie to hold little Manyando. I was the first to look in his little wrinkly face and pray a prayer of health, strength, and love over him. Looking in the faces of Mafanjeho and Manyando I see a glimpse of my creator. I see his power, that he can create such a being as this. I see the love he has for us that he would put so much detail and thought into the creation of every life no matter the gender, race, country, or circumstance. Unfortunately these boys were born into a situation where they could not be properly cared for but praise God for the judgment of this family to seek out help. Now these boys will have the opportunity to succeed and thrive here at Zion. The prayer for these new babies and all children here at Zion is that they see Christ in the way they are raised and live daily life. That is my prayer also. I consider myself blessed to be here for the first year of these sweet babies lives. The change and growth I will get to see happen will be amazing.

Thank you Father for these babies. I pray today for their health, that they grow strong and eat enough to stay healthy and thrive. I pray for their futures. I pray they become strong men who love and fear you.

Here is a photo I got the day we brought them home!

(Manyando is on the left, Mafanjeho on the right)

A whole new world...

As cheesy as that title might be, it is only fitting!

First let me back track a few days to catch everyone up!

Monday (Feb 6^th) was a looooooong day of traveling. I left Amarillo at about 8, got to Dallas and didn’t leave until 2. I got to Atlanta with a few hours to kill before my next flight. In Atlanta I got to meet up with Travis, Lorna and Jessie another volunteer. It was so great to meet Travis and Lorna, after hearing about them and reading their blog for so long I felt as though we were already dear friends! Our flight to Johannesburg left at 7pm. To explain the nerves I felt as I sat down on that flight would take words not even known by man! So much was running through my mind, my heart felt so many things, and as tears flowed down my face I knew this was it! I sat next to the greatest couple from Michigan! He is a publisher for Zondervan publishing company who just happened to publish the book I was reading on the plane, “The Circle Maker”, which I highly recommend. He publishes bibles and Christian reading material and was headed to South Africa to meet with Authors! We had great conversations and they offered a lot of advice on traveling through Africa. Surprisingly the 16-hour flight wasn’t that terrible! I watched a couple of movies and then popped a sleeping pill and was out for a whole 8 hours! When I woke up we were about 2 hours away and were flying right over the country of Namibia! When we arrived in SA we went through customs and got my luggage and headed to the guest lodge for the night! We stayed at the cutest little lodge with the sweetest lady running it. We had a wonderful dinner, had our own rooms, and there was free wifi!!

The next morning we began our travels to Namibia! And this day was FULL of miracles, the first being at the ticket counter checking in. Unfortunately, no one ever told me that you could only check one back on Air Botswana. I had 4 bags. The 3 others were going to try and check one bag each but since they had luggage already checked through they wouldn’t allow them too. If I had to pay for my luggage it would have been 2,000 South African Ran, in American dollars that is about $250. But as the attendant continued to check us in, he seemingly just chose to not charge us. Thank you Jesus! We did some shopping in the airport; it had the BEST African things ever!! I already know what I want to get everyone as souvenirs. Our flight to Kasane(pronounced, ka-san-ee) was on a type of plane I had never seen before. It looked almost like a cargo plane, and we had to ride a bus out to get on it! It was definitely an adventure. Our flight was about 2 hours, as we were flying we had an amazing view of the Botswana landscape. Surprisingly it looks a lot like the Texas panhandle! Flat, brown, and not much civilization!!

We landed in Kasane right as the rain was rolling in! It was a gorgeous sight from the plane! We went through customs and got our luggage and loaded up the van to drive to Namibia! The best news might have been the fact that our drive is straight through the Chobe National Safari Park. Travis and Lorna informed us that we would probably be seeing animals! I was so excited. We started our trek and not to far down the road, we saw a huge pack of elephants! They were soooo close to our car! It was unbelievable! We saw so many elephants on that drive! I was in heaven, considering those are my favorite animals ever!! We also saw, cape buffaloes, baboons, impalas, tons of warthogs, and more monkeys! I can’t wait to actually do the safari soon! Once we got to the Namibia border crossing, they informed us to be in prayer. You see Travis and Lorna have had a very hard time with their Visas, and crossing the border back and forth. As each one of us breezed through the visa process and were all approved for 3 months (the max you can get at the time) we knew God had answered our border prayers. And to all you prayer warriors at home praying for safety, know that the Lord was so perfectly guiding us!! Once in Namibia we had about an 1hr and a half drive to Zion!

Pulling up that first time will be a moment I never forget. The children were chasing after the car and so excited to see us and Travis and Lorna. We spent most of the day meeting the other volunteers, Heidi and Laura, and meeting kids and staff members. This first week has been full of starting to form trust and relationships with the children, and trying to get them to remember my name!!! Thursday, Jessie and I had the chance to go to town with the Currys. It was definitely a lot nicer than I expected!!! You can get everything here!!! So everyone at home, do NOT worry I will not be going without! It is a little strange! Hey Ingrams, remember when we looked up on google earth the town and we joked about naming the buildings, there is no way you would have ever guessed these places!!!

I observed in the 1^st-3^rd grade class on Friday, the day was a little shorter than normal because there was a qualifying sports event for next weeks relay races in town! Let me tell you what, those kids can run! I am excited to be in the classroom soon! Hopefully it will help me learn the kids names a lot faster! The way the class is set up is so different! They use the Pace system, and curriculum that is basically like a Christian homeschooling program. It is not a normal classroom setting where a teacher gets up and teaches. It is a program were each child is at a different level than others in the classroom. That is why the classroom is 1^st thru 3^rd graders. All the kids are on different levels, even into the older classrooms.

We spend most afternoons just playing with the kids! We play a lot of capture the flag, volleyball, simon says, and duck duck goose! They are buckets of energy! The children have bath time at 5pm, followed by dinner at 6pm, and then play time until time to go inside at 8pm. Once the kids are inside we have time to eat dinner and then relax!!

On the weekends it is very relaxed. The Aunties get a chance to sleep in, which I know will be a huge blessing! Then most of the day is just playtime or going on walks, which the children love. Especially when we go down by the river! Bible study is in the afternoon and I am excited to start teaching that next week! Saturday night is movie night or game night! Sundays we have church in the morning and spend time playing, and some time relaxing.

Myself and the other girls eat dinner at Travis and Lornas house a few times a week, trading off who cooks and who cleans, and the other nights we have dinner on our own in our house! Our house, known as the East house, is great! We have a whole kitchen, 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms! And we have a fan in our room, which is a Godsend! It is very humid and hot, which I am SO not used to!

I am loving all the things the Lord is showing me daily. The time I get to spend with him early in the morning, by myself, is so precious. And I am so lucky to be in a place that it is so easy to find and meet with him. It feels as though He is here with me always. I wish you all could feel the presence of the Lord as I feel him now. Sure there are times that are tough, and moments where I feel overwhelmed in this new life but I think that is why that this cheesy title and some of the lyrics work so well. And we know how I love Disney music.

…A whole new world

…A dazzling place I never knew

…A new fantastic point view

Thank you for your prayers, thoughts, and emails. Love to you all! I miss you guys so much, but I know how much I am growing here.

Please email, fb, or mail me!! The address here at zion village is:

Makinsey Allen

C/O Children of Zion Village

PO Box 218

Katima Mulilo 9000

Namibia

Email me at cozv@mweb.com.na and put my name in the subject line! This will work best until I buy the modem to hook up to my own laptop! Soon I should be able to operate normally, but for now communication is a little difficult and limited! So please be patient in waiting for my response!

Continue to pray “Adopt” over me. 

Leaving, on a Jet Plane...

They say saying goodbye is the hardest part. I would have to say I agree. 

I am currently on a plane to Dallas to begin this journey. I cannot believe I am actually here, that this is actually happening. It is all very surreal. 

Over the last few days, between packing and stressing over what to pack, I had the opportunity to spend precious time with some of the most important people in my life. It was so fun to have time with everyone! It might not have always been a long time but none the less it was super precious to me. 

This past Friday Brad and Ashley Ingram hosted a prayer night for me. It was such a beautiful time of fellowship, memories, and prayer. I am so blessed to have the people in my life that I do. So, to all of you who were there and those who couldn't make it but we're there in spirit, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!

Saying goodbye has proven itself to be very overwhelming, and to be honest, quite awkward. Its so weird saying goodbye to people I  am used to seeing or at least talking to daily. It definitely doesn't feel real. It's hard to imagine not being present in the "life" I have always known. I know so much will change in a year! 

To say it has been emotional might be the understand of the decade!! Or you could imagine its just about as predictable as the winning quarterback of the Super Bowl proclaiming he is going to Disney world! Emotion just comes with this territory. I typically can handle emotions pretty well, I have suddenly lost that ability. Tears come easily, sadness becomes overwhelming, and I can't but help having the "oh crap" moments. You know, that moment where you sit back and say to you self "oh crap, I am really doing this." I will say though that those moments are few and far between. But hey, at least we know I am human!! The beautiful thing though, amidst all these emotions, more times than not I am overcome with joy. I am joyful that I am called. I joyful that I am so sure of this, of this call, and of my saviors provision. I look at the world around me and think, "If only everyone could feel this much joy what a different picture of life we could have." I can't help but yearning for hearts and minds to understand what this feels like. What it is like to, in one swoop, feel every emotion ever created. What it feels like to be so confident in the Lord and His promise. What it feels like to know your life is not your own and being totally okay with that. 

So, as I travel today, and feel the weight of all the goodbyes, all the tears, do me one favor. Rejoice! Be glad! The lord has brought me here, He has already gone before me and He is SO excited for me to get there too! I like to imagine that today Jesus and the angels are cheering and high fiving, like "YES, she finally understands it" and on the opposite side of that I love the image of Satan just shaking in his boots saying "oh crap, she really went through with it!!" 

Now that my friends is an emotion worth having!!

Love to you all!!

Grace is an Ocean...

Today I fly home. Today I return back to reality, vacation is over and life is back to normal.

Yet this time normal isn't going to last long. Normal for me isn't going to look the same much longer. A new normal is on its way.

And I can't begin to tell you how many emotions that stirs up within me. Excitement, nervousness, fear, anticipation, urgency, and so many others.

This past week I have had the opportunity to relax, to read, to reflect, and to be thankful. I looked out over some of the most beautiful of landscapes in awe of the creation of my Father. I was in the middle of the ocean imagining over and over again the idea that "if grace is an ocean we're all sinking," that is a lot of grace!!!

Thank you Heavenly Father for that grace that drowns me. I saw the beauty in islands, mountains and creation. Thank you Heavenly Father for creating such a beautiful world that is so perfectly orchestrated. I sat on a beach with more grains of sand than one could ever count. Thank you Father that you not only know and placed every grain of sand but that you know every hair on my head and hear my deepest cries. I am so small in this realm of creation, yet so important to the one who created me.

Thank you becomes inadequate. Awe becomes overwhelming. Silence echoes so loud. I am so thankful, so in awe, and I stand most often stripped of the right words when I think about the Lord.

I just finished the book "Kisses From Katie." In this book, the story unfolds of the life that the Lord has called Katie Davis to live. I found myself in tears most of the time. How can a girl I've never met touch my heart so deeply? I can only pinpoint one thing. Truth. She writes, speaks, and lives the truth that is outlined by our Savior. She inspires me. She encourages me. She answers questions I didn't even know I had. Her life is such a beautiful picture of the only response to overwhelming grace that I can imagine: action. To do something. To be Jesus to a lost and broken world. To help just one more. To love just a little bit more. To sacrifice all that I am.

That is my prayer. To simply "do". To "do" whatever it is He calls me to. Whatever path He sets me on, I want to trust enough to just "do".

I hope and pray that you all pray that same prayer for me and this journey i am going on but also for you and the life he has given you. Wherever you are, whatever you do, live in His will for your life. Seek him daily, rely on him for everything, and doubt him in nothing.

His grace is enough, it will catch you when you fall. His love is enough, it will comfort you in your loneliness. His mercy is enough, It is new EVERY morning. So "do". "Do" whatever He has presented you with because drowning in that ocean of grace is way more life giving than sitting on the beach dry and lifeless.

Vacation days!

December 30th, 2011

"sometimes God works through crazy circumstances"

Today, the first day of this family vacation started as any normal Allen family vaca would! Lots of hurrying, bickering, singing and laughing! And I would have been worried if it was happening any other way!!

As we waited thru delays and other planes mechanical mishaps, we acquired an unexpected 3 hour layover in new Orleans!!

The beauty of being an Allen and a part of this family, is that we meet and make friends easily! Enter in the Lester family! Shane and mindi! The perfect couple to handle this families quirkiness! As we waited, snacked and got to know each other an immediate connection was formed! They were our kind of couple!

As most conversations go they typically always move to "so what do you do" as the answers made their way around the table, my turn came up! As I explained my job transitions since my college graduation, it led to where I am today "well now I am getting ready to move to Africa to work at an orphanage." what happened next can only be deemed as a Holy Spirit moment!

We talked about our love of David Platt books and sermons, Francis chans ability to evoke all sorts of emotions, and Katie Davis her heart and the Amazima ministry in Uganda. My story became one that they understood and could relate with.

As we sat waiting for our plane, ordinary traveling strangers became friends, brothers and sisters in Christ. "Sometimes God works through crazy circumstances" they leaned in and said to me as they so generously handed me a check in their support of my journey to make His name great.

My heart is overwhelmed.
My heart overflows.

Thank you father. Thank you for being present and moving among us.

I am humbled and grateful that He has purposefully and thoughtfully considered me while writing this great life story. I am so overwhelmed that he chose a 23 year old girl to carry His name to the ends of the earth.

The most beautiful part of this whole journey has been his provision in the smallest of details. I could write page after page and story after story of how He has provided. But my prayer isn't that you hear my stories and think how great, but that you in any and all areas of your lives allow him to provide. Because when you do your life, this beautiful gift, will have so much meaning, so much purpose, you won't understand how you lived before.

So tonight as I write this somewhere over the gulf of Mexico my heart is overjoyed for love of my savior, my Shepard and my provider.

Late night Jesus time...

The mind is a wonderful thing, but has proven tonight to be quite the pain.

A million things run through my mind tonight this morning. So why not share my ramblings with the world wide web.

36 days.

That is the number of days until the "desired" departure for Namibia. 5 weeks, 36 days, 864 hours, 51,840 minutes stand between now and the day I have imagined since I was an 8th grader. I still remember the first time I felt called to be a missionary. This strange overwhelming feeling that something much bigger than me was in my presence. I mean, I was 14 years old standing at the front of a chapel at Church camp in Las Vegas, New Mexico confessing to a mentor that I thought Jesus was telling me to be a missionary. What a journey the last 8 years have been. That moment in my life seems like ages past. The girl I was seems like a lost friend. In that moment my heart souly desired obedience. What I would have given to hold on to that desire, that innocence.

But over the course of 8 years much of life happens. High school happens, college comes and goes, and I am left on the other side full of regret, shame, and confusion. How did whole hearted intentions lead me to a life like I was living? Temptation, sin, and the evil one penetrated me to my core. He found my weakness' and preyed on them "like a lion in cover" (psalm 10:9) waiting to feast on my helplessness.

The beauty though is that in his lies and deceit, I had forgotten the most beautiful part, Jesus Saves! I am moved by the lyrics of the Shane and Shane song "Embracing Accusations" that poetically moves through the motions and ideas that the Evil one is real and wholly evil. Lying and deceiving to win you to his side. In our doubt and fear, we question, " Could he be right?" Is death mine? Left out of the truth in those words is the most beautiful promise any of us could ever receive. Although I am cursed and gone astray, my savior, the king of the universe, saves. JESUS SAVES. One act of obedience that lead a perfect sinless man to die a death of a sinner, saved the world. That sacrifice cast our sins as far as the East is to the West.

What else can I say to him other than Thank you, even when those two words seem so meaningless to what it is weighted against.

I am so deeply in love with my Jesus. In my thanking him, it leads me to desire a life of obedience. For me that obedience, is to go back and fall in love with the call that he placed on my life so many years ago. I am a sinner saved by grace, called by a father to share the same message to as many as I can for all of my days without ceasing. I am not courageous, extraordinary, or special. I am in most cases the exact opposite. I am merely a girl desiring so much to be obedient, I can no longer ignore the evidence that is the gospel. Jesus doesn't just want me to go, as a Christian and follower of Jesus, He commands it.

I want to take the gospel at face value. I want to believe the words of my father when he commands to "go and make disciples of all nations" and to

"share your food with the hungry 

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— 

when you see the naked, to clothe them, 

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"**

**Isaiah 58:7

What would your life look like if you believed these words to be true? What would being completely obedient look like in your life? 

Trust me when I say in the fear of obedience you are missing out on so many promised miracles from the Creator of the Universe. 

Do not miss out on your purpose in this life time.