Culture Shock.

I am finally back on the Island and it feels so good to be home. I cannot wait to put my toes in the sand later this afternoon! Being back in the states has been really weird for me. I feel almost as if I am in a daze and I should wake up from a dream and be back in Africa again, but that won't happen for a while...I miss the kids so much and think about them and pray for them daily. They are all out on break right now and will start attending school again at the beginning of May. Some part of me wishes that I could just move to Africa now and start teaching over there, BUT I have to get my degree first. Me and mom were able to go see Taylor in Athens for his Old South Parade on Wednesday and took pictures and watched the parade. It was really fun and then we went up to Kennesaw yesterday and I registered and applied for the Education Program there and will be attending in the fall. It's def not UGA, but I think I am going to love it. The people there are super nice and it is beautiful and has a smaller feel to it, which I love. I am going to be living with my aunt and uncle in Smyrna to start out and then we will see from there. Some of the things that have been super hard for me to adjust too is all the excess stuff we have here. The nice clothes, cars and everything else. In Africa, the people don't need a lot to be happy, they have each other and that is the most important part of their lives: relationships. I miss the kids smiles and hugs every morning and late night pillow talks with Sawyer, I miss the morning greeting at the school and P.E. I miss the sunshine and afternoon rainy days. I miss our treck to Choma and the restaurant and watching FRIENDS on the weekends. But most of all, I miss the people, the conversations I had with Sylvia, the laughs I had with my girls, the Hide-and-Seek games and the constant piggy back rides and hand holding. I miss the realness and authenticity and the raw goodness of Africa. God has convicted my heart and made me realize that I need to have that same raw authenticity in my life and the same down-to-earth relationships. We need to be so consumed with Christ and his Character that we do not have time to worry about what clothes we are wearing or what fancy restaurant we are going to eat at next. I need to be consumed with His passion for me that I forget about all the material possessions around me. I am captivated by His love for me and I pray that I can share the authenticity of His love to others around me. I pray that I can appreciate the little things in life and not take for granted the relationships He has given me or simple things like electricity, power, running water, clean water, shoes without holes and food to eat. Christ love is consuming and His desire for us is to be completely satisfied in Him. He is so worthy, bask in His love for you today.
-rach

Home again Home again...

 me flying to Macha!

 Brian, Lisa and Chibonwa

 Chipande, Josephine, Sevina

 Fannie, me and Sawyer

 the cutest little boy at MICS: Mumba

 We tie-dyed bandannas one afternoon with the kiddies:)

 me and my sweet friend Sawyer

 one of the most beautiful sunsets EVER!

 our dear friends Moses and Marit: Marit was working at the hospital and is from Holland and Moses lives in Zambia and is from Zimbabwe. Moses came with us to Livingstone to see the Falls and they were both in our Bible Study! Miss them both so much!

 FLYING FOX!! I Free fell into the gorge it was SO AMAZING!

 All of MICS-Reception through Grade 6 and all of the staff! I love and miss you all!

 Sawyer, Fannie, Joe and I

 VICTORIA FALLS!!! The most amazing, powerful thing I have ever seen.

 ELEPHANTS ON THE SAFARI IN CHOBE NATIONAL PARK

 elephants galore: there were over 200,000 elephants in Chobe

 a mama and her baby! So so sweet. It takes 22 months for a baby to form inside its mother.

 2 Lionesses and their cubs, so amazing. We got to see Lions everyday we were there.

 GIRAFFES!!

 We got to run with the elephants, one of the coolest experiences EVER. 2 Lions below:)

I am back in the States, and it is about the weirdest feeling EVER. My flight from Africa was a grand total of 32 hours and counting...it was REALLY long. It was so great to see my family! My Papa, Mom, Dad, Uncle Reid and Susan were there to greet me at Baggage Claim and all my stuff (what I had left of it) was back safe as well. Joe and Rach arrived home the day before I did and enjoyed being with friends and family too. I am staying in Macon until Monday and then headed to the Classic City to see my brother!! I cannot wait to see him, I have missed him so much. In 19 days I am going to be able to road trip it to Birmingham and see my 3 best friends, see the Avett Brothers LIVE and watch FRIENDS all weekend. I cannot wait! Love you Liz, Craig and Jill!!! I cannot wait to be back on the island Thursday and see all my friends there too. Thank you for everyone that has been faithfully praying for me and for my trip to Africa. It was the most amazing thing I have ever done and I cannot wait for the day until I return to that beautiful country. God did and is still doing amazing things in my heart through the people I met and the things I was able to witness in Africa. He is forever faithful and gives us all we need. Trusting Him is easy when you know He is in control. I wanted to show ya'll a few pictures of my time I spent in Africa: ( above)
All my love,
--Rach

HOW GREAT THOU ART

Ok so I have done some pretty amazing things the last few days. When we arrived in Livingstone last Friday we were able to bring one of our dear friends, Moses that we met in Macha, he is from Zimbabwe. We are staying at Jollyboys, which is a backpackers place in the heart of Livingstone and it is so cool!! It is so chill and we are able to hang out by the pool and it has tons of places to relax. On Saturday, we were able to go to Victoria Falls, which is the most amazing, powerful thing I have ever seen in my life. The sound of the water crashing down in such capacity takes your breath away and made me realize yet again how great my God really is! We proceeded to walk around the Falls and got absolutely soaking wet with rain ponchos on! We were just getting wet by the mist of the rainfall and we were absolutely SOAKED!! It was so so amazing!!! We took many pictures that I hope to share when I get back to the states. As I kept looking out over the Falls and reviling in the majesty of God and His beautiful creation, I started bursting out in song, one of my favorite hymns: “How Great Thou Art”. Sawyer and I also sang, “How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin, another one of my favorites and I could not stop gasping and screaming at how overwhelming it was. The experience with 3 people that I have become really close friends with because of Christ was amazing.

We also were able to go on a 3-day 2-night safari in Botswana that was absolutely incredible. We left early Tuesday morning and had to cross the Zambian border into Botswana and met 3 great people that attended the Safari with us, Darcy and Janet were mother and daughter from Idaho and they were both teachers and Kevin was a single 28-year-old that grew up in California and went to Stamford and now lives in London and is pursuing an acting career. So cool!! We crossed the border with no problem and arrived at the Safari Lodge for our 3-hour boat cruise. We were able to see many Hippo and Elephants, mongoose, crocodiles, water monitors, impala and many birds. It was really beautiful and peaceful and we continued to meet more and more new people on the Safari. One of my favorite parts of the boat cruise was seeing the abundance of water liliesJ It was so beautiful and they were many different shades. After the Boat Cruise, we returned to the lodge and had the most delicious meal I have had in my time in Africa and then headed for the land safari portion. Our group was made of 10 people including us 3, Darcy, Janet, Kevin and 4 girls that were studying abroad in Cape Town. Our Safari guide was named Jinson and has been doing tours for 22 years and has such knowledge about African wildlife and is a great man. We were able to see Kudu, Impala, Zebras, many elephants, giraffes, buffalos, water bucks, water monitors, eagles, many birds, hyena, lions and their cubsJ, all kinds of antelope and so much more. The coolest experiences of the 3 days were “running with the elephants”, seeing the lions everyday and almost seeing a leopard… “Running with the elephants” was when Jinson brought us down to the river and we stayed in the car and started speeding up and made the elephants run, many trumpeted and got a little feisty, it was incredible!!! Then we were able to see 2 Lionesses and their cubs on the first day and then seeing them eat their kill. The second day we saw Lions in Sunset at the river, the third day we saw lions in the morning at the river and then we saw Kudu making their alarm call and saw a baby Kudu get killed by a leopard…we actually didn’t see the leopard kill the baby, but saw the baby dead in the bushes and we were in the presence of the leopard, which was CRAZY!! The elephants and the giraffes and Lions were definitely my favorite part!

Today I was able to ride an elephant!! It was SO AMAZING!!! AHHH!! We got to ride it for a whole hour and then got to feed and pet them! So So COOL!! Tonight we went on a sunset boat cruise and tomorrow we are going to be doing some Adventure at the FallsJ So so excited!! We leave for Lusaka on Monday morning and I head back to the states on Thursday. It is going to be very bittersweet leaving Africa, I do not want to leave but I know I will be back someday! Thank you ALL for praying continuously for me, the Lord is teaching me so much right now it is crazy. I am realizing some reasons why He brought me here and have been able to reflect on my time at MICS while I have been in Livingstone. I miss MICS A LOT and especially the kids but they are on break right now and will not be attending school until May. Please continue to pray for my safety and for healing for Gil and Rhonda Krause. You are all a blessing to me and I cannot wait to see all of you again soon in the states. His name is above every name and He is majestic and SO WORTHY. PRAISE HIS NAME FOREVER.

-rach