Our Blog

The Mackey Misfits

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:14:51 -0400

Well, what can we say. We’ve not updated our blogs in a while. It’s been a mixture of being busy and also being on Facebook. Now we’re getting ready to go into the tribe on February 5th, and will not have access to internet (only e-mail). We hope to update our website whenever we come out of the tribe (which could be at least 6 months from when we go in).

Why do I write “Mackey Misfits”? It’s because this is what we feel like sometimes as we get ready to go “minister” to the tribal people. “Who are we? What can we do to make a difference? We can’t even get ourselves together.” These are some of our thoughts at times. However, we can rest in the fact that the ANSWER is always the same: CHRIST. We just need to keep looking to Him; it’s His work anyway. We do pray, even still, that the Lord will work through us in a mighty way for His glory.

We’ve gone through lots of emotions lately. We have had a new baby (only 15 months younger than our first baby), Ginger’s parents came and left, Christmas and New Year, all our packing (at least 15 large pieces), going to conference (where we stayed in a dorm for a week with other families with kids), and taking a 12 hour bus trip to this city Boa Vista. We’ve gone through immense joy, stress, happiness, frustration, shouting, tears, and prayer (and about in that order). What we’ve done wrong many times is that we left the prayer for last, and we’ve suffered many times for it. I’m thankful for God’s mercy, and how He gently takes our hands and guides us past these things. Jesus is the answer.

We love you who are reading this and are so excited to be connected with you. We truly covet your prayers, as we sense the spiritual battle. Thank you, and we will try to keep in touch with as many blogs and pictures as we can, whenever we can.

Sincerely,
Christopher, Ginger, Tekoa, and Isabella Mackey

Trip to the Yanomami-Marari

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 11:12:42 -0400

I just got back from a quick week and a half trip to the Yanomami tribe (it’s called the Marari post because the tribe is situated on the Marari river). The Lord completely opened the door for me to get on a flight that was going in, and for me to get out soon. This usually does not happen as the flights only go in and out once a month, and sometimes once in two months. I had the privilege of getting to know our future co-workers and talked to them about the details of living life with the Yanomami.

There were some indians around, but most of them were all out working in their gardens, over an hour or more away. I did get the chance to visit a “Shabono” (an indian round house) where some Yanomami live that just recently moved down from Venezuela. It was a great experience and I slept in my hammock right along with everyone else. All eyes were on me, and there were flash lights shining on me every 10 minutes or so; they were fascinated with my nylon hammock that has a built in mosquito net.

I saw many waterfalls, monkeys, shiny blue butterflies, and red macaws. I even ate some wild game and birds (yummy!). I now have a better idea of what to expect of the place where we will be moving in February. The trip has helped me to get to know our future co-workers a little, along with experiencing the people group with which we’ll be working. I also now know what all we need to buy to set up our home.

Check out our “Photo Albums” page for pictures of my trip.

Picking Acerola

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:40:14 -0400

The other day we picked acerola from a plentiful acerola tree (acerola is a berry that is very high in vitamin C, and is oh-so-tasty!). Tekoa also joined in on the fun.
I learned that even if their are little worms in the berries, you can still grind them up to make your juice - they evidently don’t hurt you. “It’s all about your preference, whether or not that bothers you,” said my neighbor. I tried to pick out the worms when I found them, but I’m sure I ground up quite a few (and I strained the juice too). It tasted great, all the same!

*side note: you can really notice my large, 7 month belly in these pictures!

Tekoa turns one!!!!

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 08:24:07 -0400

Tekoa turned ONE on August 19th! We’re so proud of our little guy. For the party, we had a beach theme. His cake was the ocean, with Tekoa, himself, on the shore with his surfboard :)
The backdrop was two palm trees, with a picture of Tekoa surfing in the middle of it (a little Photo Shop magic).
We celebrated with the missionaries at the New Tribes office here in Manaus - there were about 25 or so in attendance.
He got a lot of presents, but was mostly taken by his official soccer ball (size 1). He’s a true brazilian!
(More pics on our “Albums” page)

Staying Cool - at all attempts!

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 08:23:47 -0400

We have been SOOOOO HOT these days. With no air conditioning and very hot days, we’re desperate for anything to cool us off. Today we decided to just get out the good ole hose and wet ourselves down. It felt GREAT and Tekoa loved it. I felt like a kid again!