Our time in Lesotho has come and gone faster than I could blink my eyes. This past month my team lived and did ministry with another team. My friend Molly was on this team and it was such a blessing to spend time with her and do ministry together.
We lived in a small town, Mokhotlong. If you are as hungry as I am right now Mokhotlong probably makes you think of hotdogs. (Even hotdogs sound good these days). We were volunteering with Harvesters Bible Church. Our hosts were some of the nicest people I have ever met. They cooked for us, made sure we had hot water to shower with, and even washed our laundry.
During ministry we did such a wide array of things, it varied everyday. Twice a week we served lunch at the hospital for HIV/AIDS patients. Oftentimes these patients have walked a long way to get treatment at the hospital. Our goal was to give a word of encouragement and serve a hot meal. It was an honor to be able to serve and love on these people.
Tuesdays and Fridays we did Scripture Union. We go to the local high school and after the kids have lunch they go to Scripture Union for a half hour. They dance around and sing songs to the Lord to start things out. We usually shared a testimony and scripture with a short message. On Tuesday nights we were also in charge of our church’s youth group. We had a lot of the same students that went to Scripture Union come to youth group. It was so fun to watch the students over the course of the month. If you saw the kids from our first meeting compared to our last meeting, you wouldn’t even think it was the same group. By the last meeting, the kids were dancing during the songs, asking questions about the message, and becoming very involved with the games/lessons.
Most afternoons were spent doing construction on the orphanage that the church was building. This consisted of days of shoveling sand, wheelbarrowing down dangerous hills, and carrying two by fours down those same hills. Basically when you live in the mountains there is always some sort of dangerous hill. Doing manual labor was a great change of pace. It was enjoyable to work with my hands, and to see the progress that was being made.
We also did one other ministry, prison ministry. I have lived in a town with many prisons my whole life, but never once have I stepped inside one. Mondays were prison ministry day, and my team was going first. I contemplated what to wear, deciding on a long skirt, thinking not showing skin might be best. We start walking to the prison, and we literally hike down rocks to get there. Can you imagine six girls in skirts, slowly making our way down the mountain side? When we do finally make it to the prison, there is only one guard by the gate. He just lets us through, no question, no searches, nothing. Just like that we are in, and the gate locks behind us. Even though this was something that made me uncomfortable because it was largely different than an American prison, it was still one of my favorite ministries. These men started to understand what hope was, and that we can have new beginnings in Christ. Our first time there 13 men came forward wanting to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior!
Before the World Race, I had never heard of Lesotho. After spending a month here I can honestly say it is a place I will never forget. Everywhere I looked, the Lord was showing off his creation. Showing me new beauties everyday.
