If month 1 on The World Race could be summed up in one word, for me, it would be: clarity.
Although the month went by all so fast, Jesus brought me clarity about who I am, how the people in my life have shaped me, who He wants me to become, and how I can impact others to bring Him glory.
In short, all 60 of my squad traveled to country numero uno unsure of what this teensy country could be all about (partially ‘cause they tell us time after time to lay down all expectations before coming on the field, but mostly ‘cause we’d never even heard of Lesotho). Turns out, the Kingdom in the Sky was vibrant and full of character. It was bursting with people who were always eager to greet us, it was filled with vast mountain ranges and steep valleys, and the roads were always busy with taxis going to and from the capital of Maseru.
My team and I stayed in the city of Roma, about a 45-minute taxi ride from Maseru. Roma is a college town, since the National University of Lesotho is central to it. We lived just 5 minutes from campus with our host family, Peter and his wife Sylvia, and our brothers Tšiea, 9 years old, and Lesego who is 15. They graciously allowed us to lead their campus ministry while we were there. It’s called Life Ministry there, but in the States it’s most often called Cru, or Campus Crusade for Christ.
My team was able to lead the Wednesday night bible studies and connect personally with an incredible group of college students. While on campus, we spent some time sharing more about Jesus, we hosted a movie night, and we attended a traditional Lesotho worship session, where they sing in Sesotho (the native language) and incorporate dancing.
In our village, we visited a preschool, met and prayed for numerous men and women who were in need of hope, and spent lots of time at the community center.
The Leratong Community Center was about a 20-minute walk from our home, near a large school. When students were released around 2:30pm, the center would begin flooding with kiddos as young as 5 and as old as 18. We partnered with them while they read us books to practice their English; we played games of soccer and keep-away; they taught us some Sesotho words and phrases; and we just loved on these precious children of God. Our time there was beautiful, joyful, fulfilling.
On Sundays, the seven of us would pile into a “15”-passenger taxi van early in the morning. (I say “15”, because these vans were already quite tiny, yet somehow we would fit 18 people plus in them!) It was no small feat to fill that thing up on a church morning though, and sometimes it took 45 minutes to fill before we could make our way to Maseru for the service. To our surprise, Maseru United Church, was an international church where familiar music was played, like Hillsong and Jesus Culture, and the service was always delivered in English. Boy, was it powerful! Several of my teammates were able to join the worship team for a couple Sundays, too. We fell in love with our church fam!
After service, we always made our way over to the main mall, called Pioneer, where we would grab lunch, shop, and pick up groceries for our team, since we cooked at home the rest of the week. Some days, we would make a stop at Ouh La La, a small French café in the middle of downtown, which was like our little oasis with super cheap sandwiches and hot chocolate.Catching a taxi home was always interesting, too!
While in Roma, it felt much like home, where parts of it were country-fied, filled with herds of cows, horses, and sheep (except they have shepherds!), and other parts were much like suburban Ohio, with shops, restaurants, and lots of people.
Lesotho was a beautiful country and I fell in love with its people. It will forever have a special place in my heart. Month one has drawn to a close, and we have made our way to Durban, South Africa, where the squad will spend a few days before traveling to Swaziland!
All my love,
Shelby
