Nine in the morning came. It was time to go out and do our normal ministry in the village of Malealea. We walked and came upon a beautiful home with black tile floors, with a brown, glass-paned china cabinet. Our task today was simple, go fetch water and pull weeds around the home. I fetched water, carrying the bucket on my head on the way back. I was greeted by the sweetest woman, who looked lovingly at me and said “Good job!” I was becoming a real villager it seemed.
The kind woman walked back in her home. My translator, MPortia, looked at me and said “You know she speaks very good English, right?” I was excited to communicate with her and help her practice English. My team and I walked in her home, greeted with glasses of mango orange juice and a friendly environment. The woman asked where we were from.
“The United States and the United Kingdom,” we replied.
“I am looking for work,” she said. “I want to teach and times are too hard here.”
My teammate Ashley replied, “What is your name?”
“Monica.” (She said her last name but I honestly have no idea what it was.) “I want to go back to school and be a doctor. I want to leave Lesotho.”
We talked with Monica as we cleaned our cups and eventually she came and sat in her living area with us. The time came for us to get to know her and ask questions. After some small talk, I asked about her current trials in life and how we could pray. She talked about the village being in a crisis because water was not available, they desperately need more rain to sustain their living situations and take care of their bodies. The job market is awful and there is little work to be hired for in the village. One has to travel an hour and a half by bus for even a remote possibility of a job. Malealea is in a real crisis, a real trial where only the Lord can save them.
I asked about her personal life, the trials she felt heavily pressed upon her shoulders.
“This is not my home. I live with my father. I want to have my own house to provide for my two children. I want my own car and a good husband.”
One of Monica’s children is mentally impaired. From what we can tell, it seems like a severe case of autism.
“So you need independence?” I asked.
“Yes. Absolutely.”
We shared Scripture with her. Something stirred in my soul. I remembered the encouragement God gave me that same morning, and I shared Joel 2:23-27 and verse 32 with her. For some reason, I felt the Lord pulling her toward Him. I knew He was going to get her that doctorate, I knew He was going to get her out of Lesotho. I didn’t know how, I just knew He was doing something radical in her life.
After that, we prayed. The Holy Spirit was so present in that room. She shared a praise song with us after our prayer. As the song played I thought to myself, “Lord, please fulfill her hopes and dreams.”
I heard His whisper back to me, “I’ll do it.”
We spent the rest of our time there worshipping and sharing Scripture. They asked me to sing a few songs to her. Later on, tears streamed down her face and I had the opportunity to clutch her hand and comfort her.
Monica was broken for the Lord. Monica was encouraged and receiving from him. Monica had hope in a place where there was no water. The Living Water reached a place in her soul that was untouchable to human kind, yet open to the Lord.
As we left, she thanked us and we hugged her. My heart changed its tune that day. I realized how important it is to dream with God and to believe in the power of miracles. The only way out of this precious woman’s situation is through a miracle. Her only hope is to believe in the seemingly impossible. Yet, that day we believed it. As a child believes in the wonders written in fairytales, so we believed in the truth of God’s wonders written in the Bible that is proclaimed over all of creation.
Please pray and believe the Lord will answer Monica’s prayers. He has a plan for her life. I fully believe she will become a doctor and begin a new life. I am convinced I will hear her story again from a different standpoint in the future, and I believe the Lord sent us there to encourage her in that. God can work miracles and I cannot wait to see hers unfold. Please continue to pray over her and her family. My dear reader, I encourage you to ask for abundantly more for her, ask for a miracle.
In a place with no water, the Living Water prevailed once again.
Keep believing and dreaming with God,
Mary Beth
