Our hosts in Lesotho were Pieter and Keila Mierke – South African missionaries who run an organization called Africa 4 Jesus in the Malealea Valley. In the valley there were many different villages, each with their own chief, culture and religious beliefs. From the base, it took about 30 minutes to fill up jugs of clean drinking water, an hour to walk to get wifi and a 2-hour, very crowded, very loud taxi ride to get to a store. Church service looked like 4+ hours of very vibrant singing and dancing, people sharing testimonies/coming forward for prayer and a message delivered by one of the World Race missionaries message through a translator.
For ministry, we would walk ~30 minutes into one of the nearby villages to do outreach. We spoke with anyone who crossed our path. Sometimes we would jut say hello, sometimes the people would ask for a quick prayer or word of encouragement and sometimes they invited us into their homes where we would talk for an hour or more. We helped people in their gardens, helped them do laundry and helped them fetch water. Some days we played ball with the kids, other days we picked berries or peaches with them. Our goal was just to be Christ to the people in the village and love them like He does.
We had lots of interesting conversations. Many people identified as Zionist, Anglican, or Catholic and some were regulars at the church service at A4J. A lot of people were involved in cultural traditions like ancestral worship, animal sacrifice, and initiation rituals including circumcision. We spoke about the freedom that following Jesus offers. We handed out Bibles and encouraged people to read about what it actually teaches. We reminded people that God wants to have a relationship with them and that it’s accessible any time. We shared testimonies of overcoming temptations and struggles of our pasts.
We prayed for reconciliation of families. We saw reconciliation of families. We prayed for healings of physical pain and disabilities. We saw healings of physical pain and disabilities. We prayed for improvement of eyesight. We saw improvement of eyesight. We shared the gospel with people who had never heard it before. We shared the gospel with people who had heard it before, but had forgotten the freedom that it offers due to church teachings or cultural traditions. We saw people accept Christ for the first time. We saw people rededicate their life to Christ. It was so clear that God was moving in that village. I’ve never seen anything like it.
On Adventure days, we spent a lot of time with Jan and Jaime, Pieter and Keila’s teenage sons. They took us on long, beautiful hikes through the valley to waterfalls and rock pools. One morning we got to ride donkeys. I cannot say enough about the Mierke’s. From inviting us into their home to hear their testimonies and share a meal to Jan and Jaime joking around with us like younger siblings do, they truly made us feel like family. On a few nights, we had bonfires which provided a really cool atmosphere for worship and fellowship with the whole group.
All that being said, the month was incredibly relaxing, refreshing and inspiring. Fruitful to say the least. Last Saturday, we said goodbye to the Mierke family and traveled 12+ hours to Nelspruit, South Africa to meet up with the rest of the squad for debrief. This month was also the last month that our team, Freedom Runners, were together. We had an awesome 4 months as a team. Jenny, Lauren, Abby, Shawn, Theo and Cody: thank you so much for everything and I’m so proud of all of you! You have all grown so much! It’s a little sad to split up, but as Cody always says, growth comes in the uncomfortable and I’m excited to see what the future holds for us all.
Verse of the month: Philippians 1:15-18
It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
