Welcome to Lesotho, a tiny country landlocked by South Africa. It’s primarily mountains so guess what — it’s not the hot Africa I had prepared for! It actually gets pretty chilly here & my precious, hole-filled security blanket of a hoodie is all I really have to stave of the cold, so this month has me working a bit harder to stay warm. Not what I was expecting, but hey — I get to live in the mountains for a month — there’s nothing to complain about 🙂
In fact, check out this view…
Here’s the same thing with a puppy 😉
This is what we get to look at every morning when we walk outside. Pretty decent, huh? Here are a few other pictures…
We even got to go camping on an off day!
So here we are up in the mountains & it is just like being back in Colorado in a lot of ways…I definitely feel the elevation daily as I puff up & down the mountain to wherever we are going. I actually have really enjoyed all the walking here even though there aren’t many places to go. We mostly walk to wherever our ministry is & then to & from the local grocery store. It’s not much, but it is an outing for us 🙂
Unlike Colorado, there is a whole lot of livestock in the road every time we go anywhere, which I kinda love. There are always sheep walking along & every once in a while we get to see tiny lambs — I love it!! & even more than that, I love when there’s a black sheep — they’re my favorite 🙂 there are horses at times but there are definitely a LOT of donkeys. They are pretty much the cutest & I love them, too.
This is me with a jackass — I’m the one on the left 😉
Also unlike Colorado, our bathrooms are located in a small building outside our home, so getting a shower here includes a large number of steps to try to coax warm water from the pipes.These steps might include turning the spigot on & off a minimum of 37 times, standing there with teeth chattering as you wait for the water to warm to a tepid temperature, taking the plunge if it doesn’t warm & getting an icy shower that will leave you shivering for the next several hours, or giving up & going back to bed, the only place you really can get warm.
So what do you do in a tiny country where the biggest excitement of the day is a trip to the grocery store?
A smattering of things, really. We’ve done everything from moving dirt to praying for people in the hospital to running a soup kitchen. Each day is different & the truth is, it’s been kind of a dry month. They are very grateful to have us here & are appreciating all we do, but the work days are much shorter than what we’re used to. It’s actually been kind of frustrating at times.
The people here are lovely, but we only have this month & then it will be our final month — I want to work hard & make a difference! What is this?
I believe the people here would tell you that they are very glad we’re here, but I’ve been struggling. So I had to ask God — why this place? Why would you bring us up here with so little to do? I’m not 100% sure of the answer, but there are a few things I am sure of. One of those things is making good use of time, so I’ve been reading my Bible a lot. Another one of those things is trusting that I am supposed to be interacting with the people I meet here, so I need to be all in.
So that ended up looking like speaking at prison ministry, giving testimonies, & sharing God’s Word. It looked like spending time with my teammates & talking about what God is doing in our lives. It looked like finding reasons to be thankful because there are so many good things God is doing if only my eyes would be open.
& ya know, as it always is on the Race — I never regret when I love on people. I gave a testimony in church & this sweet sweet lady passed me a note. She was pretty distressed over her son who has a drug problem & has stopped caring for his family. I got to chat with her & we prayed together & I’m pretty sure my soul was as encouraged as hers.
We also went to this place next to the local hospital where pregnant women stay when they have nowhere to go. Most of them are pregnant out of wedlock so there’s a lot of shame associated with that here. We were able to wash their feet, paint their nails, & even give foot massages! We baked them cookies & shared God’s Word & then we prayed for them & their babies. It was really a precious time.
Another thing we got to do was spend time with a group of around 30-40 kids (depending on the day) in an after school program. Several of these kids are orphans and we just spent time hanging out at first, but then it turned into a cool opportunity to answer questions about real life struggles, which was really cool.
Prison ministry was one of my favorite things — I wish there were pictures because it was really something. It’s an all-male prison & the guys there actually welcomed us with music & dancing — it was pretty awesome! They are so open & receptive there & they especially loved singing with us when we learned a song in their language. That was a very encouraging opportunity where we felt humbled & honored to be with the men we got to visit.
I also got to go with some of the girls to a shop owned by our host & His wife — they make & repair clothes there, & though I have zero sewing skills, I can rip seams! So even that small thing — these are some of the things we got to do, & I decided to try to find joy in the fact that we are serving people, even if it’s not the way I’d like to.
Though I really enjoyed prison ministry, my most favorite place to go is the far away soup kitchen. We have one we walk to, but there is one that is about a 45 minute drive away at a clinic in another section of the mountains where people have to walk really far to get there. It’s a place where some kids walk as far as 10k to get to school. The people at this clinic are hungry, but they are also hungry for God’s Word. Sharing with them has been such a blessing as they just eat up everything we share with them about Jesus. Then we pray for them as individuals — for whatever they need — & then we feed them. I LOVE this.
Though this month isn’t what I’d hoped for, I’m thankful that God still brings precious moments as I seek to follow His plan for my life & have open eyes for whatever He may bring. So thank you for your prayers — God is at work.
