Welcome to Africa, everybody! The land of bucket showers. Or in my case, the land of baby wipe showers, cause I’m not a fan of dumping freezing water on my body. Praise the Lord for baby wipes! They are the only thing keeping me from being able to camouflage myself in a dirt pile and smelling like Pigpen’s armpit.
No electricity, no running water, no wifi. Porridge for breakfast, pbj’s for lunch, delicious assortments of stews and casseroles for dinner. Long walks into the villages for ministry, walking to the well to do our laundry in a bucket, not wiping after #1 to conserve toilet paper. This is Lesotho (Leh-SOO-too) living in a nutshell. It’s different from home, to say the least.
Don’t get me wrong though, it’s been great! Without all the “comforts” of home, it’s been good practice to not take things too seriously, to live every day with a lighthearted attitude, to practice intentionality in relationships because there are no distractions, and to give thanks to the Lord for all the joy that fills in the cracks that we let the “comforts” of home fill otherwise.
Our typical day looks like this:
6:30 – mile walk with the team to wake up
7:00 – time with the Lord
8:00 – breakfast
9:00 – walk to villages to do village ministry: in the villages, we help them with anything around their house they need done, reading them scriptures, praying with them, and spending time with them.
1:00 – lunch
2:30 – weeding fields and gardens
6:00 – dinner & free time
The people are welcoming, the children are buckets of fun, the culture is a great kind of different, and the weather is perfection. We are up in the mountains so it isn’t humid at all (praise the Lord), the sun is hot but it cools down at night, and there is a cool breeze that rolls through the mountains when the sun is going down. Our team loves it here! We are also with team Flames to Fire this month, so it has been double the fun! Here is a picture of our view from the base:
For 2018 as a whole, the Lord has laid it on my heart to practice and focus on the word Obedience. What would a life of everyday obedience look like? Obedience in the big things and in the small things, in the ups and the downs, through the good and the bad. What would saying yes to every command from the Lord and no to every command from the world look like? What would being a slave to righteousness instead of a slave to sin look like? A year of self-denial, a year of walking completely in the Lord’s will, a year of choosing to disobey myself and instead obey the Lord. Through practicing ultimate obedience, I’m praying that the fruit is great, wisdom of walking in the fullness of love will be achieved, and that the Lord would be pleased.
2 John 1:6 “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.”
1 John 2:5-6 “But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
What is your word for 2018?
My ultimate fundraising deadline is coming up at the end of January! It is nearly impossible for me to talk to people this month without wifi, so I would love and greatly appreciate if you would be so bold as to share my need for financial support with friends, family, or anyone you feel called to share with. Please share, donate, and continue to pray that I meet these goals!
Thank you all for supporting God’s mission!
