Hello to my wonderful supporters! Time seems to have absolutely flown by as I have just completed my first month on the mission field. We left Swaziland on the second of Oct. and made our way to Nelspruit, South Africa where we stayed for 6 days to debrief everything that happened in Nsoko. We also had some free time as well since we did debriefs by teams. I mostly took the time to read and enjoy people’s company. I met some lovely people who, I later found out, are steadfast christians and are finishing bible college within the next 3 weeks! Lucy, Elrè (pronounced El-ray), Keegan, Dave, and their leader Tini are doing mission work up in Mozambique and came down for a sort of rest period as well. We talked, prayed, and worshiped with them as we were there. I miss them so much already but they told us that, if they could, they would come visit me and a few other people in the States! (P.S. If you guys are reading this, I love you bunches!)
We did our team debrief one morning with all of our leaders and our coaches (who flew out to come see us and see how we were growing in the Lord) and it was such an amazing conversation! We got to tell them what we were learning, where we felt we were with the Lord, and tell them the challenges we faced in Swaziland. Lots of laughs were shared and even some tears as we all got things off of our chests.
We also had the option to do one-on-ones with our coaches and squad mentor and I decided to one with my coach Doug. He and I got to talk about questions that I had and he asked for prayer requests. It was really nice to get some really good advice on how to deal with homesickness and why I was so curious about my spiritual gifts. He told me that spiritual gifts manifest themselves in different ways whenever God feels we’re ready, however, praying about them and asking these questions were good ways to understand these gifts better. We ended with him praying over me and I definitely cried, but it was well needed.
A few of the things I did adventure wise was going to a local mall where I went ice skating with a bunch of people. It was so much fun! (At least until I fell very hard on my hands!) I spent most of the rest of the day with my teammate Makennah walking around the mall, picking up some essential stuff for Lesotho (which turns out to be very cold this time of year.) I bought a very cute beanie that has been very useful here!
Another adventure I got to go on was a safari to Kruger Park! This park is so large, it’s land mass is bigger than the country of Israel! We had to wake up at 4 in the morning but it was so worth it. We saw:
- Elephants (some with babies)
- Cape buffalo
- Lions
- A leopard
- Rhinos
- Hippos
- Giraffes
- Hyenas
- Water buck
- Thin buck
- Monkeys
- Baboons
- Zebra
- Sable
- Impala
- Wart hogs
- Honey badger
It was an amazing experience and my squad and I were blessed beyond measure for this opportunity.
The next day, Sunday, we packed up our things and said goodbye to Old Vic’s (our hostel in South Africa) and made our way to to Maseru, Lesotho. After all day in a bus, (really, it took us almost 12 hours to get there) we stopped in a mall parking lot to split up for the first time in a month. My team and I got paired up with a team called Eliora, (meaning “the Lord is my light” in Hebrew) and we went to Malealea valley.
Malealea is an area surrounded on all sides by beautiful mountains, also called ‘taba’ in Sasotho the native language. It can get very cold here even though they’re almost in the months of summer here. The tops of the farther mountains were covered with snow the second day we were here. It was absolutely gorgeous.
We’ve been here a little under a week and already amazing things have happened and our ministry has been awesome! First off, the amazing story. Our first day we were here we walked down to some of the villages to meet the chief of the valley (there are chiefs of every village in the valley but he’s kind of the overseer of them all.), explore, and learn more about the culture. We got this delicious thing of fried dough called ‘makoenya’ (pronounced ma-ko-ENYA) and I think I’m addicted! It’s so good! We explored for a little while longer before starting the walk home. As we were walking, it started to rain. We paused under the shelter of some trees near a fence for a car from our ministry host. I stood near a local girl who joined us as a translator and as we waited, I saw a spark on the fence. Not even a full second later, I heard such a loud thunder clap I jumped at the sound. I glanced around, making sure everyone was ok and I saw that B (the local girl) was no where near me. She had jumped away from the fence and stood at a distance. I saw fear in her eyes and I asked her, “Did you get shocked?” She didn’t respond and was tended to by others so I turned to check on the others until I heard, “Oh my gosh, she’s on the ground.”
My mind went into overdrive. Her body was stiff on the ground yet she herself was breathing. When we picked her up she didn’t slump in our arms, she was like a board. Just as we were going to walk to the clinic, the pickup that was going to pick us up passed right by. We stopped him and quickly loaded B into the truck to take her to the clinic. I jumped into the bed of the truck and just started praying; praying for her health, her heart, her mind. It was only 5 minutes to get to the clinic but it felt like hours. We leapt out of the pickup and took her slowly out. She was still as stiff as a board. Daniella, a fellow team member of Eliora, said that we should pray for her before we took her inside. Everyone laid hands on her as Daniella commanded, in Jesus’ name, for her muscles to relax and for her eyes to open.
To our amazement, her hands unclenched and her eyes fluttered open. She still wasn’t totally coherent and her eyes wouldn’t focus but she was alive and awake. We carried her into the clinic and I stayed in continual prayer for her. As I was praying, I saw this amazing vision. My mind’s eye was outside the clinic, and looking up I saw huge angels, swords drawn, protecting the clinic with their wings. My mind’s eye then went to inside the room with B, standing next to her was an archangel and under her was a set of hands that I knew could only be God’s. Suddenly, I was back in my seat in the waiting room of the clinic. I started crying, thanking the Lord for showing me that He is keeping us safe and keeping B in His hands. She walked out of the clinic almost by herself, the only pain she was feeling was from an adrenaline shot she got in her upper thigh. She now walks with us every day to a nearby village, to help translate for ministry.
Speaking of ministry, let me give you a glance into what we do here in Malealea Valley. My group and I wake up at around 6 a.m. to get ready for a walk at 6:30. We walk down to a small brook that leads to a mini waterfall and take time to sit and pray. It’s amazingly beautiful! Once we’re done there, we walk back up to the Africa 4 Jesus base to have quiet time, read our bible’s, and journal. At 8 a.m. Mama Faith, the best cook in Lesotho, brings us a warm breakfast. Breakfast varies from a white porridge one morning, to oatmeal the next but it’s delicious and warm on chilly mornings. We eat our breakfast and, at 9, we start walking down to a local village. At the village, my group and I, along with our translators, go to different people’s households and ask them if there are any chores around that need to be done and fill whatever need they have. At one home, we washed clothes and hung them to dry, washed dishes, and swept her floors. At another house, we took dried corn (which they call maize here) and picked the kernels off so he could make maize meal (basically dried crushed corn that can be used for a multitude of things.). At 12:30, my group and I say goodbye to the house we’re working at and start the hike back up which takes around 30-40 minutes. Yes, I am most definitely getting my daily work out! For lunch, we get sandwiches. Sometimes it’s just PB&J but sometimes we get scrambled eggs and ketchup to put on a sandwich.
In the afternoon, at around 2, we do physical labor for our ministry hosts, Kayla and Peter. (We haven’t met Peter yet since he’s in Johannesburg for business) This week, Jon or Jaime, our ministry host’s sons, take us to an area around a mile away to collect dirt and rock and bring it back to the base. We take around 3 trips and work for around 2 hours before finishing. Once that’s done, we have the rest of the day free until 6 when supper is served. That’s the time when Mama Faith’s cooking shines. She’s served us pasta with a spinach and potato sauce, a pasta and cheese hot dish, pap (corn meal sort of thing) with a meat, onion, potato, and carrot sauce, and samp with beans. I then have team time at around 7:30 before going to bed at around 9 in the evening.
There’s a look at my life here in Malealea Valley! The ministry we’re doing is something I’ve never experienced before but I’m absolutely loving it. The people here love when we come to to their houses to help with things around that need to be done and when we pray for them. It also feels good to leave a house knowing that we left a physical impact there as well as a spiritual impact.
Prayer requests that I have:
- For the people that I have and will encounter here in Malealea Valley, that their hearts will be open to us serving them and to hearing the gospel.
- That my team and I can have more amazing spiritual experiences like the awesome healing we got to see.
- For me and my group, that we will stay focused on the Lord and the plan He has for us here.
Thank you all so much for reading my blog! I am SO grateful for all of your prayers and support as I continue to do the Lord’s work here in Lesotho. I hope you have an amazing day and God bless you!
