The other night me and Bethany were sitting on a bench over looking the valley we’ve been serving in here in Lesotho. The mountains are awe-strikingly beautiful here. Like something you would expect to see as a backdrop to a movie. Recently we had the opportunity to serve in a village on one of the nearby mountain sides. We got there on a Sunday afternoon and setup our tent for the two nights we would be sleeping there. Our first night there wasn’t so great due to me and Bethany getting into a dumb spat. That happens on the race especially when you’re an introvert. There’s no space to recharge and your tired frustration just comes out when you least expect it. But at this point we’ve learned to work through those and we did.
As we lay sleeping around 1 in the morning, we were suddenly awakened by flashes of light against the side of our tent. Next thing I know the side of the tent hits me in the head from a big gust of wind. More lightning flashes and then the loudest clap of thunder I’ve ever heard rips through the valley. It sounded like someone hitting a huge piece of metal with a baseball bat. Bethany rolled over and looked at me with half awake eyes. I say to her, “Things are about to get a little crazy, just hold on tight.” The wind started gusting more steadily, lightning and thunder got brighter and closer. A little bit passes and then Bethany tells me she feels water by her sleeping pad. The rain fly on her side has come loose and water is draining right under our tent. The only light we have is my cellphone, so out in the storm I go with phone in hand. Holding the phone in my mouth, I re-steak and tie the fly back down. Soaking wet I lay back down for a cold wet rest of the night. I never dried off.
The next morning I dried off by the fire and prepared for a whole day of ministry. Roughly 12 hours straight of evangelism and worship services were on our schedule for the day. We started by visiting homes and talking to people in the village. We met a brother and sister who were both having martial problems. We talked to them for a long time about the love of Christ and Who He is and why He died for them. Me and Thomas had a beautiful time leading them to praying for forgiveness from their sins and inviting Jesus into their lives. We visited other homes and made our way back to our campsite for lunch. Afterwards we walked to a neighboring village where we met a woman who was needing encouragement with her family. Bethany and Burt gave her some beautiful words of wisdom and biblical truth and she thanked us for coming by.
That night we held a church service for the village we were staying in and almost the whole village came out to see us. Half of us put on a children’s program and the rest of us put on a worship service for the adults. We had a good time and Dosson spoke a powerful message about the character of God. At the end of it we asked if anyone wanted to come pray for a relationship with Jesus and everyone in attendance came up and prayed. By the time we were done it was night time and the stars were out. The sky was full of light and one of our translators began singing worship songs in Sesotho. Next thing I know the whole circle of people is moving and clapping to the rhythm of the song. We worshiped like this for well over an hour and Bethany jumped in the middle several times to lead the dancers in worship. The ladies that were there would’ve stayed all night if we had let them.
The next day we arose to go on a hike to a gorgeous waterfall that we all got in and under. After we got back we tore down and went back to our home base at Africa 4 Jesus. It was an amazing couple of days in the village and just a snapshot of the ministry here in Lesotho. We are praying that after we leave here God will continue moving in big ways in this valley and all throughout Lesotho. Be praying for our hosts Peter and Kaela and their ministry here and all future race teams and volunteers that come here to serve. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
