Using my sweet dance moves to make friends in Lesotho - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

First off, sorry for the delayed update but, we made it to Africa! After 3 days of orientation in Georgia, It took about 56 hours to get from our hotel in Atlanta to our ministry base in Lesotho. We spent our first month at “Africa for Jesus” in the Malealea valley (feel free to google it for more info on the organization and location!). It has been an absolutely amazing month and has met every expectation that I had for month one on the race. We had 14 of us women sleeping in one room, on sleeping mats, on the concrete floor of the church. With no access to heat, electricity, Internet, or running water we broke in quickly to the “race lifestyle” and our suggested “technology detox” was quite easily achieved. I obviously did not however meet the suggested goal of producing a blog a week. Can’t win em all eh! Good news is, I now know how to wash laundry by hand, I’ve quickly mastered the art of squatting, and because we walk everywhere I’ve been able to consume copious amount of white carbs and not get enormous. Also, the valley is far more mountainous and beautiful than I had ever imagined any part of Africa being! God is good!

Our week days were well structured and we had a solid routine for 3 straight weeks. Wake up at 6:30am, group walk at 7, porridge or oats for breakfast at 7:45 and then an hour of quiet time. Leave the base at 9 for ministry. Head back to base at 12:30. Lunch at 1, chores and labour around the base from 2-5, dinner at 5:30, team debrief around 7:30, and lights out at 9:30. No wasted time. Friday and Saturday were days off and Sunday was church day which meant being attentive and available from about 9am-3pm. It also meant getting up and singing in front of the church as though we were some sort of organized choir. We nailed that part and the locals loved it.

Our “ministry work” was my favourite part of the month. Each morning our team of 7, along with our lovely translator Teboho, set out and hiked 30 minutes to the small village of Ha Koepe. Our primary goal: meet the locals, get to know them, shower them with love and build relationships with them… Secondary goal: share the gospel should the opportunity arise.

So day one, we head into the village with no idea what we are actually doing. Teboho leads us to the first house at the top of the village and we head down the driveway like a bunch of confused, nervous and excited white girl tourists in skirts… Except for me, I was in jeans with a scarf wrapped around my waist cause we all know I don’t prefer skirts. We were eagerly met by a group of women who were busy doing some sort of task. We introduced ourselves by name, age and country of origin, and asked if we could join them or help them with any of their daily tasks. And BAM, it was game on! Turns out they were preparing for a village wide party that coming weekend and they needed to make what seemed like about 30 gallons of traditional Basotho beer. So we became a brewery crew! We started fetching firewood and water, built a fire, boiled a huge cauldron of water over the fire, mixed up a bunch of water and grains in a basin, combined this paste with the boiling water, and spent the next hour stirring the concoction with a big stick and the handle of a dirty old mop. Day one success!We visited a few other houses that morning and all walked home with smiles on our faces.

The next morning we decided to stroll down to the beer makers neighbours house. We arrived to find that this house too had a crowd of women busily working around a big fire. Turns out they were working on phase two of their beer making process. I was eager to get back at er so I stepped up with a smile and open hands and was soon holding a stick while an excited woman repeated the phrase “fuluoa Emily, fuluoa !” It didn’t take me long to figured out that this meant “stir Emily, stir!” And so stir I did! I guess I was enjoying my stirring because at some point I decided I should probably shake my booty while I stirred the giant beer cauldron over the smoking hot fire. This was a crowd pleasing move. In a moment I had the women laughing and recreating my ridiculous stirring dance moves. For the next 3 weeks I encountered women more than a few times who would spot me and, through smiles, say “fuluoa Emily fuluoa !”, and proceed to show me their interpretation of my silly dance moves. Perfect.

After our brewing chores were completed we were able to chat with the ladies about or faith and why we were travelling the world to share Christ’s love. I pulled out my bible to find a verse and one lady locked her eyes on it and said “oh, your bible is so beautiful!”. She explained that she believed in Jesus but she did not have a bible to read. I asked if she could read English to which she replied yes. So after asking her to read part of John chapter 3 aloud to the group (so that I knew she could actually read English) I happily left my bible in her hands. She lit up and hugged and kissed the book. What a reminder of just how blessed I and to have such a possession.

The beer making and faith sharing that day was just the beginning of an amazing 3 weeks. Many times we were able to help fetch firewood and water, help cook meals, help wash laundry and dishes, clean homes and entertain children. One day I even got to feed a pig, only to return the next day and find it with its head chopped off for the party. We did get invited to the party and a few of us went and received royal treatment from our gracious and generous new friends. We also found our selves daily in conversations that lead to questions about our faith, requests for prayer, and opportunities to speak truth and love into a beautiful but also pained and burdened community. We heard many stories of siblings, husbands and children who had passed away far too soon. We saw everywhere the effects of Lesotho’s lack of employment opportunities and poor economic state. We saw struggle, poverty and illness, and yet everywhere we turned we were greeted with great love, generosity and appreciation.

During our last couple of days in the village we were able to say goodbye to most of our new friends. Many of them asked us to pray with them and for them one last time. They asked us to keep them in our prayers after we leave and to not forget them or their country. We received many hugs, many many thank-yous, and were especially encouraged by comments about the love that was evident in our lives and the way that we had left a new spark of love, happiness and unity in the village and among the community. Some of our new friends even came and checked out the church on our base on a couple of Sundays!

We didn’t perform any miracles or baptize anyone or do anything overly dramatic, but I can honestly say that I don’t think I have ever spent a month of my life on anything more worthwhile. Light was shone, truth was spoken, love was poured our, relationships were formed, seeds were sewn, and I honestly believe we were able to leave a small village in Lesotho a tiny bit better. At the same time that little village and our stay at Africa 4 Jesus definitely left our hearts a little more full, our spirits a little bit brighter, and our faith a little bit stronger.

I am eagerly looking forward to the next 10 months of this adventure! Right now we have a few days of debrief in Durban before heading to our next month stay in Swaziland. I have nothing bad to report as I am healthy and happy and am loving my team mates and squad mates. I am getting closer and closer to being fully funded and am currently just under $2000 USD away from that victory. Thank you SO much to all of you who have been supporting me financially and through prayer. You are a pivotal part of my team on this journey and I love and appreciate you! If you are reading this and would like to support me financially there is still time to do so either through my blog page or through my local church (see my first blog post on “The 5 Ws” for more details). Thanks for reading all the way through this and being a part of my adventure! Peace and love to you all! Cheers!