Africa has been full of ups and downs. In South Africa we were so blessed with many luxuries. We were only a 20 minute van ride to some great grocery stores full of popcorn, chocolate, and delicious sparkling water. Our rooms were so great; they had their own sinks and super nice bunk beds with the best fuzzy blankets that I have ever felt. We had a large campus where we could just relax and watch as the monkeys tried to steal food from the garbage cans or from our hands. It was an easy month, and not at all what I expected out of Africa.
But then we went to ministry. We went to the most adorable little village, Backdoor. It was full of winding dirt roads that passed little houses built on the side of a mountain. It was like we entered into a completely different country. We walked along these dirt roads through this little village doing door to door evangelism, which was something that most, if not all, of our squad is not familiar with. But it was a good learning experience and allowed us to get a glimpse into their culture and that community better.
During our time in South Africa we also had the chance to help A Thousand Homes with their ministry. We were able to help at their feeding programs and just play with and love on the kids that they work with. It was a lot of fun and the kids were just so full of life and joy. It was so rare for any of the kids we were working with to not have a huge smile on their face. It was so much fun, but went by so quickly, and before I knew it we were on our way to Lesotho.
We arrived in Lesotho on Thursday after a fabulous 14 hour bus ride, and then had to drive 2 more hours or so to get to our ministry site. Even though the drive was completely dark and it was hard to see anything, it was still such a beautiful ride. In the distance you could make out the shape of the mountains that completely surrounded us, and above there were more stars in the sky than I have ever seen in my entire life. Even though it was late and we were all tired and driving into literally the middle of nowhere, it was so obvious that this ministry was going to be something special.
When we woke up the next day, the view was absolutely breath taking. We are currently living in the Malealea Valley in Lesotho and are surrounded by mountains on every side. The sun shines down on this valley every morning and gives it a sort of glow that can’t be described with words or captured in a picture. It’s so crazy to think that this is my life, but I am so grateful that this is the life God chose for me to live.
Here in Malealea, we are doing children’s ministry. For these next two months we’re in charge of running a VBS sort of program for the kids in Malealea Village. These kids are some of the cutest little nuggets that I’ve ever seen. They have so much love and passion for praising Jesus and just having fun. They love to smile and laugh and just be kids. It is such a blessing to be able to provide a space for them to be able to do all of those things because when they’re at home they always have work that needs to be done. Most of these children come from herding or farming families so they have the responsibility of helping with the chores at home from a young age and that takes away from their ability to have fun and enjoy being a kid. So being able to give them space to be crazy and have fun is so amazing. These kids have definitely stolen a piece of each of our hearts and I am so excited to see where God takes us these next two months with them!
