How to describe my first month…well I got to dance in the streets of Mokhotlong, Lesotho to African music as well as Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror and, I got corn rows in an Lesotho salon, and a handmade Lesotho dress. I learned some of their language and ate their food. I even got to run on their streets. One of my favorite things was going on a run and children as well as local men would join me. But my favorite part of month one was our ministry. My team and two other teams got to partner up with the local pastors, and we did what they do every day. We went to the prison, the high school, primary school, soup kitchens, and the hospital. At the prison and schools and soup kitchens we had to give a sermon and two of us would share our testimonies. God had a lot of harvest at one of the soul kitchens we went to. The first week I think over 30 people accepted Christ and a woman’s sight was restored. Each week we went more and more people accepted Christ. I had never seen anything like it and I am so thankful for God’s work there. By the end of the month over 150 people accepted Christ there. Then at the hospital we went to the patients and prayed for them. This ministry was the hardest one. Some of the patients were in rooms all by themselves with no visitors. One lady always thanked us for just coming to visit her. It was extremely hard to see the pain on their faces, and God had to give me strength to go each week. The patients with psychological problems were in a building all by themselves. Some of my team found a man in there by himself and he was in bad condition. A couple weeks later as we were giving food out to people at the hospital i saw the doctors take the man out of the building with a blanket over his whole body. The man had died. Going back to the hospital was hard after that moment because I had a fear of seeing other patients I knew or my team would know. But God took that fear and told me that going to the hospital is where He has called me to go.
There were a lot of moments of sadness, but a lot of joyful ones too. My ministry hosts which were the pastors we worked with were amazing. They poured a great deal of encouragement and wisdom into us. They loved us as if we were their own children, which helped us being away from home. We also had four cooks who made all of our meals. I don’t think I’ve ever loved four women so quickly. When I first met them I knew I was right where God wanted me to be. One of the cooks was only a year older than me and we quickly grew a great friendship. Her name is Bitty and she is one of the most beautiful women I have ever met. During the first week we drew together and she gave me her drawing with Mark 1:15 on it. Bitty told me it was her favorite verse and she would tell me why the next time we got together. So on the next day we sat and talked about our favorite verses and how God has worked in our lives. It was an unforgettable moment for me. As our friendship grew she took me to her sisters salon to get my hair corn rowed, she invited me into her home, and cooked me food then gave me a dress. Leaving her was a very hard good bye but I know I will see her again. Right before we left she told us she got engaged! Which is what she’s always wanted, so please pray for her wedding in February.
All in all God exceeded my expectations of what I thought the world Race would be like and I know He’s going to keep doing that for the next ten countries. Thank you for all of your support and keep praying for my team and the countries we go to.
