Red dirt roads, lush green landscape, and explosions of color. The people are kind and warmhearted, living in houses of sticks, stones, and mud. You can tell through their sorrowful eyes that they know what it is to be truly starving, totally lost, and utterly hopeless.
For the past month, we were stationed in Malealea, Lesotho. Our host family showed us incredible benevolence, hospitality, and generosity. The founders of this ministry, Peiter and Keila, with their two sons, Jon and Jaime, have selflessly been serving the people of this community for 5 years. Peiter gave the Lord his “yes”, and has been following Him on this crazy journey into the impossible. Africa4Jesus opens their doors to the wounded, the hurting, the common, and the unloved in a way I’ve never experienced before. I’ve witnessed many elderly women with open wounds on their hands and feet walk up to Keila’s doorstep. Without hesitation, Keila comes to their aid, washes and dresses their wounds, and reveals God’s love in a tangible way.
Peiter and Keila asked us to go into the local schools for the morning section of our ministry. Because there were so many of us, some teams were required to walk to their location, mine being one of them.
Hiking over mountains and dry riverbeds was exhausting, but what made it worth it was knowing that there were small, chocolate-colored people eagerly awaiting my arrival!
“Goo-duh Moh-neen Tee-chah Kay-la”
Every morning, I walked into Malealea Primary School to see little bodies sitting on wobbly benches. Some students just stared at me, not knowing what else to do, but seemed absolutely intrigued by this new white person. I expected to merely assist the teacher with her classroom, but she insisted that I teach the entire class, all subjects included. Thankfully, I had previous experience homeschooling 3rd-5th grade, so developing creative concepts for the lessons came quite easily.
The language issue came as a bit of a surprise. Although English is taught in schools, most of the time, even the teachers don’t understand English. Mine certainly didn’t.
So, I taught all subjects from their newspaper-covered textbook: Numeracy, English, and Integrated. We had a variety of lessons from Adverbs of Time, Place Values, Jobs&Careers, Storytelling, Different Structures of Poetry, etc. Although it was a struggle to communicate, we found our groove. I had the incredible opportunity to watch these children come alive in the classroom. Before long, each one of my students captivated my heart in a unique way.
Tšepo (ts-sepo) and Limpho (keymm-poh) are MY boys! These two are born leaders to the core. They are tough and strong, and have acted as my protectors each time I entered the classroom. They would yell at the other kids in Sesotho (ses-su-tu) when the class wasn’t listening to me. Tšepo punched a boy in the face because he was jealous that the other boy was holding my hand. Even in their violent outbursts, I know they have the best of intentions. It’s crazy for me to think that I’m probably the closest form of love that these boys have ever seen and they’ll do anything to keep it. More than likely, these boys have seen more tragedy in their short lifetime than most ever will.
Then, there’s Mosa (moo-sah), my shy, little songbird. I always catch her sweetly humming to herself as she looks through her textbook. She’ll frequently pause from her classwork to look up at me with those bright, brown eyes, full of innocence and wonder. She’ll giggle and quickly start writing again. It’s absolutely adorable.
My favorite time was “Physical Games”, where we rushed out of the classroom to the open field. I usually let the kids teach me a new Sesotho game, and they always laugh at me trying to figure out what’s going on. I figured that I teach them for hours each day, so why not let them teach me something to?
The second I step out of out room, I’m surrounded by a sea of little brown faces looking up at me hungry for love. I remember feeling tiny little hands all over me cautiously petting my hair, tugging on my arms, and examining my skin. Within moments, the luscious, green valley is filled with happy voices and anxious enthusiasm. I always made a fool of myself during our game time, but the laughter and joy that erupted from these children was worth every second.
This is what God created my heart for – to love, deeply, uniquely, and passionately.
The purpose and fulfillment I’m experiencing in these countries goes without words. Saying “yes” to God has brought me more than I could ever dream of. I want to immerse myself in this crazy life for the rest of my days. I’m so unbelievably grateful for everyone believing in me and sending me overseas by your financial generosity and donations so that I could have this opportunity to love on these kids and follow God’s heart into the nations.
