Ministry in Malealea Valley
Lesotho (don’t ask me how to say it – still get it wrong). How many of us have heard about this little land-locked country in South Africa? I would bet not many. Before the Race, I hadn’t. But I am so thankful for the time I get to spend here!
When asking people in South Africa what the culture in Lesotho was like the word I got was: “lacker”. I had NO idea what that meant but now I think I have a pretty good grip on the word.
Lacker (as defined by me): welcoming, generous, and simple.
I’m going to do my absolute best to describe where we are staying and the ministry we get to do here:
We are staying in Malealea valley, which when you do a 360 degree turn, you realize is literally a valley – mountains are everywhere! On a clear day, you can see the shadows of the clouds and ridges of the mountains, sheep and cattle roaming/looking for grass to eat, and fields of corns and beans for miles. And at night, the stars fill the sky in a way that would make Van Gogh rethink his painting of “Starry Night”. It’s beautiful here!
But even more beautiful than the creation is the people.
The people here live in a way that most of us literally cannot even imagine because it seems like the time of our great, great ancestors. There is a city that is more modernized but where we are staying there are 13 villages and within each village mostly live family. So imagine that you live in a neighborhood and living in that neighborhood with you was people from immediately family to your third cousin twice removed. Everyone knows everyone in the villages! Each village has a chief that is in charge of settling any disputes that might arise in the village and if the chief can’t settle it, then the king of the valley is brought in. We met the king on the first day – seems like a nice guy!! And he doesn’t live in a house that’s bigger than anyone else’s or have servants but lives right alongside his fellow valley people. The roles of chief and king are typically passed down within the family. As for the rest of the people, the men are mostly shepherds or farmers and the women help in the fields, around the house, and are the primary care-takers for the children.
So what are we doing here? We are serving with AFRICA4JESUS, who are dedicated to serving the people of this valley and focusing on bringing unity to this country. Lesotho is 85% Christian but with that being said – they are divided. The people that go to Church A don’t associate with those who go to Church B, etc. So AFRICA4JESUS has a church with a vision of all the churches working together to encourage and grow each other in Christ and reach those that don’t know their savior. That’s where Pieter (our host) allows us to be used, to try to bridge that gap. Each morning we go to the same village to hang out with and get to know the people that are there. This is unlike any ministry we have done on the Race so far. To be honest, at first it felt a little intrusive to me. My American mind-set was thinking about if we just went around knocking on doors in America asking if we could just sit and talk or help them with anything around the house. More than likely, most people wouldn’t be home or too busy/weirded out to let us in! (I know some people would say “come right in!”) but that’s not the majority.
However, unlike our culture as a whole, this culture is very “lacker”. Everybody is home that we go to visit and pumped to talk to us and hang out! It’s so fun!!! We have met many different people in the village and some have invited us back so they can teach us more about their culture, like how to cook traditional meals and do traditional dances! The people are also very honest with us. After we get to know them a little and before we leave, we will often ask them for prayer request and their answers typically stir even more conversation. We have met a woman with cancer, parents who have lost children (this is a more common prayer request than I care to admit), alcoholism, protection for animals because it’s their livelihood, etc.
Those prayer requests were mostly from the first week. Since then we have been able to open the door to asking more questions about their relationship with the church and the Lord and many have expressed that they feel encouraged to start going back to church! God is really allowing us to see the fruit of our labor through this ministry! It’s a lot of fun to walk through the village and say hey to the people we have met and connect with these people on a level that we wouldn’t have the chance to otherwise!
In the afternoons, we typically weed the fields of the people in the village. There’s a lot of lessons to be learned in weeding! And it puts us on a level with the people that we wouldn’t be able to comprehend if we didn’t weed. It opens our eyes to their everyday life because for them weeding is not a chore but a way of life. And these aren’t little or even big gardens we are weeding, but fields. And if helping to weed someone’s field in the afternoon means they can later put food on the table for their family, then it’s worth it. It’s very humbling and challenging to think that these people can’t just get up and go to the grocery store whenever they want to grab a snack or cook a meal – they have to grow their own food, ration for the year, and then do it all over again! And they don’t have big fancy machines to help them do it – they use oxen, hand tools, their hands, and depend on the Lord to send them rain.
It’s a blessing to see how God is working here in Lesotho. That even though this seems like a small, almost insignificant, country – God sees it and cares for those that are living here! And so should we because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
And if any of you were wondering about what church is like here – a 3 hour service is short. But there is so much praising the Lord and dancing and joy that make it a blast! And some of my squad mates have even gotten to speak in the service! This ?next Sunday? is our last Sunday here so we are hoping to see people that we have invited from the villages and see this community come together in a new way!
Thank you for reading this and for all of the prayers and support! The team has loved it here with AFRICA4JESUS! The host and his family are taking great care of us and we are sad that this month is quickly coming to an end! Please pray for us as we embark on our last week of ministry here and for the hearts of the people to be softened! Many of them claim to know Christ but some don’t have a personal relationship with God the Father – pray that they would be encouraged by us as we are encouraged by them!
