Our team received another male team member due to Guille's departure back home. He was not able to get a visa into any of the African countries our squad was going to. So in order that Dave Roberts may have another male on his team, we now have Hamilton Dilbeck.
Our squad went to South Africa for month 7 but our team was the very first team to go to Malealea, Lesotho. Our contact Peter is a missionary there working for the organization, Africa for Jesus. He runs a training school there and also has a community center to teach the locals to make things out of clay and sewing. Our time there is RAINED! Most of our work was to be outdoors and help build or visit villages. However, due to the heavy rainfall most days we spent inside the four walls of the church.
On beautiful sunny days we would hike up to other nearby villages and encourage the people with a word from the Lord and pray with them. It was our 2nd time to visit a nearby village that we got caught in a downpour and we waited inside of hut until the rain passed. There was another time, we got caught in the rain after a cell group meeting at a church members home and we RAN home but it was no use the rain drenched our entire bodies. Plus running in a wet long skirt is not ideal. I nearly tripped over myself. During one of our village visits a woman wanted to be hospitable and feed us traditional porridge. Good thing that we were able to share a cup full because I don't think I would have made it. I took the first half and swallowed all that I could and Liz handled the rest like a boss.
One of my favorite times in Lesotho was worshipping with the body of Christ. Most of the congregation there were children and then woman and then about 5 men. The children outnumbered the adults and it was beautiful to see them worship the Lord in dancing and singing. There was much singing and singing and sharing of testimonies during service. One time during service I made a 5 year old girl weep. She was standing in front of me and I made a fart sound by using my hands and she responded by covering her ears. I should have known then to stop but I continued to make fart noises and then she lost it. She wept! Her grandmother picked her up and rocked her and she eventually stopped.
Other projects that we did while in Lesotho are the following:
- Building a greenhouse: It feeds the students that attend the missionary school and the elderly
- Built a crocodile at the community center: To provide a seating area for the kids
- Prayer Room by the church: We dug up so many rocks for the foundation of the prayer room. We used natural dirt and red sand and grass and water to build the wall. We would stomp on it to make clay and it would hurt if you stepped on a clump of dirt. Not cool
That was our ministry activity in Lesotho!
