IT’S TIME FOR AFRICA(in my best Shakira voice). Lesotho! It’s known as the “kingdom in the mountains,” and that is truly what it is. A very small country landlocked within South Africa. The people here are very warm and welcoming to us. I am in a very small village in a valley of Lesotho. I’ve literally “fetched a pail of water,” you know, Jack and Jill up the hill style. There is solar electricity that comes on for three hours in the evening. No WiFi, which is okay. In fact, I’m probably going to have to send this blog with a teammate who will go to the nearest city to access WiFi. I’ve woken up to the sound of a donkey multiple times….and I’ve decided it’s my least favorite animal noise. The best thing though, is that when I open the door of the cinder block room I am staying in, all I can see are fields and mountains. In fact, I’m surrounded by over a hundred mountain peaks! And the stars are the most incredible things I’ve ever seen!
Our ministry is walking over forty minutes to neighboring villages each day to build relationships and serve in any way we can. We have met the village chiefs, who are very kind and welcomed us to go throughout their villages. One thing we do is ask questions, as you would with getting to know anyone. One of my favorite questions to ask is, “What do you love most about Lesotho,”? My initial thought was that it’s obviously going to be the beautiful mountains…no one said the mountains, but everyone did say the same thing.
The fields…yes, the fields. They are beautiful, but in comparison to the mountains? No way! The more I heard this answer, the more I began to ponder it. I’m reading the Old Testament right now. Which is perfect because this village makes the Old Testament history much more imaginable. God was constantly telling them to GO. Go here, leave there, most often to a place they had never been. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses…all of them. And with what? The Promise of land! “The Promised Land.” Beautiful land flowing with milk and honey. Having good land was so valuable because it meant sustenance. It meant having water, a place to live peaceably, a place for cattle to graze, and a place for food to grow! That’s how the people of this country still live—off of the land. And the land here is very beautiful and green.
In my life, I often look only at the mountains I must climb, and how great the views are from the mountain tops . And I loathe the valleys. I forget about the fields in those valleys and the value they hold. I think when we view the valleys of our lives, we often look at them like a wilderness…at least I do. But looking back on my life, there was so much growth in the valleys. I had to toil and labor for the growth and it was HARD a lot of the time, but in the reflection it wasn’t wilderness. It was fields. Beautiful landscapes full of blessings and growth to strengthen me to be able to MOVE the MOUNTAINS that are ahead of me.
Love you guys! Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
