Hi everyone!! I am still alive and want to start off by apologizing for my absence the last month! We were in a very remote location in Lesotho known as the Malealea Valley and did not have regular access to WiFi to be posting updates. It feels like it has been an eternity since I was last able to share with you all about what the Lord has been doing in and through myself and our team. I am extremely excited to be updating you all now, hopefully this post doesn’t turn into a short novel but the Lord has done so much over the past month and I want to share as much as I can with you all. So with no further ado lets dive into this past months ministry highlights and takeaways.
One of the biggest highlights of our time in Lesotho was our host family Pieter and his wife and son. They are with a ministry called Africa for Jesus and man are they on fire for preaching the gospel. The two words that I think best describe Pieter are obedient and bold, two characteristics that I was very thankful to be encouraged and shepherded in. Pieter listened to the Holy Spirit and without hesitation did what he was being called to do. This often meant making sacrifices and doing things the hard way. For example he moved his entire family with boys aged 9 and 10 to a remote part of a foreign country and began his establishing his ministry without anything other than a car load of his families personal items. He has now been living in a small village for the last 13 years serving its people. He also spent the last six years living with no hot water in his home and only electricity provided by solar panels. During this time he received funding to build a church, preschool, bathrooms and showers a community garden and several other large pieces of infrastructure but all the while chose to pass up on the opportunity to better his own living situation so that he could give back to his community and help others with the resources he was given. One of the highlights of doing ministry with him took place when we were in the mountain village of Ha Jobo. There we had gone to the house of the local healer or “witch doctor” who would pray to his ancestors and do rituals on behalf of his clients seeking medical aid. There we assisted in preaching the gospel to the doctor in his own home for over an hour. He was a stubborn but very kind and loving man and received all that Pieter had to share with him with grace and respect. It was awesome to see Pieter time and time again seek out the most lost individuals and unapologetically preach the real true gospel to them.
We got to experience another one of these moments ourselves in an instance where God showed us what happens when we are obedient despite our fears and concerns. Pieter had asked the chief of a neighboring village to assemble all of the members of two local gangs to get together so that we could share the gospel with them. Pieter asked specifically for those men who were lost and actively living lifestyles against what God would desire for them to be living. On the night before that gathering Pieter informed Noah and I that he was busy the following day and that we would be the ones that were going to go and speak on behalf of his organization. The following morning he said a prayer for us and off we went as modern day Timothys on behalf of Paul. When we arrived the local chief and pastors asked us right away where Pieter was and who was going to be speaking if he was not present. We informed them that we had been sent on his behalf with his blessing and that we would be the ones sharing. When everyone had gathered it ended up be less gang members and more women and children but boy did it get our hearts pumping as we wondered who we would be sharing our message with that day. After we shared the Spirit had spoken to the people through us and moved 4 young women to give their lives to Christ. God had yet again blessed us with participating in His harvest, what a blessing. In all of this God showed me that when we act in obedience we get to witness the Lord’s provision and when we act boldly He invites us into participating in more and more of His work here on earth. By being obedient and bold we truly get to experience the fullness of the blessing that God has planned for us, all while also storing up our treasures in heaven.
Another wonderful highlight during this time was how Pieter trusted us to carry out the great commission on his behalf as I spoke about above. Through out the week he would send us to lead Bible studies and to do house visits on behalf of his organization. He had total trust and faith in us and it was very encouraging to be given this role of teaching and preaching and the trust in us that he showed during this time. We also were given the chance to preach on Sundays and so it was very fruitful and encouraging month of God affirming my desire and calling to be a teacher of His word. I grew a lot in my confidence and boldness this past month and am so grateful to the Lord for the work that He did in my life during this time and grateful to Pieter for leading us well and entrusting us with His spiritual authority as we operated on his behalf.
Lastly, our time in Lesotho was filled with fellowship, rest, and experiencing Gods love for us through His body. Going into Lesotho I was starting to feel very homesick, missing my family, friends, church, everyone reading this, my brother etc etc the list goes on and on. I was feeling a bit down but rather than letting it become a burden I asked the Lord to comfort me and show me HIs love in an undeniable way. That was exactly what I received through Pieter and his family and especially his son Jaime. During our time in Lesotho we got to spend a lot of time fellowshipping with Jaime, talking about his life and passions, our identities in Christ and the struggles that he faces being a missionaries son in a very remote part of Africa. We got to encourage one another, make music together, play games and do all sorts of things and he really become a great friend and like a brother to me in a short amount of time. It is so cool to experience how the Holy Spirit can make you feel so close to strangers in such a short period of time. Jaime was also a knife maker by trade and this has always been a hobby I have desired to explore but never had the tools or resources to do so. It seemed like God was saying “I hear your burdens my son and I know the desires of your heart unlike anyone else, here is a gift to you. Enjoy this time with your new found brother in Me and enjoy this hobby that you have desired to experience for a long time, find rest in me.” It was cool to see just how amazing a gift giver God is and how he dealt with my feeling homesick with ease. I felt so apart of their family and so loved not only by them but more importantly by God. It was a wonderful time to recharge physically, mentally, and emotionally before we head to Vietnam.
I have so many more stories from Lesotho more than I can ever write down, but please when I am home and we get to catch up in person remember to ask me about Lesotho. This place was very special and it holds a wonderful spot in my heart. Pieter and his family are great God fearing people and I was so grateful for my time that I got to spend with them. I love and miss you all and can’t wait to be home to share all of the things that I am learning and being revealed by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9-13
Pieter’s Ministry: https://www.africa4jesus.com/a4j-lesotho-2/
Jaime’s Knives: https://www.malutiknives.com/
