Team Abide and Nissi took 2 vans to Lesotho, with Emmery, Lianne, PV and me in the smaller one. The drive was by far the most beautiful drive I’d ever been on. Huge rocks towered over either side of the car. It was a like the African version of radiator springs. I also felt like I got a taste of Colorado with all the mountains. Except if the landscapes in Colorado were ingredients, Lesotho would be the cake. After the sun went down, I fell asleep for the first time since pulling an all nighter. I abruptly woke up with Emmery pulling out a lengthy grocery list and a wad of rand (South African currency). Come to find out, we are 7 minutes away from the grocery store and have 15 minutes until it closes. Mind you, we basically live completely off the land in Lesotho, so this is the only chance to get to the grocery for at least a week. 4 people, 1 van, 60 items, 8 minutes and 14 people to shop for. Just another day on the world race. We are SPRINTING through this store just throwing mass amounts of food into carts hoping to not to get kicked out. Thankfully, the employees were kind enough to wait a few extra minutes so we could stock up. God provided everything we need and more… like He always does.
Because our arrival was late at night, we had yet to know what our surroundings looked like. Waking up the next morning came as a shock. I opened my door to see the sun lighting the mountains and open fields thinking that was the best of it… come around the corner to mountains stretched across the entirety of the horizon. It felt like the mountains were Gods arms and the landscape was His embrace. But it doesn’t end there. The next day there was a big thunderstorm and next thing I know there’s not one, but TWO full rainbows stretched across the pastures. We sat there watching lighting and basking in the love He was showering on us… literally.
“Keep listening to the thunder of His voice and the rumbling that comes from His mouth.” Job 37:2
We are completely off grid with no service, bucket showers, drop toilets, and a well for water. Firstly, if we want hot showers we have to make a fire under the water tank or boil water in a pot. The first time, and one of the few times I’ve showered here, the water was BOILING. I was shocked not to see Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in there. Getting water from the well (the only place for safe drinking water) is an adventure let me tell you. PV, Lianne and I went to fill up the water jugs and already that’s a pretty hectic trio. After we carry 2 jugs of water up the hill we put them in a wheel barrel to take back to the base. PV (who is not much bigger than the water jugs) somehow got tasked with rolling the wheel barrel back. Not even 30 seconds into rolling the barrel, she and the 2 jugs go tumbling down and fall straight into the mud. Let’s just say those clothes won’t be making another appearance.
The first few days we were here it was pretty rainy and cold. This delayed us from doing ministry, so we stayed to intercede and just delight in Gods creation. Our teams also started up Bible studies and teachings that were lead by different people every week. I lead a teaching about what it means to be the bride of Christ. Also to better integrate the 2 teams we paired up to have prayers partners. My prayer partner was Peyton B and it was really sweet to open up and be advocates for each other through prayer. Once the rain cleared up, we started work on a school to repaint the building so they could have budget to add plumbing to the school.
Pretty much the only adventure day we had was by far one of the best adventure days on the race (except hiking a volcano of course). The nearest site of civilization around here is an hour walk to Malealea Lodge. There, they have horse back riding, so the 14 of us went horse back riding through the mountains of Lesotho. After nearly two hours, we stopped at this huge waterfall. Randomly, there was a group of boys playing a bunch of unidentified instruments in the background. Not to mention, our ministry host’s dog came with us the entirety of the ride. He not only looks like the dog from Minecraft, but he spawned in like a minecraft dog on multiple occasions.
We live right next to the Africa 4 Jesus church, so on Sundays we don’t make our normal trek. However, church in Africa is an adventure in and of itself. It’s genuinely so fun and because I don’t understand what they’re saying, I’m simply just listening to what the Lord is saying and singing my own song of praise. Every week, Tsepo (one of the translators) had a different one of us deliver the message. Kailey spoke on Mary Magdalene, Peyton B on God as a faithful Father, Natalie on Jesus as the Good Shepherd and Lianne on the Greatest Act of Love. Each one different from another, but every one was a piece of Christ’s heart.
On April 16, we went to paint the school and come to find out one of the teachers had passed away. We just took time to sit with some of the kids and prayed for the teachers. It’s the heart of God to just draw near and empathize with the broken hearted. Later that week, we visited that teachers family’s house and prayed for them. Continuing to pray for healing, hope and unity in a heartbreaking circumstance.
Once we finished painting the school, we started to regularly visit homes. At this point, we had 3 translators, so team abide and Nissi were intermingled. To draw you a picture, 14 girls in dresses hiking up the mountains of Lesotho to villages carrying like 10 Bible story books. Most people here are Roman Catholic, so their view of God is slightly distorted. My first house visit was a widowed women and we just encouraged her, prayed for her and washed her feet. Then, we encountered a shepherd from the pasture and shared John 10 with him. He understood that story more than I ever could, because of his real life experience as a shepherd. His response was “wow, I would never die for my sheep.” But that’s what Jesus did! He was asking me some really tough questions like “If I ask God for money, will He give it to me?” The Spirit was my source of dependence and I spoke of how God changes our desires when we encounter Him. Other house visits included eating porridge, holding babies, walking in a man’s garden and watching a women make cement out of cow poop. House visits are always slightly shocking and extremely random. All the while, the Lord has humbled me tremendously to watch others effectiveness in ministry prevail my own. But I’ve felt His love abound all the more to know He chose me apart from my gifts and abilities. Yet, He has invited me to partner with Him for His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. I’ve seen glimpses of Heaven in a few house visits.
Firstly, I walked into a pretty heavy house visit because of sickness depleting an old women’s ability to walk and operate. Her son had been taking care of her along with a handful on kids who had been abandoned by their parents. We prayed for healing and we saw it in an unexpected way. There was another women who was taking care of the older women (I wish I could tell you their names, but their names I can hardly pronounce, let alone spell) and I saw her carrying heavy burdens. Burdens I was familiar in carrying. By the power of the God, I was able to speak into her life in a way that brought healing to her heart.
Another house visit, healing took a different form. A women was wearing a shawl to represent that she was grieving the death of her husband. She also had a walking stick beside her because she lost her ability to walk and couldn’t go to church. (I’m seeing a theme in this country) Basically, we prayed for supernatural healing to her body and God did it. She was able to walk and got up and started praising the Lord! Though I wrestled with doubts to begin with, I’ve come to see the heart of the Father is to see His children healed!
Lastly, we made our way to the top of the mountain on our last day of ministry. There we met another shepherd and started conversation with him. I asked him if he knew Jesus and he said no. How do you describe Jesus to someone who has never heard before? By the power of the Holy Spirit. While I felt unqualified, God empowered me to share the gospel in great detail. After, I’d asked if he wanted to follow Jesus and he exclaimed “yes!”. I lead him in a prayer of repentance and acceptance of the gift of salvation. All of heaven celebrated over his soul saved!
Other aspects of life included hours of time spent peeling garlic for our ministry host, reading a number of books (Meaning of Marriage, Forgotten God, Gently and Lowly), baking Texas cookies, making tea from the garden herbs, making paint, watercoloring, picnics and dance parties. Lesotho is by far one of my favorite countries and I’m so grateful to end the race just getting to delight in God and His creation.
We are headed back to Georgia as of tomorrow, and will spend the following week working at a YoungLife camp. Then we will come back to debrief. Pray that God continues to cover me in peace as I walk back into life in America!
