Loving Lesotho Life

I really wish I could take you step by step through the journey God has brought me on the past few weeks. I have been so blessed to experience his faithfulness and confirmations that I am where he wants me to be. From the time he started speaking to me in June about moving back to Lesotho to serve long-term, the cry of my heart has been that he will be with me and lead me by his Holy Spirit; I know very well I cannot move forward without his presence. He affirmed that prayer in a mighty way during a morning of worship with my team here. Holy Spirit took me through the scriptures in Exodus where God used Moses to lead the Israelites in the desert. He reminded me of his faithfulness up to that moment, to lead me and provide for all he called me to: Exodus 19:4 “You…have seen…how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”
Then God yet again affirmed his call and promised his presence through Exodus 33:12-14: “Moses said to the Lord, ‘You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.’ The Lord replied, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’”

This is a small example of the many ways God has been comforting me and teaching me through his word over the past two and a half weeks. I arrived in Butha-Buthe, Lesotho from Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa on the 13th of November. Godfrey and I traveled together and joined our teammate, Thandiwe. The day after we arrived we held the Saturday kids program Godfrey has been running in his village all year, which I helped with during my CPx outreach. It was great to see all the kids again and reunite with Godfrey’s family. From Saturday we took a couple days to rest, and then we hit the ground running! God has provided us with a full schedule of opportunities to minister and we are so excited about the work. Mondays we are off; Tuesdays we have team worship and prayer, planning and debrief meetings, and run errands; Wednesdays and Thursdays we do house visits in the community of Nkoeng and attend the JGM (Jesus Generation Movement) gathering Thursday evenings; Fridays we have team prayer and planning, then run an abstinence club with local high school students with whom LXP did an abstinence program earlier this year; Saturdays we have the kids program then go to youth group at the local church from 9 pm to 2 am (what do you think of that, Americans??); Sundays we go to church (again Americans, 11am to 4pm) and spend time with friends and family. I am so excited at the way God has shown us how he wants to spend our time and am abundantly blessed by the way our team has worked together so far. God has truly brought us together, with unique giftings and passions, to accomplish his purposes in Lesotho at such a time as this!

There are many challenges personally, as one would expect in moving to a new country to start a new life. Sometimes I get frustrated that I don’t speak the language; but praise God I am learning quickly. Sometimes I feel lonely because it takes time to make new friends in a new place; but praise God my team is amazing and the families I stay with provide the love I need. Sometimes I really miss my family, especially when I know they are busy decorating the house for Christmas now; but praise God for skype-to-cell-phone calls, email, and snail mail! Sometimes I struggle to adjust to things like the fact that I am going to be sweating on my birthday and Christmas this year instead of the winter season I’m used to; but praise God for sunscreen (which is hard to find here and my black friends laugh at me putting on ☺) and the big Christmas program we are planning for the kids we work with. No matter what challenges I face, God’s promises are bigger; “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4. The most amazing thing to me about this truth is that sometimes we don’t even know what the desires of our heart really look like, but when we delight ourselves in the Lord he gives them to us as perfect blessings in his perfect time. Who knew the desires of my heart would be found in a village in Butha-Buthe? God knew ☺ Kea leboha haholo Ntate Molimo! Thank you so much Father God, for giving them to me.

P.S. Stay tuned: over the upcoming couple months I will be posting “special features” to share more about what God is doing through the kid’s program, highlights from our house visits in the community, the vision we’ve been given for the future of LXP Lesotho, and more about the team I am part of here. Also, the team will be heading to Cape Town 8-21 December to take part in a ministry program called Ten Days for Jesus and I can’t wait to report back all God does there! Thank you so much for your love, interest, support, and prayers; I would not be who and where if it wasn’t for you. Kea orata, I love you.