The Team Visits Lokaleng

Well, I mentioned in my last letter that I'd have additional stories on this blog from my recent trip to Mafikeng, but of course never got them posted before the letter came out.  Sorry!

My letter briefly mentions our trip out to Lokaleng, but as that was probably the favorite part of our trip for the vet students I'll tell you a bit more about it.  The Baptist church in Unit 6 in Mafikeng has been working on planting a church in the outlying village of Lokaleng for a while now and we were invited to go along for their Sunday service.  We followed the pastors and worship team out from Mafikeng to the rural areas north of town and were quickly off the paved roads onto dirt and gravel roads, and then simply following trails through the village.  If we hadn't been following someone I would have been totally lost and you may never have heard from me again :)

The village itself is quite spread out and really more like lots of little cement block or dirt houses sporadically placed over a large area.  No real central area or roads although there are a few bottle shops (alcohol stores) and a football (socar) field at one location.  While we were driving in there was a football game in progress with lots of enthusiastic supporters standing around the field.

Once we pulled into a little dirt yard with two small houses we started unloading the vehicles and setting up for the service. As we set up we were entertained by goats, chickens, and scrany little dogs wandering through.  Speakers are used, strange as it seems is such a location, so people around the village can hear the worship music and start making their way over.  In true African fashion there isn't really a start time, but once everything is set up we just go for it.  The worship songs were mostly in the Tswana language, but that didn't stop us joining in to celebrate.

Within 10 minutes we probably had 10-15 people dancing and singing so the pastors gave a message in Tswana (during which most people wandered away) and then the worship started up again.  By this time the football game was over so a good size crowd was drawn by the music including quite a few kids.  It didn't take long for the kids to warm up to our team and soon everyone was dancing and singing and having a blast.

We must have worshiped together for 30-45 minutes before it started getting dark and we had to pack up the gear and head home.  One of the vet students on our team gave a closing prayer and we tore ourselves away from the kids.

I'm really looking forward to getting back to Lokaleng on a weekly basis once I move down and can't wait to see what the Lord does there over the next few years.  For now, I'll leave you with a few more photos of those we met in Lokaleng.