Nov 2017 - Lesotho Outreach

The Kingdom of Lesotho.  Have you heard of this small country? Do you know where it is? Lesotho (pronounced lesutu) is located as an island inside of South Africa, in the eastern half of the country.  It is a very mountainous and water rich country and sells its water to supply two of the largest cities in South Africa.  Over 40% of the people in Lesotho live below the international poverty line of $1.24/day.

It was a thirteen hour drive from Mafikeng to our lodging in Lesotho and we crossed the last two mountain passes in the dark.  The first pass was over 10,000ft in elevation and my poor little car struggled along in 1^st and 2^nd gear moaning “I think I can, I think I can.” Although the second two passes weren’t as tall (about 8,000ft) it was very nerve racking driving those winding roads in the dark while dodging fallen rocks, pedestrians, sheep, and donkeys in the road.

We brought nine students from the Acts 1:8 student evangelism training group on this outreach. The goal: conduct Tae Kwon Do sports clinics with village children, organize two youth nights at a local church to encourage them in sharing the gospel, and go door–to-door witnessing in several villages.

Despite a few mishaps and misadventures, it was a wonderful week and we all enjoyed getting to know this beautiful country and its lovely people.  Thankfully, several of our students spoke Sesotho so we went witnessing in groups of three with one translator, one facilitator, and one other student. 

One woman we visited lived in a traditional round stone hut with a thatch roof and sat outside with us to listen to the gospel story we came to share.  She asked several questions and then expressed a desire to follow Christ, but after we talked with her about the importance of first getting rid of the charms she wore from the witch doctor, she wasn’t able to do so. She needed to get permission from her husband to cut off the charms.  Please pray with her that God will soften her husband’s heart to give her permission to remove the charms.   

Both Tae Kwon Do clinics were very successful with over 100 children hearing the gospel.  Each time we arrived there was no one around, but within minutes children would start to appear.  They came running down the steep hillsides from every direction.  Older girls carrying babies, young children only three or four years old following older siblings, all covering the steep ground like mountain goats to come join the fun.

We also rode horses into a remote village that was not accessible by vehicle.  The chief of the village brought everyone down to hear from us and we lead a couple of Bible studies with them, primarily focusing on forsaking all to follow Christ.  Ancestor worship is the cultural/religious norm in Lesotho and although many people are willing to add Jesus to the ancestors in their worship, few are willing to give up the ancestors and worship Christ alone.

It was a 90 minute ride to and from the village and I was a bit worried about the quality of horses we would get, but mine was an absolute dream to ride.  His name, translated, was New Creation and his owner loved him dearly.  Some of the trail was over sloping solid rock and I have no idea how the horses kept their feet.  Most of the students had never ridden before, but we managed well with only one brief run away horse incident.

Creation and his owner

Please pray that the missionaries who live there will be able to follow up further with those we met going door-to-door and that lives will be transformed in unmistakable ways.  Please also pray that the power of darkness in Lesotho would be broken and that God’s light will shine brightly from the mountain tops.  Finally, please pray that the spiritual growth seen in the students during the outreach will continue and be solidified.

New Creation and his proud owPlease pray that the missionaries who live there will be able to follow up further with those we met going door-to-door and that lives will be transformed in unmistakable ways.  Please also pray that the power of darkness in Lesotho would be broken and that God’s light will shine brightly from the mountain tops.  Finally, please pray that the spiritual growth seen in the students during the outreach will continue and be solidified.