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 1st and 2nd
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.
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