Lesotho

Lesotho, a country our team will forever remember as the land of mountainous landscapes, an abundance of peaches and people who are seeking the Lord. Not to mention, God blessed us every night with a painting in the sky.

We embarked together to our first country, Lesotho, as a team where we stayed with a local pastor and his family. There we served wherever our help was needed. 

Some of us played soccer on a hill and made friends with some local children, others learned Sesotho hymns while doing road maintenance work in the village, and the rest of us repaired and repainted jungle gyms overlooking the beautiful fields of peach trees.  

Our time there was special for each team member, here is what Lesotho was like through Ucie’s eyes: “My Lesotho experience has been challenging, spirit filled and full of new endeavours. From eating peaches as if it’s going out of fashion, to learning new Lesotho hymns, and killing a chicken and preparing it for lunch (not my cup of tea but I don’t say no to a challenge).

Although Lesotho was filled with so many new experiences I struggled spiritually…Trusting Him for provision and not hearing His voice was something that challenged me. I felt deaf and alone in a country with no signal-cut off from support. I was drifting but the Lord still surrounded me with His unfailing love in the time I felt like I couldn’t hear Him. His presence was still so tangible. The Lord spoke to me through the following verse during this time: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV. “

When our time in Lesotho came to an end, we hitchhiked from the north of Lesotho all the way to a town in Kwa-Zulu Natal called Kokstad. There we spent a weekend serving at The Church on the Hill. We hosted their youth night, joined an outreach to the town with the church and we enjoyed serving through worship, sharing testimonies and preaching.

One of our teammates, Abi Hattingh, saw the Lord’s heart during the youth night. Here is her story: “For a while now I have been praying that God would break my heart for what breaks His. For years I have seen people cry for strangers because they saw the stranger through God’s eyes. Specifically for this year, knowing that I will be praying for and sharing the gospel with many strangers. I have been praying that God would truly break my heart for what breaks His because in order to show people something of what I believe, I need to love people the way that God does and desire for their salvation as much as He does.

On Friday night when we sat in small groups one teenage girl told me how she is very lonely, has no friends and feels like nobody loves her. It felt like a flood coming out of my eyes, I couldn’t stop myself from crying and it literally felt as though my heart broke for her, a complete stranger. For the first time, I knew that it was my heart breaking for what breaks God’s.“

So much has happened in so little time, and it’s been amazing to see how God works the way He does through his perfect timing and will… Our team has been moved so much, through people and experiences, we cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for each one of us as we continue to reap the harvest that He has so faithfully prepared for us. 

Thank you Lord for provision, for the amazing people we’ve met along the way…thank You for opened hearts, thank You for nature and for fellowship…thank You for being so faithful as You go ahead of us on the journey You’ve so clearly planned out. Thank You for increasing our faith. 

Amen