The Lesotho outreach will be broken up into parts of the 7 days we were there. Each part will contain events of the time spent there. Below are a few things I encountered:

On the 28 June we had to travel to Bloemfontein to meet the rest of the group there. We where six people from Cape Town while I was the only guy out of the 6. It’s wild that this is also the reality of the gender ratio in the single missions field in todays world. I digress.

My preparation to go to Lesotho has an amazing story about my passport. [Spoiler Alert] Fortunately things turned out that I was able to go on short notice. This mission was a prime example personally why I should GO even when I’m not financially prepared yet because God will provide if it’s towards the Glory of His Kingdom.

I’m not saying you should be financially irresponsible. Quite the opposite. We need to steward our finances because what we own, is God’s. The intent is to serve God. Not ourselves.

We started the day early. Very early. When it comes to crossing countries, settling, and dividing the group between 5 to go to different churches in a foreign country, it takes coordination and clear instructions.

Fortunately we where able to pack the night before. Everything was working. And of course, before sunrise, we cracked some jokes over the walkie talkies to make the road feel shorter. But it got quiet soon because it was very very early. To me, this was a great opportunity to get familiar with our driver named KAT.

We got to know each other a bit better and he gave me a few pointers what to expect at Lesotho. That is the advantage of having someone who has experience in the field. Experienced people can give you pointers and better expectations of what you’re getting yourself into.

In our conversation I started sharing my testimony. KAT told me I’ll have to adjust my grammar because in a country where you don’t speak their language, means you’ll be needing a translator. Thanks to KAT, he gave me a brief practice rundown of how it will go around about.

Some complex words we use casually has to be rephrased to simpler terms to help with translations. But that means that my pacing will also change. And little did I know how much this foreshadowed for later the day.

We arrived at our base location which was a school building. We didn’t have much time to unload till we had to divide into groups and go in separate directions for the church services we had to attend.

We swiftly unpacked everything we brought for this coming week. Food, stretchers, bags, you name it. One person asked “Where’s the bathroom?” Well well well, if you turn around and face the beautiful mountain and adjust your view to eye level, there’s your toilets. Your truest favourite friend, the long drop.

After quickly settling in at our base we divided in our separate cars to hit the road.

All we knew was that we had to split up to the churches that some of us will be sharing testimonies and some will be preaching.

It seemed like everyone knew where to go. On my team… well, it was only Tia and I [the team] who had to follow the translator and pastor. Halfway through, the translator got out of the car and asked if she can catch a lift with us to the church because the pastor had to take a further route to fetch The Translator.

Fortunately she knew where the church was located and how to get there. The road was bumpy. Poor Tia, she had to try sit through all of that bumpiness behind the two seats inside the Ford bakkie.

We had to pull over at a random person’s house because the hill’s road just got too bad to drive. The people were kind enough to let us park on their yard. People are much kinder if you go and ask for permission while doing the thing, rather than just doing the thing and carry on without asking if it’s okay.

Funny thing is, the pastor arrived and ended up not bringing The Translator. To me it was amazing to see how the culture was. Not too rushed on “Have to be on time" and enjoy the day for what it is. You make a plan if things don’t work out. That just shifted the rush in me to calmness. We still do have someone to translate the sermon for us. God is good when it comes to making arrangements and you have faith in Him that He will follow through.

I didn’t know to who I’ll be sharing my testimony to. As I mentioned the foreshadowing earlier; My expectation was to share with grownups. The moment we stepped foot inside the room, it was filled with kids. I didn’t had to only readjust to my words, but to how I share my testimony as well. Share it as a kids version.

God, why do I sense this as another confirmation that I need to get into kids ministry?

During our worship time, I sensed I should take off my shoes. There, you don’t take off your shoes because it’s winter cold, but somehow my feet were fine. How I approached them when it came to me sharing my testimony was by asking myself the question “What would Jesus do?” Jesus would get down to who He’s speaking to ‘s level. So I grabbed a chair to sit and share my story rather than standing. I also got a chair for our translator. We’re both functioning as one because I’m unable to speak Sotho.

Being bare feet if you’ve been wondering is what I do as Moses did; Holy Ground because God is present. It gives people the idea that God is there in the room with us. But I only take my shoes off when I sense that I have to. Not when I think it’ll be a strategic move to do so. It is an act of obedience.

Sitting on a chair while sharing my testimony with the children creates a whole different atmosphere. I am on their level now. I can look them in the eyes on their level. I’m not giving a hierarchy impression. I speak simple. I share parts of my testimony of what I believe is relevant to them. Their is a connection that is taking place because I’m there to share, not to look down on them. I want to show them respect.

Just by doing the simple act of sitting on a chair, inspired Tia to do the same. And without the two of us preplanning of how our testimony and preaching will flow and be relevant with one another’s talks, God has put us together as a team because both of what we had to share was relevant all the way through.

Above you can see a section of the landscape. After the church services and lunch we went to the village side in Malhes hoek. We went for a hike to get familiar with each other and to do some quiet time.

Lesotho’s landscape is breath taking. The mountains are different compared to what you find in Cape Town. To me it has the effect of making you wanting to go and walk the earth.

The whole environment feels open, free to roam.

The whole day was a rush. Time tracked differently to what we’re use to. We ran behind schedule as time passed on. But it was nothing too major fortunately.

When we got back to base to settle rest, I decided to pop in the kitchen to get familiar with the people, but as we all know, you visit the kitchen because you’re curious of what’s for dinner actually. And somehow I ended up becoming part of the team to help cook because with the chaos that was going on, they needed more man power.

We ended up eating dinner only around at 8:30PM, then there was a team meeting and debriefing which led to a late bedtime. The hectic day was finally over and it was finally time to go bed [stretchers and sleeping bags] after the long day… Only to find how cold it really gets during the nights in Lesotho.

They are in the process of establishing a vocational school, with the aim to create jobs and alleviate poverty by focusing on computer literacy, financial literacy, and commercial farming, to name a few.

If you would like to get more information about their ministry or want to show support, please contact them on [email protected] or via WhatsApp in the buttons below: