This month we are serving in Lesotho, which is a country in Africa that is fully surrounded by South Africa. We are serving in the Malealea Valley with a ministry named Africa 4 Jesus! Our ministry location is very rural and beautiful; we are serving with the 15 local villages in the valley, have no access to internet and our electricity is all solar powered. This country has the 2nd highest rate of HIV/aids, the highest lowest point in the world (the whole nation is above sea-level), is the coldest country in Africa and is known as the kingdom in the sky! Futhrermore, it is the inspiration for Black Panther's Wakanda! 

     Our day here starts around 6 am with devotions and working out and then we go for a walk with our host and the whole team at 7:30 am. After our walk we return to the homestead and make breakfast and get ready for the day. From 9 am to 1:30 pm we hike to one of 15 villages in the valley meeting with families in their homes and traditional huts, sharing the gospel and scripture and praying over them. We then pray together as a team with our translator over the day and the villages and return to the homestead for lunch. 

     After lunch, I typically lay down and read (I highly recommend Bruce Olsen's Bruchko, C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce, and How (not) to read the Bible by Dan Kimball) until we start back to work at 3 pm. From 3-5pm we do manual labor to maintain and improve the ministry's property. This past week my duties included deep cleaning an algae covered baptismal, scooping cow manure for fertilizer, and planting local plants which will be used to improve the health of those in the ministry and community. Our host joins us in the afternoons and our afternoons are filled with music, conversation and laughter as we work.

     After work we shower, hand wash laundry, prepare dinner and eat together as a squad. In the evenings we'll spend time together in team time, worship, spontaneous dance parties, watching movies, playing cards or just catching up. The sun sets around 6 pm and we're typically asleep or in bed around 9 pm.

     I fell in love with this community pretty quickly and have loved the slower pace of life and peacefulness that comes with a lack of internet, electricity, sleeping and rising with the sun and above all else dwelling in the presence of the Lord. Please join me in praying for the Lesotho people as there aren't many opportunities for individuals to make an income here and education and job opportunities are limited. Without those necessary finances the people struggle with having enough food to eat, paying for their children's education and stepping into new opportunities and out of cycles of poverty. Many who can, leave the community to find work in South Africa and try to send money home, however this leaves families divided and takes people away from their homes and culture. Pray with me that God will continue to provide for and protect these people and that they would all come to know the Lord as their Shepherd and walk in relationship with Him.

1 Peter 2:25

"Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the guardian of your souls."

Psalm 23:1-3

"The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. ²He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. ³He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name."