//Thursday October 14th
(Some of the most beautiful pictures can be found on my Facebook page!)
Dumela (hello in Sesotho) from Lesotho! My team and I just finished our first full week in our new ministry location. It has been a total 180 from our last base. We went from being right outside of the city in a gated in guest house with cooks, a pool, drivers, hot showers and running water at all times of the day, wifi, weekly visits to the local mall and restaurants to….staying with a family of 4 in a little village in total isolation from the outside world. It’s honestly wonderful.
We got here late at night after a 15 hour taxi ride. As we were unloading the car in the pitch black, I looked up and saw more stars then I ever have in my entire life. It was stunning. The next morning I walked outside and was breathless at the view before me. We are completely surround by the most beautiful mountains in all directions. There’s a river not far from the house, that we have bathed in, as well as a kitchen that we share with the workers on the base. Along with the host family’s house and our living space, the base has a church for the people of the villages to come to every Sunday, a preschool for kiddos 3-5 years, a garden, and acres of farm land. I love watching all the cattle pass by as I have my morning coffee with the hosts families 4 dogs! The base is also operated by solar panels, so we’re hoping for all sunny days this month.
Isaiah 52:7
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
A look inside my day…
Our ministry this month is called “Lesotho 4 Jesus.” Not only is our living situation very different then anything I’ve ever experienced, but our ministry is as well.
I wake up with the sun shortly after 6am and go on a morning run. Yes it’s early to be running BUT the view is so worth it. Sometimes one of the host dogs join me or i run into some of the kiddos heading to school and they run along side me. It’s so sweet. After, we all have our own breakfast and quiet time before group prayer to get us into the day at 9am. Our typical ministry day is us hiking to one of the 15 villages hidden in the valleys of the mountains and evangelizing, the views are of course stunning. It looks as if we’re walking along side a green screen. I branched out these past two days and asked to stay back and work with the preschoolers (more on that in the next blog!!). After that we come back for lunch that someone in my group prepares before staying on the base to do some form of manual labor. We are helping the family that we are living with build a house for the oldest son. It has been so much fun making clay and getting to know the ministry hosts. The sons have been such a joy to have around. They’ve been our tour guides as we hike through the different valleys on the weekends, join us for bond fires and movie nights, horseback ride to waterfalls, and they’ve introduced us to our new obsession- maquenas (fat cakes). In the evenings we spend time as a team reflecting on our day, playing with the 4 kittens that the host family has, and sometimes we worship/sleep under the stars. My group takes turns making meals and our two leaders go to town (a 2 hour drive one way) to get grocery’s for the week.
This month looks as though it’s going to be very restful and filled with a much simpler way of life while being disconnected from everything back home. In this past week I’ve seen God in so much more then just conversations. I’ve seen His goodness in all of the mountains, rivers, and caves. He is so much greater then my mind can comprehend. I’m truly learning what it means to be where your feet are and I can’t wait to see what all this month will hold for my team and I.
Please be praying for my team as we enter into this new adventure. Prayers that the Lord will expose us to things that we could never see in our daily lives back home. That we can all find rest in the mountains and see God in all the simple things.
Blessings,
Brenna:)
I can’t wait to see more pictures and hear all of you stories!! Missing you much but soooo proud of what you are doing!!
ONE MORE MONTH LETS DO IT
I’d literally LOVE to see those views. It sounds so relaxing, peaceful, secluded, refreshing, and amazing. It’s definitely incredible how people live so differently from one another even just a 15 hour drive away and how your lifestyle even changed so much. I can’t believe you had all those cool resources in South Africa. I love that you bathed in a river! Like what?! That’s different and an exciting experience! I love the 6 am runs too with the village dogs and children! That’s beautiful and again so wholesome! The littlest things sometimes mean so much! You also get to hike through the mountains to go teach! Amazing again! I want to horseback ride to a waterfall and try a maquena! That sounds delicious! It’s also crazy to think their groceries are that far away, we take that so for granted here it’s insane! Can’t wait to go see some of these pictures!