A motley crew made up of Aiden, Amè, Connor, Emma, Heather, Jordan, Joshua, Luke, Stacey, Zandre, and I, set out from St John’s at 4:30am on the 6th of December for Lesotho in 2 vehicles. We didn’t know what to expect at the other end… Hot showers? Never! Warm beds? Maybe. Strange food? Absolutely. But what did we get… Hot showers, warm beds and really good wholesome food!!
After a very uneventful road trip, and quick border crossing, we arrived at our hosts, Pieter and Keila, at about 6:30pm and were welcomed with such genuine love and affection. After unpacking the vehicles and being shown to our accommodation we were fed hot dogs with fresh rolls. I think everyone was rather tired after the long day, so we went to bed quite early.
We were treated to a very special church service on Sunday morning, done in Sesotho and translated by Tshepo, our guide and good friend, into English. What wonderful spiritual people they are. The message that came out of the sermon was a simple one – “we are the products of our own decisions”. Makes one think!!
After a lunch of egg/mayo sarmies, we were told that we would go on a “short” walk to a couple of the villages where we would be spending time during the week. When visiting the villages, one of the clothing requirements was for the gents to wear long pants and the ladies, long skirts. This had something to do with the mothers-in-law?? However, this “short” walk was a wee bit longer than expected. 18 025 steps later, we arrived back at the base rather hot and sweaty, and tired. We very quickly learnt never to trust the words “short walk”, or “just over the hill” …
After a very tasty meal we spent an hour singing worship songs and praising His name – led beautifully by Connor on the guitar. I then headed off to bed, but the youngsters, who seem to have an endless supply of energy, played various board games. I didn’t realise that a game of 30 Seconds could become a contact sport…
Each morning, we would wake up early and go for a 30-minute cobweb clearing walk at 6:30, and then spend 45 minutes of quiet time, and then 15 minutes of morning prayers. All this before breakfast! But what a joy it was to hear this young group of people being so God-led and showing just how important God is in their lives. Heather – or mama bear as I called her – was an incredible leader and kept things very much under control.
After breakfast, we would prepare for the day and then head off to the various villages in the vicinity. We learnt so much from these beautiful, giving people, about how to be generous with the little that one has.
Each day brought more and more surprises from this group. No matter what they were tasked to do, from digging holes, clearing weeds, sorting garlic, making jams, carrying water, praying for the people, and just interacting with the villagers. What I found so heart-warming was the way the village children responded to our group. Wherever we went, we would be swamped with little people, and when skipping ropes were produced, well… let the games begin!
We did have one “rest-day” where we did a 2-hour hike to a waterfall. The awesome beauty of this country was evident, and the sheer power of the waterfall was special. We spent about an hour swimming, and a ball was produced, almost out of thin air, and an impromptu water polo event was under way. Nobody really wanted to leave, but time was against us, so we headed back.
Friday came around all too quickly, and we needed to start preparations for our trip back home. We had been incredibly blessed with the weather, and as luck would have it, as we were ready to start packing the vehicles, down came the rain. And it didn’t stop until 3 o’clock the next morning. Our initial fear of getting out of the valley with wet slippery roads were unfounded, as we scooted out quite comfortably.
We bade our hosts farewell at about 5:30am and set off for home. We had another uneventful trip and were warmly welcomed by friends and family at about 6:00pm, very tired but preparing to adjust back to city life after spending a week in paradise.
Sala hatle (farewell) from your friend in Christ
Dave