Village Life

The cultural differences between the Basotho people and black South Africans are few. This month of watching the Basothos looks very similar to what I, Piet, remember as a child. Most people here spend a lot of time and effort simply surviving. They farm for food, fetch water from distant taps using wheelbarrows and water jugs; some kids go to school while others stay home to shepherd livestock (below). Most of the elderly people sit outside and watch the sun rise and set each day, this has become a daily lifestyle to most people in the villages. Season by  season, most people in the villages struggle to keep their mud house standing and have to reapply layers of mud after every rainy season.

We have experienced the multiple sides of ministry here with LXP Lesotho and feel this is where God has called us. It is a huge move for us and one that will require a lot of adjusting, but we are excited to take the plunge.

Walking through the village to visit families

To quote Elizabeth (our friend and missionary), LXP is “lifestyle ministry”. Everyday is a way of life lived out amongst the locals. Many of the days are spent waking up and trusting God to give new perspectives to the villagers and new opportunities to us as his vessels.

The things that we do, however, include house visits, a weekly youth program each Saturday afternoon, discipleship of the young leaders, homework help, as well as helping Godfrey and Elizabeth with their building project.

A granny dressing me in a Sotho blanket like a local!

I, Leah, feel most at home when doing house visits. It is such a blessing to meet people where they are at and visit them in their homes. We help them with daily tasks or simply sit and chat about how hot it is outside. Of course the ultimate goal is to bring them closer to Jesus. It is important to make sure that they are challenged in their faith or simply brought into a first time relationship with God.

I am smiling as I see jars of peaches here in our kitchen. I received three jars from old ladies in the community this week. It is their gift to us for visiting them. I love the fact that their doors are always open and they truly appreciate a personal visit. That single jar of peaches is something they may not be able to afford to give away, but they do it with gladness.

There is one particular old lady that we have visited quite a few times in our month here. She has been suffering from a swollen and sore ankle for nearly a year and we trusted the Lord for her healing. Yesterday as we visited her, she was no longer wearing a wrap around her ankle and was telling us how she can walk up and down with no pain! She then called for another old man to come and sit with us. She explained that he has been complaining that his legs have been hurting his as well. She told him that she wanted us to pray for him so that he, too, could experience God’s healing as she had.

There is another elderly couple in the village who are in the process of building an extra room on their house. It was on its way to completion when the rain destroyed part of this room. As the builders in this area generally attend to many projects at once, it was taking quite a long time for this room to be completed. We took out a day this week to assist the builder (pictured right). We collected big stones from the mountain and helped mix the mud to hold it all together. The mud mixture is red sand, donkey dung, and water. Surprisingly, these houses hold together quite well, though the Basotho people continuously add layers of mud throughout the year. They generally do not add cement as it is costly and not easily afforded by many.

And so, it is time to say “bye for now” to a people we are just getting used to. We are now entering a time of transition from one country to another. Thank you for your support and your prayers for us!

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Truly Loving Africa,

The Bakers

Piet leading worship at "Amazing Race" Camp

Greetings from Lesotho!

Hello Friends and Family!

Greetings from Lesotho! We have now been in Butha Buthe, Lesotho for a week now and are really enjoying our time here!

We have just finished with our youth camp: The Amazing Race which took place over Easter weekend and coincided with the school holidays. The youth (ages 8-20) are all from the same village and are apart of the LXP youth program each Saturday afternoon. LXP offers camps bi-annually as a time of refreshing and spiritual enrichment in the lives of the youth. On this particular camp, there were 80 youth and the theme scripture for the camp was Hebrews 12:1-2a.

The camp kicked off with learning about what a race is, and the fact that we are all running the race of life.

The first morning they were unexpectedly woken up at 5:00am to “persevere” through a three hour trek up and down the mountain. As the weekend continued, they learned about throwing off the sin that holds us back, running with others (teamwork), running victoriously, and running well (self-discipline).

The camp ended Monday morning and we are now taking a few days to relax and revive ourselves!

For the rest of the time while we are here, we will be doing the necessary things for our return to Lesotho in the near future.We are really enjoying our cultural immersion here in Lesotho. Piet is able to brush up on his Sotho language and I, Leah, am learning bit by bit as I go. We are also loving the warm hospitality from the Sotho people.

Prayer Requests:

-Please pray that we make the right decision about where we should stay long term. We have found two possible options. One is in the town (running water, electricity) and the other is in the village living among the people and like the people (electricity, but fetching water daily). 
-Please pray for other logistics as well such as renting out our house in JHB and selling our Ford.

Truly Loving Africa,

The Bakers