Discipleship Takes Discipline

One of the hearts of LXP Lesotho (the organization that we work with) is to start simple churches (house churches/Bible studies) in the village. It is difficult for many of the elderly people to go to church. Or, if they do, some may attend churches that do not have sound Bible-believing doctrine. It is our aim to disciple these people with the Word of God and for them to continue discipling and encouraging one another as well.

Two weeks ago, we met with a few older people to start studying the Bible and to establish a house church. Unfortunately, none of the participants can read Sotho (or their eyes are too poor to see the words properly). We read through the Beatitudes from Matthew 5 and each one gave their input regarding the passage and what it means to them. We spent a nice time praying for needs of one another as well. The meeting time was very encouraging and they expressed their interest in continuing gathering regularly.

For a few weeks now, we’ve been visiting an elderly lady, age 85, in her home. Originally when we found her, her daughter had come from Johannesburg to look after her, and most likely to prepare funeral arrangements. The first time we saw her she was lying in bed, eyes sunken in and lost hope in her face. We thought she might die within that week. The daughter requested that we pray for her, which of course we did. Piet confessed later that his prayer was for the Lord’s will to be done, but in his heart felt that His will might be to take this old lady to Heaven. We returned the following day to check on her progress and were surprised to find her sitting up in bed. She had many visitors in her house including her son and daughter as well as another lady about the same age as she. It was a bit unclear, but it again appeared that they may be saying their final goodbyes. The daughter of this old lady remarked that our prayer gave her mother so much joy and hope the previous day that she requested we again ask for the Holy Spirit to come and visit them. We left them with a blessing and an anointing. About a week later, we went back to visit this lady. We found her house virtually empty. All of her relatives had returned to their home towns, for this lady was no longer dying! When we saw her on this day, she had just returned from town to collect her government issued pension money. She had walked nearly 3 kilometers all by herself to catch a taxi into town and another 3 kilometers back to her house! We were astounded. God has truly healed this lady. She is a walking testimony of joy and grace.

One final story of God’s grace and love is about a young man, approximately 28 years old, named Fusi. Piet has been playing soccer in the evenings at the community field for about a month now. Fusi, one of the players, was drawn to Piet and the work that he is doing for no pay here in Lesotho. Each day before and after soccer practice Piet and Fusi engage in conversation about God, doing what’s right, relationships, and purity. When Piet drops him off at the main road, he cannot help but thank the Lord for the curiosity of this young man and the opportunity to minister into his life.

Discipleship is often slow and progresses little by little, but God is always faithful. He hasn’t forgotten about His children here in Butha-Buthe. A great work has been started by LXP Lesotho and we have joined as fellow laborers. The work is still great and bit by bit we are tilling the ground. It takes discipline, patience, and God’s grace to water the soil. 

Truly Loving Africa,

The Bakers

Just Like Learning to Drive

When I (Leah) was 16 years old and had just learned how to drive, I could really care less about driving stick shift. Learning to drive automatic seemed difficult enough. After a couple of years, my dad started teaching me to drive stick in our 2007 Saturn, manual transmission. I remember when I drove from our house to the grocery store (which was like a mile) I had mastered it. I remember ^st gear, I stalled about 3 times in a row, and everyone around me was honking like crazy. I decided that driving stick was not for me.

another time driving a bit further with a lot more traffic. I couldn't pull out of 1

In 2009, when I decided to move to Africa, I realized the vast majority of cars on this continent are manual. One of my teammates took me for driving lessons for what seemed like an entire day. I clearly remember getting so upset when people were “watching me” learn to drive that day. Anyway, after lots and lots of practice I finally learned because I didn't have any other choice. The first day of driving around by myself and successfully pulling out of 1^st gear and not rolling backward felt like pure victory. I just had to get back up and keep trying. Luckily, I never gave up. If I did, I’m convinced I’d be walking everywhere.

Learning the Sotho language is a similar situation. In this country, people do speak a bit of English but mostly in the towns and more developed areas. The further out of town we move, the less English we find. This is because the majority of people living deep in the villages aren’t well educated. And this is our ministry hub. If I really wanted to, I could sit back and bring my husband Piet with me EVERYWHERE I went. I could fully rely on him to be my mouthpiece and I would be ok. But would my ministry be effective? Not very. Basotho people LOVE their language and their culture. Their faces light up when I greet them in Sotho and they laugh with joy when I stumble over a basic phrase.

I keep telling myself, it’s just like when you were learning to drive manual. I didn’t learn overnight; but I never gave up. Learning Sotho is difficult. I’m at the point now where I can hear certain words in a sentence and more or less hear where the conversation is going. It’s a long journey from here, but I won’t give up! I know eventually I will come out on the other side successful!

With that being said, I wanted to teach my readers a few basic phrases:

Hello: Dumeleng
How are you: Le kae?
I’m fine: Ke Teng!
How’s Life?: O Phetse Joang? (“U pete-se jwang”)
Where do you live?: O dula kae?
It’s cold: Hoa (“Wa”) Bata!

June 2013 (written by Piet)

Our time in Lesotho has been great and everyday we learn something new about the culture and norms of the village we serve. Leah has been picking up a few Sesotho words and actually using the words; the people love it when she tries to speak the language! This has made Leah to connect with the people and especially the mamas. They have invited us over to harvest maize (corn) to make maize meal (pap) and some have cooked us a meal with the little they have, it's truly humbling. I know it's not about the state of living, but whenever someone who lives on $2 or R12 a day provides a meal, my ego and pride crumbles to humility and humbleness. The scripture in Matthew 6 not only makes sense but becomes real. 

When we visited in April, we prayed for an elderly lady in her house for healing. Her one leg was swollen and she couldn't walk. Bearing in mind that people here live on farming and many of them need to walk to the fields to harvest, plant and take care of the crops. When we left the end of April she had already been healed and was telling all her friends about the power of prayer in Jesus name.  Whenever we walk through the village everyone stops us to ask when are we coming to visit them in their homes. In my mind, I wonder how can 4 people disciple a village of 1000-2000 people? One of our team members suggested that we start preparing people for simple church, so in a few months we will be starting with simple fellowship/home gatherings. You can pray with us for wisdom in that area.

So while we pray for people and disciple young men and women in the village of Nkoeng, we have identified the need for skill development e.g. computer, business training, etc but we also want to be realistic with the fact that we don't have a shelter to effectively teach these skill. However, I started computer class with a fews boy who are out of school or have dropped out. LXP has a land where we are developing a base. So far there are no complete buildings. We are currently working on a volunteer/visitor's accommodation and I want to invite all our readers to join us in this mission in either prayer, help to fundraise, or bringing a team to help dig or build.  

Every week in our village there has been a funeral. The younger generation is dying with HIV/AIDS or TB.

Often people don't take medication as they still believe in traditional healers or they are ashamed to be seen sick. If they do take medication it is often too late and their bodies cannot handle to high dosage. In 29 days, a team of 80 people from South Africa and America will be joining us to help with an abstinence outreach called "Beat The Drum" in the high schools. Both Leah and I have ran Beat the Drum before, so you may be familiar with the program. The first week will be training for the teams and the second week will be the outreach in the schools; it's a powerful outreach. The last day there is an opportunity for the students to volunteer to know their status by taking a HIV/AIDS test and commit to abstinence, I also want to invite you to pray with us for this program.

This weekend we had our youth leaders training retreat and it was a success! The theme was "Don't Go with the Flow." We addressed a few points including, be different, knowing their identity in Christ, going against the flow and the last one was go shine! These young people are contagious to their spheres of influence in the village.  They lead with confidence, character and even a bit of humor. 

As you all know we are expecting a little one. Leah is now 10 weeks pregnant. My wife got an infection two weeks ago and has been in pain. We think it's because of the very different living conditions and lack of running water. We have crossed
the border on three different occasions to see a doctor in South Africa and she was given medication. Please pray for her that it is totally gone and doesn't come back.

I want to thank you for you support and prayers, may you be blessed.

Prayer Points

1. Beat The Drum

2. Simple Churches

3. Leah's health and Baby Bakers

4. Base Development

Truly Loving Africa,

The Bakers