December First Musings

Fresh flowers from my yard

A lot of November was spent with people.  I love people.  We've been busy, in and out of Mokhotlong, and I feel like December is going to seem quiet in comparison.  After the World Race team departed, we had a tough situation arise which you can read about here.  It hurts to see people you love hurting.  But we also felt refreshed after our extended time with the team.  It's always worth it to pour into others and God is faithful to supply what you need even when you feel as though you have nothing to offer.

My parents and brother came and went and we had a wonderful time together.  Highlights were a totally unexpected snow dump, a hike up the mountain, jogging with my dad around Mokhotlong, skipping rocks on the river, tons of dish washing parties, hosting a Thanksgiving feast, horseback riding, a shopping trip with my mom and playing at the beach.  It is always such a special treat to have family around.

While we were with the World Race team in Johannesburg, some of the girls asked me what I miss about home.  Immediately the word "fall" came out of my mouth.  I love fall.  It's my favorite season.  I love everything about it, but especially the smells it brings.  It's tough every year to go through October and November as it warms up in the Southern Hemisphere and there are blossoms on the trees, rather than crackling colorful leaves.  I miss candles.  Candles aren't really a thing here.  Before we moved to Africa, I used to light a candle every night after dinner.  So a couple of my friends from the team went out that afternoon and bought me a Cinnamon Stick Yankee Candle while at the mall.  Yankee Candles are imported here and as if they aren't expensive in the US, they are even more so here.  I have seen them here at the fancy malls in the big cities, but have never splurged on one.  These two ladies got me one and brought it to me after I was half asleep that night.  They came in and handed me a heavy bag and it didn't register in my mind at that moment what it was.  It dawned on me a little while later.  I had to force myself to light it today.  I just want to save it because it's so special, I don't want to waste it!  This evening it is cool and rainy.  The perfect time to light a candle.  So I did, and I love it!  Thanks, Emma and Millie, for ministering to my fall-sick heart.

Before we took my family back to the airport, we threw leftover Thanksgiving dinner in the freezer.  I decided to try to jazz it up a bit this afternoon to turn it into a nice dinner.  I sort of used this recipe, although I did a ton of altering due to my limited resources.  I made my own cream of chicken soup mixture and subbed carrots for celery.  I also added French fried onions to the top because why not?  It was seriously delicious.  Highly recommend.

Decorating for Christmas takes me no more than ten minutes, as you can see by the state of our tiny tree.  Don't tell my kids that it's not normal.  They are super excited and are already begging to open their gifts.  I like our little tree.  It adds such a nice glow to the living room.

I hope all you lovely people are gearing up for a beautiful season celebrating Emmanuel, God with us.  May the miracle of His birth not be lost on us!

~Abby

Racing Through Mokhotlong

Ellee and her new BFFs

Four weeks ago, when the World Race team arrived in Mokhotlong, we had no idea how they would nestle into our lives and hearts and leave us wishing that they didn't have to move on!  It's been such a treat to have them here and enjoy living our lives together.  Today they left Mokhotlong to journey on to another country where I know they will be a blessing and I pray they will also be blessed.

It is such a treat for us to have other "makhoa" (white people/foreigners) around.  For me, it's sweet to have friends close in age -- despite our obvious gap in life-position, I really do belong in that generation -- to have around.  Most of our friends here are a good deal older than I am.  Also, it warmed my heart to see some of the girls jogging around Mokhotlong.  They had to be adding to my stereotype of the "white girl runner" in town.  Nearly every day I jog and nearly every day I receive the same questions about what I'm doing and where I'm going.  Now at least people here can see it's not just me; we are all weird!

For my kids, it is sweet to have big kids they can look up to.  They loved going up to the mission house to hang with the team during their off-times.  I sometimes had to hold them back to allow the team some solitude.  It's great to have people you can trust to look after your little ones.  I know we'll be hearing stories from Kyle and Ellee for weeks and months to come of all the fun they had with the team.

We enjoyed lots of dinners together.  As I can't easily accommodate twenty guests in my home, we made a meal schedule up and let the team choose which meal suited their cravings best.  It was a great way to get to know each of them on a more personal level.  Sadly I didn't get a photo of the first meal, which was Cracker Barrel chicken tenders and the fixings.  But the rest we did document, including tacos, pizza, copycat Chick-Fil-A, and spaghetti.  The spaghetti night was a big hit for five hungry guys and two hungry girls and they killed three pounds of pasta, as much meat sauce as I could fit in my big blue pot, and two big loaves of bread.

Pizza night

Movie Night

Jono's Table Setting Skills

Taco Night

Games after Tacos

Faux Chick-Fil-A

The Spaghetti Crew

Spaghetti Night

Rudy Night

S'mores in the Cave

So long World Racers!  May your journeys be fruitful and may your lives shine brightly for Him!  Thanks for brightening our lives for a time.  We will miss you!

~Abby

Shepherds of Men

The past two days we have had the honor of hosting a group of outstanding young men.  The shepherd TIMO (Training In Mission Outreach) team stopped by our house yesterday and again today during a jaunt to a far-out village.  These guys are the cream of the crop, let me tell you, and they mean business - about food and the Gospel.

Left to right : Sam, TIMO team leader from England; Chris, South African born, now an English citizen; Mark, Montana, USA; Caleb, Pennsylvania, USA; Tobias, Germany; Spencer, Iowa, USA.

In November, three Americans, one German and one South-African-turned-British came to Lesotho to spend two years living among and witnessing to the Basotho shepherds.  The shepherds are a subculture within the Basotho people who live in the rural mountains, herding flocks and surviving under extremely difficult circumstances.  Oftentimes shepherds are ostracized as outsiders and there are social and geographical blocks to reaching them with the gospel.  Here shepherds are largely illiterate; their traditions are to sing songs and tell stories as a way of passing along important information.  The TIMO team came to impart a set of Bible stories which were developed by two female AIM (Africa Inland Mission) missionaries and translated into Sesotho.  Because the shepherds are exclusively men, typically between 18-35, AIM intended to send young men to live and work with them.  This group of guys signed up for two years of extreme living.  We (Jonathan and I) are truly challenged by their courage and commitment to the gospel.

There is something of a gaping hole in the missional community where young men are concerned.  It is commonly known that the missional force is largely made up of single women and older couples.  It does seem that the trends are changing and we know a significant number of young families on the field.  However, the number of single missionary guys we know could be counted on one hand.  Until we met all these guys.  They are serious about what they’ve come to do and we are so proud of them.

Their living conditions are even more isolated and primitive than I think I can accurately depict.  Obviously, I haven’t lived where they are living.  However, we pass by the area in the vast, seemingly uninhabited mountains where they stay, during our trips in and out of Mokhotlong.  Their huts are only about three feet high with a thatched roof and just an elevated space for sleeping.  The shepherds (Basotho shepherds and the TIMO team alike) have nothing but the clothes on their back, the blankets they wear for warmth and shield from the sun, and a spoon for eating their breakfast and dinner.  Both meals consist of a thick maize meal called pap and occasionally some wild greens they find growing nearby where they live.  They drink water from the streams around their huts.  I do believe they have a bar of soap but judging by how the guys looked when they showed up at my house and how my sink looked after they washed their hands, they must not invest too much time in utilizing it.  That’s okay.  As I see it, why bother?

From sunup to sundown these guys are outdoors.  They are working to learn Sesotho so they can better communicate with their shepherd neighbors.  They hike up and down mountains, play a familiar game amongst the shepherds with sticks and rocks, sing, read and sometimes nap while out on herd duty.  In the mornings and evenings, they take turns making the fire to cook their pap.  It’s as if they are on a two-year long extremely difficult camping trip.  But a camping trip with an eternal purpose.

Every forth week of the month, the team leaves their post, called a motebong, in the mountains and retreats to a house in Clarens, South Africa.  Their TIMO team leaders also live Clarens and facilitate their travel and work with the TIMO program.  In Clarens, the guys can shower, eat whatever they want, watch a movie or just take a nap in a real bed.  They also have internet access during that time to contact their loved ones back home.  Because TIMO is focused on mission training, there is also a curriculum that goes along with the program.  The guys are reading some of their assignments while at the cattle posts, and completing the rest of their assignments while in South Africa.

The guys were at our house for breakfast on Thursday morning, so we invited a few of our closest friends here in Mokhotlong to meet and visit with them.  The team arrived fully clad in shepherd attire, although they’d ditched their blankets and boots for coming indoors.  I made up 24 egg/cheese/bacon mini-quiches in my muffin pans.  Then I made two loaves of fresh bread and cut up a whole bowl worth of fresh fruit.  We served that along with all the drinks we could come up with here in Mokhotlong : juice, hot tea, coffee, Coke, water, ginger beer (like ginger ale), Mountain Dew, sweet tea and milk.  It was absolutely demolished.  Then they set off to their village destination about four hours from here.  Jonathan was able to join them and enjoyed his time getting to know them all a bit better.

Kyle making sure everyone had a car to play with.

Breakfast grub

Turns out Tobias already knew our neighbor/friend Ntsimane

Eating and catching up on the Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament.

Upon their return yesterday afternoon, I served up Double Doozies per Kyle’s suggestion.  After those vanished, I made up some soft pretzels and they were also gone in no time. Apparently eating pap (think really thick grits) breakfast and dinner can leave some people hungry for comfort food.  I specialize in comfort food so I was happy to oblige.  At least we could send the guys off with bellies full of American junk food and prayers for a successful ministry at the motebong.  

We will see the guys again in a couple weeks at our quarterly AIM-Lesotho prayer day.  I’ve been assigned to making treats for tea time.  Now I’ve got to pull some more tricks out of my sleeve and I will obviously have to make at least twice as much as I was originally expecting.  I see a lot of pans of brownies in my future…  Happily.  It is a privilege to serve those who are giving so much for others.  Do join us in praying for the Lesotho shepherd TIMO team.

~Abby

To read more about the Basotho shepherds, check out Jonathan's research paper he wrote for one of his seminary requirements.

Why Don't You Just Ship Your Car?

Rocky doesn’t get enough attention.  He’s the hardest working member of our team, besides me of course ;).  Seriously, living where we live and doing what we do would be impossible without this tank.

Our first picture with Rocky who is named after the body builder in Toy Story

Before moving to Africa, we had to raise what seemed to us a ridiculous amount of money for a vehicle.  Little did we know what sorts of adventures we would get ourselves into with these 4-wheels…. wading rivers, climbing rocks, bumping along gravel roads for hours.  While living in the US, we drove a Toyota Avalon which served us well.  We paid cash for it, it didn’t give us any trouble and it was comfortable.  At this point, with two carseats, it would have been tight but we could have made do.  On many occasions we were asked, “Why don’t you just ship your car?”  Especially when we were initially way under funded for our vehicle project, it seemed like a somewhat reasonable idea.  Of course, shipping a car internationally isn’t exactly a walk in the park we hear and it is also quite costly.  So we stuck with the advice of our organization and fellow missionaries and charged forward trying to raise the money for a 4-wheel-drive tanker.  We didn’t really have to do much for the money for him; in the end two large donations made up the majority of the necessary funding to buy our Land Rover, although many friends and family contributed to purchasing him.

Looking at vehicles that might fit the bill, I specifically said I didn’t want to drive or ride around in something that looked like an army tanker.  Rocky could hardly look more like one unless we got him a custom camo paint coat.  Dark green, boxy, powerful and tough, he basically belongs on the front lines.  We believe he is on the front lines.  While he isn’t the most comfortable vehicle to take a trip in, he’s spacious, reliable and strong.  He takes the “roads” (glorified cow paths) up here like it’s his job.  Well it is his job.  We feed him food, get him a number of gizmos and gadgets and replace his tires and he does the rest.

About once a month, we drive him down this road……..

……to buy our groceries and anything else we’ve realized we need while up here.  Jono, the car packing king, can stuff him full from top to bottom if necessary.  On any given trip, he carries the four of us, along with a suitcase, a pack & play, Ellee’s stroller, Kyle’s bike, 3 coolers, 5 reusable shopping bags full of food, a few pillows and blankets and goodness knows what else.  Once he had 4 suitcases, the coolers, the stroller, the pack & play, a toaster oven, pillows, blankets and a rocking chair and who knows what else  He loved it.

We use the back-a-Rocky (as it’s affectionately known to Kyle) for loads of other functions.  It can be a picnic table and a port-a-loo (not at the same time), a napping spot, a play gym, or a truck bed.  While he cruises along nicely on paved, smooth roads in the lowlands, he seems to prefer the challenge of climbing rocks and crossing rivers.  Sometimes we can’t help but laugh at how easily he takes on those things, like it’s nothing to drive through or over anything we put in his path.  It’s during those moments, when our heads are hitting the ceiling every five seconds as we bump along, that Jono and I will jokingly look at each other and ask “Why don’t you just ship your car?"

Picnic on the top-a-Rocky

This weekend we took him out on some rough roads and through a few rivers to a village for an evangelistic meeting.  It didn't even faze him.  Truly, we couldn’t make it like we do without this guy.  I think he deserves way more credit than we give him.  He’s practically part of the family and we’re glad we decided against shipping our car.  We’re hoping to get many more years out of Rocky.

Just imagine that's us because we were following right behind.....

....Not a boat or a canoe but a beast!

~Abby

Tlotlisang

Meet Tlotlisang.  Today is his 8th birthday!  He lives across the street from us and is Kyle’s best neighborhood friend.  Daily he comes knocking on our door asking to play with Kyle.  He has a sweet and gentle spirit we have grown to love and appreciate.

A couple months ago, Tlotlisang’s mother died unexpectedly.  Estranged form his father, Tlotlisang lives with his uncle, our dear friend Ntate Ntsimane.  Long before his mother passed away, he came to live here in Mokhotlong to be cared for by Ntsimane.  I dare say in this boy’s short eight years of life, he has experienced more difficulty and heartache than I have at three times his age.  Nevertheless, his smile exudes friendliness and contentment.  He is well cared for by his aunt and uncle, attends school here in Mokhotlong, and plays hard outside during his free time.

Tlotlisang and his cousin, Tsepo, making sand birthday cakes this morning in our yard.

Ntate Ntsimane and his wife, Mme MaTsolo, care for a number of boys who aren’t biologically their own.  Along with Tlotlisang, they are the caretakers of Tlotlisang’s older brother, as well as 2 or 3 other young boys between the ages of 12-14.  The scourge of AIDS has left so many children parentless.  In other instances, children are left in the village with relatives while parents go to the city to find work in order to support their families.  The boys are responsible for their own cooking and their own laundry.  I’ve personally witnessed Tlotlisang at age 7, hand washing his own laundry.  Once I asked MaTsolo if he is any good at washing his clothes.  With a faint smile on her face, she told me that he wasn’t very good at all.  And sometimes when he is asleep, she sneaks into his room and takes some of his clothes to wash for him, to lighten the burden of his laundry.  All of the boys sleep in a small home on the same property as Ntsimane.

The house the boys live in.

Shortly after we moved here, MaTsolo informed me that Tlotlisang was highly concerned about Kyle.  He had sat her down to discuss with her that he believed Kyle needed to be in school.  He told her he would walk him to school and help him to learn to read and write, because he was already helping another boy in the school to do the same.  MaTsolo tried to explain to him that Kyle was much too young to attend school, which pacified his concern for Kyle’s education.

Oftentimes Tlotlisang sits on our front porch with us while we enjoy the morning sun.  Yesterday while we has here, I asked him when his birthday was.  When he replied with, “tomorrow!”, I immediately began to plan a birthday cake for him.  With Ntsimane and MaTsolo currently out of town, I knew there wasn’t a way in the world that little boy was going to have a cake for his 8th birthday.  After nap time, Jonathan and Kyle ran down to the local shop to buy cocoa powder and icing sugar.

With Ellee fast asleep in her crib last night, Kyle and I began to bake a cake for a very special boy.  My son was giddy to help me use the hand mixer and even happier to lick the beaters.  At 11pm last night, I was icing this chocolate cake with this chocolate butter cream icing, per Tlotlisang’s request.  I was so happy he wanted chocolate.  As I don’t have two cake pans of the same shape, I think this cake could easily be classified as the ugliest birthday cake in history.  However, because it tasted great, I don’t think any one minded.  

Eight of the neighborhood kids showed up for the festivities, which was a fear of mine.  Earlier there were only four — boys who regularly play around here.  But by the time I got outside with the cake, that number had doubled - well, 7 boys and 1 random girl.  Oh well, the cake was plenty big enough for each kid to have a good size piece and still leave some to share with Ntsimane and MaTsolo once they return.  We blew up some Happy Birthday balloons and presented the birthday boy with a bag of gifts Kyle picked out for him this morning at Pep (think The Dollar Store).  Kyle chose two motorcycles, a small bag of candy, a bag of marbles and a beanie to go into the birthday bag.  The kids sang “Happy Birthday” in English and then again in Sesotho before they began devouring their cake.  I think everyone seemed to enjoy it because no one left a morsel on their plate.

Occasionally I ponder what exactly my role is here in Lesotho.  With Jonathan busy working with Theological Education by Extension, along with meeting regularly for language lessons, and working towards his Masters, I’m almost always just busy around the house with my kids.  Don’t get me wrong, I love it.  I wouldn’t have it any other way because I believe I am right where I need to be.  But it’s days like today that remind me — I do have a ministry all of my own, and not just to my own children.  It may not be in a classroom, or in any organized setting, but I pray the time and energy I invest in the children who play at my house will produce lasting results.  I pray I am able to show love to “the least of these.”  In a country full of hurting, lonely and dying children, I pray a smile, a chat on the porch, or a slice of chocolate cake will shine a little light into their day.  We love Tlotlisang and the sweet friendship he shows to our kids.  I hope he had the happiest of birthdays!

~Abby