I had an unrealistic expectation at the beginning of this trip that I would be able to read the bible straight through on this trip. At first I was really struggling to get through the rough parts. Let's be real, Leviticus... We should all get a gold star for finishing that book. I prayed constantly about God really revealing what He wanted me to get out of each book and amazingly I finished in less than six months. And even though it is difficult in parts, He has truly spoken to my heart. I was sitting on my chair in Lesotho staring at the animals, the land and the people who were suffering in this country. It was breaking my heart and that's when I found Joel. God answered my prayers and my eyes were opened to what the Word of God was telling me.
Joel 1:4, 10, &18- "What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust has left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten... The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil languishes... How the beasts groan! The beards of cattle wander aimlessly because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer."
When I look out at Lesotho, I see a barren and dry land that has been eaten away by more than just locusts. I sit next to groaning sheep in my village, Ha Pitsi, who are stuck in a cramped pen because there is nowhere to go. They have no 'land of plenty' to roam and the cattle wander around our village eating the little crops the people have because there is no land to graze on. Erosion has taken over the land of Lesotho. Dongas plague the land, but when you look over the barbed wire fence into South Africa there is no erosion. The grass is truly greener on the other side. The people have no hope for change either. Their faith in themselves, in a better future, and in God is diminished. But God reminds us in Joel 2, that there is always hope found in God.
Joel 2: 21-26-"Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things! Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield. Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer; and the cutter; my great army, which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame."
Rejoice because we believe in a God more powerful than poverty, than erosion, than hopelessness, than hunger. We believe in a God than conquers all; so be glad. He fills our floors with grain, but he also fills our hearts with hope and love. He not only restores the years that have been lost to locusts, he restores our hearts and makes them new in Him. Our hunger will not only be satisfied, but our souls will be satisfied. When I look at Lesotho I am not disheartened, God will restore the fortunes that Africa has and gather them together for His sake. He has blessed Africa beyond measure, the mountains of Lesotho will once again "drip with wine, the hills will flow with milk, and the brooks with water." God took special care and attention when he created and formed Africa and Lesotho they will soon realize that. Many are quick to say, "We are poor," "We don't want to live here," "Buy me a plane ticket to America, so I can live with you." Never are they looking at how blessed and what wonderful people they are.
Growing Nations is the organization we work with in Lesotho and it is amazing to see them wanting to feed Africa. Africa is hungry. Hungry for not only food, but for a savior. A savior who will rescue them from the hole they seem to be stuck in. Growing Nations is teaching them the agricultural techniques to feed themselves and also teaching them of a Savior who can feed their souls. They are trying to break the yoke of poverty, by equipping them with what they already have. It goes along wonderfully with what Experience Mission is also trying to do, not come in as the 'Great White Hope,' but have these people change their own situation. The coordinator of Growing Nations, August Basson told me that it is like the old saying, "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. But teach a man to think and change his life." Growing Nations is working with the Basotho people to think with a Christ like mindset. They are equipping Lesotho with the biblical, management and technology keys in order to change their lives. They are teaching them to farm and be proud to be a Basotho.