When there is no water, nothing grows; when nothing grows, there is no food.

Lesotho has been thrust into a state of emergency due to food scarcity. One of four people (Lesotho Disaster Management Authority) in the country are currently at risk and this number climbs daily. Even if Lesotho receives normal amounts of snow and rain, it will be a year from now before the effects of this drought finally subside. This is because nearly all Basotho live off subsistence farming, growing only what they will need to currently survive. The problem is this year nothing grew.

At the hangar one morning, during our time of prayer, Ntate Lehlohonolo shared that he had walked door to door through a community over the weekend and many people told him they were eating about twice a week. TWO MEALS A WEEK! A meal here typically consists of papa (boiled cornmeal—think very thick grits) and maybe a leafy green vegetable such as cabbage, spinach or Swiss chard. That’s all. No meat. Many he spoke to were elderly and children, the most marginalized of the Basotho people, and those at the greatest risk for illness.

Ntate Lehlohonolo has been attending seminary to become a Pastor. He has planted a growing church in his neighborhood, and, under his leadership, the church body desires to meet the need as they are able. This is why he was going door to door. It is also worth noting that most of the church members themselves are hungry and have very few resources at their disposal. As he shared, he was choked up; he is so compassionate, which is usually not an acceptable trait in a man here as it is considered weakness. It is an honor to work beside him in the hangar and to be his friend! I have watched him grow greatly in his faith and I’m in awe at how God is using him to show love and compassion. My relationship with him is allowing me to also be the hands and feet of Jesus by working with his church.  

Would you pray with me that God will provide for the needs of the Basotho people who are struggling right now?

‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. ’” –Jesus (Matt. 25:40b)

The post “I was hungry…” appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” —John 3:1 NIV

This is the first blog post I have written for MAF as a mom… so seems appropriate I would write about an experience involving my new daughter, Wyleigh Relebohile (Lebo). Recently we joined another MAF family, the Youngs and made a visit to Katse, a village in the mountains of Lesotho. We were going to give the Youngs exposure to village life and to stay with and encourage some friends of mine, Jim & Teresa Flora, who are missionaries there with their three daughters. The Floras had arranged a full schedule for us that would begin after we had lunch… but then, plans changed.

Teresa took Lebo and me with her to respond to an urgent need, while Jim and the Youngs set out to visit a small nearby village as planned. Lebo and I jumped in Teresa’s truck along with a translator and one of Teresa’s teammates, Leah. On the drive down, Teresa explained to us the reason for our sudden change of plans. A seven-year old child, I’ll call her M, had been sexually assaulted by her own father. She was taken to a hospital by her village’s Chief to be examined, and we were on our way to pick them up and find a safe place for M to stay. I hugged Lebo a little closer as Teresa’s words hung in the silence… I know rape is common in Lesotho, far too common; but now I was coming face to face with it and so was my newly adopted three-year-old daughter.

We arrived at the hospital an hour later and loaded M and the Chief into the truck to make the drive back up the mountain. M had a radiant smile and showed no signs of mistrust as she climbed into a car full of women she’d never seen, most of whom were white-skinned. It was mind-blowing how resilient she seemed to be. Almost immediately M and Lebo began to flirt, and then chatter, and eventually they played. I went from being nervous for what Lebo might be exposed to, to being incredibly grateful she was there. Lebo was in every way a minister of the Gospel that day. She immediately accepted and showed love to M in the way only a child could. It was my first glimpse into serving God together as mother and daughter.

I’m excited to see how God will continue to use us to shine His light in the dark—bringing the hope and love of Jesus to those who desperately need to know Him.

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M has been granted a foster family who know Jesus and who want desperately to adopt her and to love her. We are praying with them that M will understand she has a heavenly Father who deeply loves her. Please join us in praying for M.

The post His Children Shine appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

And then the unexpected happened.

The security wall around the home was damaged by a moving truck; the painters said they needed four days but it actually took 10; the carpets couldn’t be cleaned until the paint was dry; and then, the morning of moving day… my back went out.

I was helpless, in pain and unable to move let alone carry things.

I couldn’t help but think of the story of the paralyzed man from Mark 2: “They brought a paraplegic to him, carried by four men. When they weren’t able to get in because of the crowd, they removed part of the roof and lowered the paraplegic on his stretcher.”

My MAF teammates and friends sprang into action and literally did all the moving and even steam-cleaned the carpets while I was stuck in my bed. If they met an obstacle, they simply worked around it. It’s humbling when you are served in such a selfless way; even more so when you can do nothing to be of assistance. A few days later, even more friends showed up and helped get things where they belonged after the carpets were dry. There is a picture of them since I was able to be there by then, though they still wouldn’t let me carry anything.

God showed up and demonstrated His love through my “stretcher bearers”— the friends who had the grace to carry me when I couldn’t get there on my own.

The post Who Carries Your Stretcher? appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

I in them and You in Me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.” Prayer of Jesus in John 17:23

In my five years of serving with MAF in Lesotho, one of the things I have grown to appreciate the most is the missionary community. We are excited for each other’s breakthroughs, we mourn each other’s losses, we intercede and work together for God to be fully known and glorified here. We’re all on the same team.

A few weeks ago, many missionary women in Maseru experienced a deeper level of living in community. We were invited by one of our co-laborers to come together to learn, worship, fellowship and pray for one another—it was AWESOME! We spent two days digging deeply into the life of Joshua, contemplating how his obedience can also be our obedience. The ripple effects are still felt all over Maseru, especially in small group fellowships where we can be honest and transparent.

All this came to be because of a dream. One woman in our community had a vision to make it happen; she shared the vision with a few others. Those ladies encouraged her to “be strong and courageous,” and together they led over 20 missionary women into a time of deeper relationship and fellowship. The result was greater unity.

I was deeply moved by the trust and vulnerability in our final time of sharing and prayer together. We were asked to share our answer to this question:
“What is it in your life that God has called you to that seems too big, too much, impossible?”
For me that answer is stepping into the role of mother to an orphaned child… alone.

This Friday, May 29th, a meeting will be held to match available orphans with families who, like me, desperately want them. The community here is praying… I welcome you into my community and invite you to pray with us that God’s will be done. Thanks in advance for your prayers!

The post Blessed Unity appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” Psalm 27:14

Perhaps it is due to being raised in a time-oriented culture of microwaves, fast food, fast cars, fast coffee, and lightning-fast internet. Maybe it is because it often “feels” like wasted time. Or, perhaps it is the feeling of helplessness… the realization that there really isn’t anything we can do about our current circumstance to make it go any faster.

I find myself currently in a season of waiting… this time for a daughter. As of August 2014, I’ve been approved to adopt a local orphan in Lesotho and I’m overjoyed! But since then, I’ve been waiting. It is worth mentioning that the conservative estimation of orphans in Lesotho is 350,000, according to USAID, and of those, 180,000 of them are orphaned due to HIV.

I find myself heartbroken and overwhelmed considering the sheer numbers of children that aren’t in families. God created families to give us a picture of our relationship with Him. Family was His idea. I plead with the Lord to send a little girl my way, to be able to have a family of my own, and thus far His answer has been, wait.

Wait, and search the scriptures for others who waited, so I did.

There are a myriad of examples of God asking His children to wait; in fact, waiting is mentioned in the Bible over 150 times. You know what I learned? Every covenant God made came at the end of a season of waiting. So why resist it?

Simply put, I’m stubborn. Would you pray with me during this current season of waiting? Pray that I’ll rest in His hands, sit at His feet, and trust in His goodness. I would be so grateful.

Has God asked you to wait? Can I pray for you?

The post They That Wait appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Lesotho is generally a quiet and peaceful country; however, on August 30th, we experienced what the Prime Minister of Lesotho labeled an attempted coup. For several days tension was very high and the local police were not reporting for duty. No one on our team was allowed to travel alone or to be out after sundown. We went from being tired to being discouraged very quickly. We were encouraged to move our entire team out of Lesotho for a long weekend, so we could have a respite and decide some next steps.

I started looking for possible accommodations for our team, and through a series of phone calls I was led to the Van der Linde family farm, less than an hour away. They just so happened to have space for every MAF family to have their own room. The place was idyllic: great big open spaces, animals to feed and entertain, and lovely areas where we could hike or just take a stroll. In this time of chaos, it was as if God said to us, “Come away to a place I have prepared especially with you in mind. Come to me and I will give you rest.”

Lisa, our host, confided to me that she had been asking the Lord what she could do with all the empty space they had. She wanted to bless others, but God hadn’t yet showed her who… until I called. What a miraculous thing to see how God knew our need, God knew Lisa’s heart and desire to serve, and He arranged a divine appointment to fulfill them both. God is good all the time!

The post A Divine Appointment appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

On April 24, 80 community members, several clinicians, and ten MAF staff (about half of our team) met together in Lebakeng to make the needed repairs to the airstrip. The community recognized the need and the benefit and invited us to help them, not the other way round. The cost? Two flights and enough food to feed everyone. A small price to pay when you consider the number of lives that will be saved by keeping this airstrip operational. We worked shoulder to shoulder fixing the airstrip and making enough food for the crowd.

After the work was done and everyone was fed, we presented the Gospel and gave out audio and hard copies of Bibles in the Sesotho language—one for each village represented. Over 20 were given out that day and more were needed! We believe some there were hearing the Good News for the first time!

The post It Takes A Village – Part 2 appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Lebakeng is a village that is ONLY accessible on foot, by horse or by airplane; as a result, this is one of our most frequently used airstrips. Should you live in Lebakeng and have a medical emergency, you would:

• Go to the Lebakeng Clinic. This could be anywhere from a 15-minute to a six-hour walk, depending on your proximity. If clinic workers aren’t able to provide the care you need, which is likely if it is more than medication requested…
• You’ll need to walk down to the river about 30-45 minutes.
• Cross the river in boat—boat being a generous description.
• Walk to the nearest road another hour or so to hail a taxi/bus for a two-hour drive to the closest city, Qacha’s Nek. If you miss the taxi, which comes once daily, you’ll have to wait until the following day, likely without accommodation and exposed to the elements as there isn’t anything there by the road. Temps overnight in the mountains have already dropped to freezing as the winter season approaches.
• Once in Qacha’s Nek you’ll get public transport to Maseru, another 8–10 hours in a minivan holding 16 passengers.

In other words, the absolute fastest time you would reach the care you need, WITHOUT THE AIRPLANE, is 16 hours minimum. It is more likely to take 36–48 hours due to the infrequent transportation to and from Qacha’s Nek. The flight from the Lebakeng airstrip to Maseru is 40 minutes… a significant difference!
For the Basotho people who live in Lebakeng, the airstrip is a matter of life and death. But deep ruts were making the strip unsafe and causing undue wear and tear on our planes. Closure was a definite possibility…

…to be continued.

The post It Takes a Village – Part 1 appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

…righteous in the sight of God… observing all… blamelessly”

Elizabeth was righteous and blameless, obedient and faithful, so why not give her the son she begged for? Why did she have to wait until she and her husband were not just old but “very old?” But if God had answered her prayers in the way and in the time she expected, would she have had the honor of being the mother to the forerunner of the Messiah? Would that honor have gone to another? Unbeknownst to her, their “wait” would bring untold blessings, leading to “the fullness of time.” (Gal. 4:4).

I too am in a place of waiting. I’m a missionary, which is a dream come true and a fulfilled calling. While I love my life, there is a sense that there is “something” or more specifically “someone” missing from it. I have longed to be a mother and thus far God’s answer to me has been … wait. In May this year I’ll celebrate my 45th birthday. While 45 might not qualify as very old, it is certainly older than most first-time mothers. So I have a real empathy for Elizabeth’s struggle and appreciate her persistence.

Here in Lesotho, the number of orphans is growing at a faster rate than in any other country in sub-Saharan Africa. In a recent case study done in 2013 by Management Sciences for Health, an MAF client, there are just over 1 million children less than 18 years of age and of these, 34% are orphans. If ever adoptive parents were needed – the time is NOW.

In 2014 a door opened, allowing single, ex-patriot women to adopt in Lesotho, provided the women come from Sweden, Holland, Canada or the USA. (Are there any coincidences in the plan of God? I think not.)

I believe God may yet be leading me toward motherhood. In fact, I believe there is a girl alive right now in an orphanage, who will one day call me “Mom” … and this realization fills me with joy! He already knows the Mosotho child that needs the love I can give, and so, I will wait patiently.

Will you pray with me as I wait on the Lord for the little girl He has for me?

The post A Time To Wait appeared first on Mission Aviation Fellowship.

Now listen, daughter, don’t miss a word: forget your country, put your home behind you. Be here—the king is wild for you. Since he’s your Lord, adore him.” — Psalm 45:10-11

Recently I said goodbye to six friends who came for a week-long visit—two of them being some of my closest and most cherished friends. To say it was bittersweet is putting it mildly.

As a missionary, I live in this tension where southern California, the only home I knew for 40 years of my life, is no longer home for me. And the natural thought would be, Well then, surely Africa is now your home. Ah, but this also isn’t home. For me and for many other missionaries, home lies somewhere in between. So no matter where I find myself there is a sense of not fully belonging, of never feeling completely “at home.” But this difficulty, this tension, this complex life circumstance is a treasure! The truth for me now, and I pray it will ever be true until I’m face to face with Jesus, is that I’ll always be longing for home. Longing for the place where I will fully know, even as I am fully known.

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