Thursday, March 5th

Still the first day in Lesotho….

Rohini Knight came to pick us up at the Maseru Sun Cabanas Hotel lobby around 9:00am. After a breakfast at the hotel, (we had been up since 3:30 am), we jumped in a van and her driver navigated the one and a half hour drive from the capitol through the countryside to the district of Leribe where we arrived at our destination: Joy To The World Ministries in the village of Sebatoane.

Drs. Christy (Rohini’s husband) and Rohini Knight are originally from Sri Lanka and have been missionaries in Lesotho for 21 years. Their original connection into this country was through a friendship with an ambassador from Lesotho who was the nephew of the previous King of Lesotho, Letsie II. Christy and Rohini remained close with the royal family and Rohini became a good friend of the Queen who traveled with her to several Christian Women’s conferences in South Africa and the US. Rohini told us of the late Queen’s passion and love for the people of Lesotho and that she had fasted and prayed for her people every week for 20 to 30 years before she passed away at the age of 65 just a few years ago.

Hearing of the the late queen’s devotion (she is the Queen Mother to the current King Letsie III) to God and to her people made me wonder if she might not be the woman in my dream crying for her country of Lesotho.

We arrived at the compound of Joy To The World Ministries and toured their buildings which they have carved out of a once primitive village which was devoid of electricity, few houses and even few trees when they first came on the scene 21 years ago. Now they have a school of around 400 children, an Esther’s House boarding school of around 40 teenage girls who are from so far away that they must live at the school to be able to attend. There are few primary schools in Lesotho and even fewer high schools. We met some families whose children would have to walk an hour and a half one way to be able to attend the nearest high school.

We are beginning to see that one of the big problems in Lesotho is the teens and young adults having little proper care, education, and training. They have virtually no extra curricular activities in the schools or communities. There are few if any sports, dance or recreational activities for young people in an emerging country where the adults are consumed with struggling for their own survival. Women and children are also not valued in the old tribal system, so it is easy to see how the young people would turn to pre-marital sex, alcohol and drugs when there are no goals to achieve, nothing to strive for in a culture that seems to be pervaded with a feeling of helplessness.

Dr. Kristy Knight has built a clinic which serves the people in the surrounding villages where he practices general medicine delivering babies and taking care of the community’s medical needs. Dr. Rohini Knight is the pastor of their local church which also serves the staff of the ministry and the surrounding community.

After our tour, we experienced a delicious meal, a mixture of Sri Lankan and African cooking prepared by Rohini.

After lunch, we were rushed off to experience another life changing memorable adventure.

More later……

Love to ALL!!!!!!