Email address: jflorafamily@gmail.com

Our  NEW Africa address is:

Jim and Teresa Flora

PO Box 151

Fouriesburg 9725

Republic of South Africa

Please note: If you need more prayer cards, please email Codi Freeman at codifreeman@gmail.com  to request them.  Thanks!

If you would be interested in coming to Lesotho on a volunteer mission trip please contact our Stateside Volunteer Coordinator, TK Kleier at terry.kleier@noble.net

To learn more about our ministry to the shepherds of the Maluti Mountains, email Delinda Marling at delinda86@aol.com

If you would like to receive our monthly updates, please email Debbie Trammell at  prayersintoafrica@gmail.com

 Please scroll down for the posts . . . 

Today, I was reminded just how different things are where the Lord has placed us.  Today was the day I met again with ‘Ntate Mahola to study the Bible.  We reviewed the session from 2 weeks ago, and he had no questions.  We started looking at another passage, and I told him to stop me if he had any questions.  We were about half-way through the first verse when he stopped me.  I served as a pastor in the USA for 16 years, and I have never heard this question from anyone there (that’s right, Phil, even you didn’t ask this one).   The question surprised me…even caught me a little off guard.  Remember, ‘Ntate Mahola is a new follower of Jesus, and one who admitted having no knowledge of God just a few weeks ago after expressing an interest in following Jesus.  His question?  Here it is: “How many gods do we have?”  ‘Ntate Sefiri was translating for me today, and he said he could tell that the question surprised me, but he said the question should encourage me.  In our setting, learning about God and what it means to follow Him is a process, and many people have no background in scripture, and because of that,  no knowledge of God.  When they hear the gospel,some of them want to follow Jesus, but they know nothing.  They start with a blank slate.  They haven’t heard the stories in Sunday School.  They haven’t heard about God’s love or His wrath.  They haven’t heard that there is ONE God.  We spent lots of time answering questions today…good questions, about original sin, where did demons come from, and what is a throne, among others.  Okay, nobody in the US ever asked me what a throne is, either.  This ministry is very different than what I did back home.  Back in the US, there was generally a basis of Biblical knowledge, but here, there is little or none.

On the other hand, ‘Ntate Mahola also said something that reminded me very much of ministry at home.  Here is what he said, “‘Ntate Jim, when you are standing up there preaching, everyone wants to follow Jesus, but when they go home, there is no change.”  Some things are the same, even on the other side of the world.

Until ALL have heard, Jim

We  have a gate into our yard.  Our yard has a fence, and we lock the gate every night.  Our gate has a bell on it.  It is somewhat like a cowbell, but is homemade.  This morning, we were greeted by the sound of the bell ringing.   There were 2 Basotho women standing at the gate.  They are faithful attenders to our Bible study at Ha Kinini.   They wouldn’t have come in the yard even if the gate hadn’t been locked…they are deathly afraid of Lottie the Border Collie.  Why were they here so early?  Teresa was still cooking breakfast.  They had come to the botanical gardens just down the street to inquire about jobs, but there were none available.  So, while they were so close, they thought they would stop in and see ‘Me Teresa and ‘Ntate Jim.  They were talking a hundred miles an hour, and they don’t speak English.  I did pretty well understanding for about 4 sentences, then I was lost!  Teresa cooked them some breakfast while I went to get a receipt for my rent and buy some electricity.  When I returned, they were still talking about a hundred miles an hour.  Fortunately, ‘Me Thato had arrived by that time, so we could have her translate.  Okay, to the encouraging thing.  One of the ladies is ‘Me Malipoe (Ma-dee-poo-ee).  Both she and her husband accepted Christ several weeks ago.  Her husband is ‘Ntate Mahola (Ma-hoo-la) from my “Where Do We Start” blog a couple of weeks back.  “‘Me Malipoe told us today that she is reading the Bible daily to her husband, and he told her that now God must come first in everything.  Now that is music to my ears!!

Until ALL have heard, Jim

Friday night…the computer is working just fine.  Saturday morning it is dead.  Our laptop is only a little over one year old.  On Saturday morning, exactly 2 days after the warranty expired, it decided to die.  This computer has been our lifeline to the states.  It has been the thing that has kept me in touch with my grandbabies, my sons, my daughters (I don’t call them in-laws), my mom, and my sister and brother…not to mention my friends. It was a wonderful gift from the deacons of Hamlin.   When we realized that there was absolutely nothing that we could personally do to make the computer turn on, we decided that our best bet was a quick trip to JoBurg.  Lesotho isn’t exactly flowing with computer shops or computer techs.  Being without a computer creates HUGE problems aside from me crying because I can’t skype my kids.  Jimmy has to submit all of our expenses through email.  Our bosses communicate with us through email.  We have to have a computer!  In JoBurg, we received the bad news that they could not repair the laptop.  In fact, they said that the best bet would be to return it to the states.  We couldn’t use the girls computer because they have a constant, charger problem….since arriving in Africa, we have purchased two “fake” Toshiba chargers.  We finally made the painful decision to buy a desktop computer.  We dug into the kids inheritance and purchased the best deal we could find in our part of Africa.  Hopefully it will last, at least, until our laptop is repaired.  Jimmy says it better last longer than that….

Now for the GREAT NEWS!  We got a phone call from our friend Tsepo, who lives in Mokhotlong.  The Mokhotlong District Council APPROVED our land request today!  All we need now is a C something form and we are good to go!  Keep praying…and we know that God will continue to prove Himself faithful.

It is time to get the girls to bed.  Bekah is annoying her sisters, Anna is studying for her English test tomorrow and hopefully her spelling test-she missed 6 words today on her pretest.  Gracie is taking her shower and singing.  Jimmy is walking around the house with a pad and pencil.  He is trying to make a list of all of our electrical “stuff” in the house.  His goal is to get a bid for wind turbine power so that we can submit our plan and strategy to our cluster leader ASAP.  We want to be ready to go when we get that C something form.  Anybody have any idea how many watts it takes to make a bed warmer go?….life in Africa…never boring.

 

Just to let you know,  we are receiving some much needed rain in the mountains.  We have been praying for rain, and it is raining all over Lesotho.  The crops have desperately needed a cool drink.  The Lord has answered with several days of substantial rainfall, and several more are expected.  That, however, has created another problem.  The rain in the Mokhotlong Region has made it impossible for us to go and set up to show the Jesus Film.  Where we have to go to camp is WAY back in the mountains, and several spots on the way back tend to be a little slick, and kind of on the side of a mountain, so we thought it best to cancel for this time, and try to reschedule sometime in the future.  Thanks for your prayers.  I’m sure that you have not prayed in vain.  Please continue to pray that the Lord opens the eyes of the Basotho concerning who Jesus is and what He has done for us. 

On another note, earlier this week there was about 100 horses grazing between the taxi stand and the police station here at Katse.  There are normally a few around, but this week there have been a ton of them.  Some have saddles, some do not.  I finally got an answer as to why they were all around.  According to a local chief, the police raided a cattle post  in the mountains.  A cattle post is a place way up in the mountains where they take the cattle and sheep to graze for the summer.  Few people other than shepherds ever go up there.  All of the horses that have been around were horses taken in the raid, and were all stolen.  Over the past couple of days, owners have been coming to claim their horses, bringing ownership papers or their chief to identify their horses.  We had some donkeys visit our house the other day.  Teresa is convinced that they were trying to seek asylum and enter the witness protection program.  The only thing worse than being a donkey in Lesotho is being a dog at the village of Ha Kanono.

Until ALL have heard, Jim

If you read my blog a couple of days ago, I think I gave a pretty fair look at the spiritual landscape here in Lesotho.  Today, I started something new.  ‘Ntate Mahola came several weeks ago, expressing an interest in following Jesus.  Today, I started meeting with him, one-on-one, to begin the process of separating truth from confusion.  The biggest question?  Where do we start?

‘Ntate Mahola (Pronounced “Ma-hoo-la”) is probably about my age…maybe a little younger.  He has a wife, kids, and grandkids, and he loves them.  He cannot read or write.   He lives with his wife in a small rock rondavel on the side of a mountain in the village of Ha Kanini.  Today he came to our house, and I sat down with him to begin teaching him the Bible.  Where did we start?  We started with an understanding that the Bible is true, and what I would teach would come from the Bible.  Then, we began to talk about God from Psalm 139.  ‘Ntate has no understanding of our theological terms.  Terminology I used to use every day has to be put aside, and I have to find a way to express the concepts without the technical terms.  I have been a preacher and Bible teacher for 17 years.  I have studied and learned the terms and definitions.  Now I must teach differently.  For those of you who sat in my Christianity 101 class, I have to try to teach without the dry erase board.   Hard to imagine, huh?  What did I teach ‘Ntate today?  From Psalm 139, I taught the omniscience, the omnipresence, and the omnipotence of God.  I didn’t call them that, and for that I’m sure he was thankful, but that is what he saw in the scriptures.   We talked about how God knows us, made us, and has set our path before us.  We talked about how God knew before either of us were born that we would sit in this living room and open His Word…”Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it all.” We talked about how we could cross the mountain, and he could hide from me, but he could not hide from God…”Where can I go from Your Spirit?”  We talked about how God made our bodies to function without our thoughts contolling our breathing or the beating of our hearts, yet He allows us to control the movements of our fingers…”fearfully and wonderfully made.”   We talked about how God made us for a purpose, and that now that he is learning about God, he must share it with his family and neighbors.  When we finished, I asked if he had questions.  He said that he knew everything I said was true.    We covered a lot of ground in a short afternoon.   He told me a few days ago that he knew nothing about God.  We still have a long way to go….but it’s a start.

Until ALL have heard, Jim

January 20th is Anna’s 11th Birthday…this picture tells who Anna is and what she loves…we love you Anna!

There are many customs and traditions here in Lesotho.  Now, please hear me:  there are many traditions and customs that are good…we have many in the U.S.  There are many here that are good, but many are no more than superstition.  For example: if a woman walks in front of the opening of the kraal (the rock pen where the cattle, sheep, goats, and horses are kept at night), the fertility of the livestock will be negatively affected.  If your children eat eggs, they will mature too quickly, and a girl may even become pregnant.  Who knows how these customs and traditions started. 

Just as traditions and customs can veer off course, so can the understanding of God.  Many Basotho understand that there is a supreme and powerful God that created them, they just think He is uncaring and cannot be known.  They do not believe that we can have access to Him without a mediator.  That part is right of course, and the mediator’s name is Jesus, but here is where their beliefs take a whole different turn.  The mediation of people to God must be done by the ancestors, and here is the problem: they spend all their time trying to appease the ancestors.  According to their beliefs, only the ancestors have access to God, so only they can know what God wants.  So, who has access to the ancestors?  The sangomas (witch doctors).  They will consult with the ancestors to see what you need to do.  Many families here still have a yearly encounter with the sangoma.  He or she comes to their house, and performs rituals to “protect” the family.  Of course they must pay for this service.  If there is a problem in the village, the sangoma has the answer as to what is causing the problem.  If your cow dies, or crops don’t grow, the sangoma will consult with the ancestors and they will tell who it is that is the cause of your problems.  Just the other day, Teresa and I were in a village, and a lady had a “sangoma bottle” around her neck.  You see many people wearing these.  They are bought from the sangoma for varying protection from sickness, lightening, death, spells, and about anything else you can think of.  She was asking for “Li pillis.”  (Pron.= dee-pill-ees)  Translation: “The pills” for pain.  Teresa asked about the bottle hanging from her neck.  She said the sangoma gave it to her.  Teresa told her that the pills would relieve her pain temporarily, but that only Jesus could give healing.  Then she started ranting and raving, raising her hands and proclaiming Jesus as God and glorifying Molimo (Pron.=Moe-dee-mo), which is Sesotho for God.  Let me remind you that she had this bottle from the sangoma around her neck.  Teresa said if she really believed that about God, wouldn’t she give the bottle to her?  The lady started laughing and said she couldn’t do that.  Next question: “Why not?”  The sangoma would beat her.  I said, “Give the bottle to me, and send the sangoma to me.  I don’t think he will beat me.”  She clutched the bottle and refused to give it up.  Why?  Confusion.  To her, God is powerful, but the access to Him must come through some other means than the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  To her, there just has to be something else needed.  She finds that “something else” in a bottle purchased for 10 rand (about a dollar and a half) from a sangoma.  I wonder, if for her, Jesus is just another one of the ancestors… just one on which she can place a name. 

Her story is like the story of 1000’s of others.  Romans 1: 21 says, “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, and became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”  v. 25 says, “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” (NASB)  Those verses describe the spiritual landscape here in Lesotho.  The ancestors, called “balimo” (ba-dee-moe), are merely creatures who are being served by those who have become futile in their speculations.  As a result, confusion abounds.  Romans 10: 17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (NASB)  These beliefs will not change because we have traveled many miles to be here.  They will not change because I gave up a nice salary in a nice church to be here.  They will not change because you are nice people that read this blog.   They will only change as the Word of God is proclaimed.  Pray that we are faithful to that task.

Until ALL have heard, Jim

If you stand quietly in front of Arlene and Dottie’s nesting box you can hear little chicks peeping from inside the eggs.   We will keep you posted.

Our Girls…Gracie, Anna, and Rebekah in Concert!

Next week we have a great opportunity.  Let me give you just a little background . . . Last week I received a phone call from Basotho team member and fellow IMB missionary Dr. Larry Pepper (that’s right, Dr. Pepper).   Larry is the director of the Lesotho Flying Doctor Service, which flies into inaccessible mountain clinics with Mission Aviation Fellowship.  He has a couple coming in from the states to help him do ministry and share the gospel by flying into those mountain clinics.  He asked if we would be interested in a joint project with his team, doing medical clinics and showing the Jesus Film at night in the Mokhotlong Region.  We jumped on that!  A few phone calls later to our contact in Mokhotlong, and,  we are ready yo go.  So next Thursday, Teresa, the girls, and I will head for Mokhotlong to  make sure everything is set.  The Peppers and their team will travel to Mokhotlong on Friday.  Once they arrive, they will meet with the village health care workers and teach them how to use an AIDS Cube.  It is similar to the Evange-Cube, if you are familiar with that, but is a tool used for AIDS education.  They will also be sharing with the Evange-Cube.  On Friday night, we will be showing the Jesus film on the land that has been promised to us, which Teresa affectionately calls “Maruti Mountain.”  ”Maruti” is Sesotho for “preacher” or “pastor.”  We will hold a medical clinic on Saturday in that village (the village we will be living in is called Makoarane–prounounced Ma-kwa-ra-nee).  On Saturday night we will show the Jesus film in another village in the area.  We have left the decision on which village that will be with our contact there . . . his name is Tsepo (Tsay-poe).  So, now you have some very specific items of prayer.  Pray that the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the people as they watch the Jesus Film.  Pray that they see themselves in need of a Savior.  Pray that they will trust in Christ alone.  Pray for safe travel for Dr. Larry and his wife, Sally Pepper, and their team as they fly in and out  of some of the most inaccessible places in the Maluti Mountians.  Pray for the MAF pilots as they fly.  Pray that the gospel is presented clearly, and that the name of Jesus is lifted high.  And that, my dear friends, is why we came!

Until ALL have heard, Jim