Most of you remember our language tutor.  ‘Ntate  is a lesson in culture any day of the week.  When I picked him up for our language lesson today, he told me a very interesting story that happened to him yesterday.  ‘Ntate is having a rondavel for guests built at his home.  He has hired a man to thatch the roof.  His daughter,is a doctor in South Africa, and she is paying for the labor on the rondavel.  Here is where the story gets interesting.  his daughter was going to send money up this week to pay the thatcher.  The thatcher knows this, so he goes to the village sangoma (witchdoctor), because the sangoma told him he could increase the amount of money the thatcher was to be paid.  He could double it, triple it, maybe even get him 6 times what he was supposed to be paid.  Of course the thatcher has to pay for this service.  When ‘Ntate entered his house, the sangoma was placing a vial of liquid on a string around the neck of the thatcher. ’Ntate doesn’t believe in witchdoctors.  ’Ntate wanted to know what they were doing.  When it was explained, ‘Ntate said that “he had had enough!”  Here is what he told me happened next: “I went into my bedroom, and pulled my shambock (a rather large stick with a big ball on one end) from under the bed.  I went into the next room and beat them both severely!  I hit them on the head and face . . . everywhere I could hit them I hit them.  Then I smashed the bottle!”  Needless to say, both men vacated the premises pretty quickly.  As he ran away, the sangoma told ‘Ntate that he would be killed by lightening.  ‘Ntate says he isn’t worried.  He says, “These sangomas are always deceiving, deceiving, deceiving.  I shouted at him that he best take care of himself!  Some of my neighbors told him he was fortunate that I did not shoot him.”  ‘Ntate is 83, but as he says, “I am a soldier!”  and it is always an adventure when he is around!

Until ALL have heard, Jim

Today, this blog serves as an apology to all of my English teachers.  From High School, Mr. Benton, I am truly sorry, and Dr. Midkiff, Mr. Gibbens, and Dr. Davis from Williams Baptist College, please accept my apology.  Why an apology?  Just one one reason: in order to learn Sesotho, I must forget or ignore almost every rule I have ever learned for English.  Here is an example: in English, you NEVER use the pronoun after using a noun in a sentence.  Saying, “My mother, she went to the store.” or “My brothers, they pray in church” would be an absolute NO-NO!  In Sesotho, however, that is exactly what you say: ” ‘Me oa ka o ile lebenkeleng.” ( literally: “Mother of me she went to the store.”) and “Bo abuti oa ka o rapela kerekeng.” ( Brothers of me they pray at church) What about this one: “The children are mine.”  “Bana ba bana ba ka.” (Literally “Children they children they mine.”)  I must admit, this is really straining my English minor!   Some days I think I am doing pretty well, and others I don’t know if I’ll ever get it.  Teresa says the language is “interesting.”  I am reasonably sure that when I say something “ka Sesotho”, it is not grammatically correct in either language.  To top it off, the same words are used in several different ways, sometimes with just a minor variation of inflection in your pronunciation.  We do the same in English, we just have learned them over years instead of a few months.  In English, we use “mark” in several different ways” “Take your mark”  “Make your mark” “That’s going to leave a mark” or “Where is Mark?”  In Sesotho, “ka” can have about 6 differnt meanings.  “Tsela” can mean cross, sprinkle, or road, depending on the context.  “Ke tsela tsela” means “I cross the road.”  Add the future tense, and it becomes “Ke tla tsela tsela.” (I will cross the road)  I am trying to learn, but some days it is a real struggle, and there are a few days when I just dread even looking at another word.  We are trying to be out where we can hear it more, because that seems to be a big part of the struggle right now.  I know HOW to say many things, but hearing them said and actually understanding them is another story.  If everybody would just tell me they are going “to the shop,” I would be okay.  I get that one every time!

Until ALL have heard, Jim

Well, after the last trip to the Mokhotlong Region, and visiting with the representative of the local goverment in the Khubelu Community, I have good news and bad news about our request for the land.  Which would you like first?  It doesn’t really matter, since I am writing, and you are reading, so . . . I will give you the good news first.  The good news is that the Paramount Chief and the Khubelu Council have both approved our request for the land.  That means that the land is reserved in our name, and no one else can claim it.  There is more good news:  while visiting with ‘Ntate Thabo, the local government representative, I asked about the boundaries of the land we requested.  It is about 3 times more land than I originally thought.  It is hard for me to judge just how big something is here because everything is so wide-open, but I’m guessing it is somewhere between 25 and 30 acres.   That means LOTS of room for the Goat Project  and horses to take the gospel into the mountains.  Now, for the bad news: there seems to have been some miscommunication or misunderstanding on who was meeting  and just what the last meeting concerning the land was actually about.  It seems that about a year ago, the Lesotho government “locked” all land distribution for the building of houses.  Not one person seems to know just when the land will be “released” for distribution.  More bad news: we cannot do anything with the land until it is released to us.  More bad news:  we cannot start the goat project until we have somewhere to put them.  There still doesn’t seem to be any rental properties in the area, although we are still running down a few leads.  Now, for more good news:  NONE of this has taken God by surprise.  He knew it all before we arrived in Lesotho.  He knew that this would give you the opportunity to be involved in His working all this out through your prayers . . . SO . . . keep praying that the government officials will release the land for distribution SOON!  We will be travelling to Mokhotlong again this weekend to show our IMB boss around the area.  While we are there, I am planning to go to the Department of Land Distribution to explain to them what we are planning and see if I can talk them into giving us an exemption…PRAY!!!!

Until ALL have heard, Jim

I have been doing some thinking, and here are some of the things I have been wondering about:

1. Why is it that every drunk I meet wants to correct my pronunciation of Sesotho?

2. Why is it that I can understand the drunks better than anyone else?

3.  What does “cold drink” really mean in Lesotho?

4. Why is the only English most small children know is: “Give me some sweets!’ or “Give me some money!”

5. Why is it that our house-helper (her name is Thato, pronounced “Ta-toe”) uses bleach on my black socks?

6. Why does she only use bleach on one sock of the pair?

7. Why only in a couple of spots on the one sock?

8. Why do I have to sign out when I leave the Katse compound for the first time every day, but never have to sign back in, or sign out if I leave a second, third, or fourth time?

9. Why is it that I keep wanting to call Thato “Tonto”?

10. Why is it, that with all of the advantages Christians in the U.S. have for spiritual growth, we continue to fail to take advantage of them?  I have thought on this one quite a bit.  American Christians have 3 opportunities every week to be taught the Bible.  Here in Lesotho, most Christians have 1 service per week, no Sunday School, no evening Bible study, and no mid-week service.  By the way, they walk to church, some of them for over an hour.  Most of them cannot study their Bibles every day because they do not have Bibles.  Most of their pastors have no training.  I wonder how many of us would long for the kind of teaching we have available if it was no longer available?  I wonder how many of us would long for a Bible if we didn’t have one?  I wonder if we would really long to study it?   I wonder . . . ?

Until All have heard, Jim

Our oldest son, Jim, coaches girl’s fastpitch softball at Pleasant Hope High School in Pleasant Hope, Missouri.  They just won the regional championship and have advanced to the final four in the Missouri State Playoffs.  If they win their next game, they will advance to the state championship.  Jim has been coaching at PHHS for 8 years and they have made it to the regional championship game before, but this is their first trip to the final four.  WE ARE PROUD OF HIM!

Our youngest son, Joshua, coaches girl’s fastpitch softball at Reeds Spring High School in Reeds Spring, MO.  His team lost in their district championship game.  Joshua and Jim’s teams actually played each other earlier this year.  The umpires always like it when the brothers play against each other.  Josh does a great job and WE ARE PROUD OF HIM!

Our middle son, Jason, has a new job!  Thanks to all who have been praying for him.  Jason is working for the sheriff’s dept near where he is living in Abilene, TX.  WE ARE PROUD OF HIM!

God has blessed us with 3 wonderful sons.  We are thankful for that blessing.

After our Bible study today in the village, we took several people to the clinic for HIV testing.  Actually, we took 6 in all,  just not all in one trip.  One of the ladies we took is a teacher.  She teaches at the pre-school just up the road from where we teach our Bible study. We met her last week.  Today was the second time she has attended the Bble study.  She is 36, and lives in this village.  She is actually from Ha Seshote, which is about 30 minutes away, but she lives here because this is where she can work.  She lives with some relatives . . . but they care for about 10 orphans, so there is rarely enough food to go around.  She has a 15 year old daughter, but her daughter lives with her mother at Ha Seshote.  We were running a little late after the Bible study (that’s another story), so we offered her a sandwich for the travel.  It was the first thing she had to eat all day.  It was about 1:45.  I could tell she was weak when she got into the truck.  She walks to work, and walks back home, rain or shine.  She is very quiet . . . very polite, but very quiet.  She, along with 4 others of the 6 we transported to the clinic, is HIV positive.  She is 36, and she is dying.

Until ALL have heard, Jim

We are back online after losing our internet and cell phones due to rain.  The rain started Saturday night and it is still raining here on Monday night, but we are thankful for the rain.  It is growing season, and the ground is soaking it up!

Before the rain started on Saturday, after visiting the village, I finally had a chance to see if there were any fish in the river.  We got to the river around 2 PM, not exactly the best fishing time for rainbow trout, but it was an opportunity for me to give it a shot.  After about an hour and a half of fishing, here are the results: I caught 3 rainbow trout, lost 4, had one break my line, and missed about a dozen.  I am out of practice and slow on hook-setting.  Every fish I hooked jumped out of the water . . . they seem to be a little more active than the trout in Missouri.  While I was fishing, a shepherd crossed the river.  I thought he wanted to visit with me.  His English was about like my Sesotho, so or communication was limited.  He told me that the fish were refusing my lure.  He kept telling me something, and I thought he was telling me how to fish.  It turns out that he was wanting some fishing line and a few lures.  I gave him about 20 yards of line, a couple of rooster tails, and a Maribou jig.  You would have thought I gave him a $200 fly rod.  Most real fishermen (which I am not) wouldn’t have even had these rooster tails in their tackle box.  Some of the paint was knocked off from where I had cast them too far and hit something.  Many fisherman have paint knocked off their lures by fish, but not me.  The shepherd was so excited that he told me when he left that next year he will give me a cow.  He will work all year watching someone’s cattle and sheep to be paid 2 cows and 3 sheep. When I left the river, he was fishing . . . hand-lining.  He had already lost one of the lures.  He said a fish broke it off.  I gave him the fish I had caught. . . and another rooster tail.   He was even happier than before, even though he said one of my fish was “small.”  I’m guessing he ate it anyway.  Until ALL have heard, Jim

At times I think we may give the impression that starting Bible sutdies is a piece of cake, and sometimes it is.  Today we went to a new village . . . one our language tutor, ‘Ntate Edward, set up for us.  He sent a message to the chief  of the village via another chief to make sure everything was set for the Bible study this morning.  We picked up ‘Ntate Edward at about 10:30, and headed off to the village, Ha Tsehla.  When we got there, there was NOBODY there.  No big deal, the Basotho are famous for being late.  ‘Ntate Edward says, “Our people very much delay.”   We waited for about 45 minutes, and exactly no people ever came.  The chief of the village had no idea we were coming.  ‘Ntate was “very much annoyed.”   He said the chief he talked to probably went to the bar after their conversation.  We are set to go again next Wednesday.  Hopefully, that one will go a little better. 

Until ALL have heard, Jim

                                                                                    Arlene….still NO egg.

I have decided to use reverse psychology on Arlene.  If you remember from our past blogs, we have told you that Africa is a shame and fear based culture.  After spending days pleading with Arlene to lay an egg, we have resorted to shaming her.  Yesterday, I stood in front of her cage and told her that she was a very poor excuse for a laying hen.  Ntate Jim has built her a beautiful laying box that any normal hen would be proud to lay an egg in.  All Arlene wants to do is scratch out the clean hay and sleep in it. She has taken advantage of all the fresh produce, fresh bugs, and expensive chicken feed that we have offered her.  She is just a moocher.  Today, we are going to try the fear factor of this culture, since the shame factor has had absolutely NO effect upon her.  Jimmy is standing outside her cage at this very moment with an ax in one hand and a stewing pot in the other.  Maybe now, she will get serious about this egg laying thing.  I will keep you posted.  Don’t mess with me, Teresa