Thursday, June 28, 2007

The Official Group E-Mail

Hi everyone,
I'm sitting in my warmest coat with my hood up.  It's cold with a nasty wind blowing.  I'm sure the wind chill factor must be down in the single digits F.  I suppose the temp is in the mid 20's still. 

Yesterday something unusual happened.  We go snow in the lowlands.  Somebody told me the last time it happened was in 1996.  The day started out cloudy and cool and got colder all day.  Nt. Mokoena and I were in Maseru around 5:00pm when I noticed a few pellets of sleet.  I went into the grocery store, and when I came out a few minutes later, there was already 2 inches of snow.  I brushed it off the windshield of the car and started around clearing all the windows.  By the time I got back to the front, the windshield was covered again.  I don't know if I ever remember seeing it snow so hard in my life.  Maybe I've forgotten, but the snow was falling in fist sized clumps.  The temp was right at freezing, so most of it melted as it fell.  Nt. Kali was at Ha Motheho and said there was about 6" there.  As usual, Matukeng didn't get as much.  Actually, it's warmer here, so more melted as it fell.  I don't think there was more than about 2 inches here.

This morning I went to Ha Motheho with the 4X4 to get a load of church benches for the conference.  The village was absolutely beautiful with a white blanket over everything including the thatch roof houses.  The rusty red mud plaster contrasted nicely with the white wonderland.  I wished I'd have taken the camera!  In Maseru there were big snow men in the main traffic circle at the center of town.  By afternoon the sun came out and the snow is all gone here in the village, but the top of the mountain is still white.

It's been very busy since we last wrote.  Thursday morning I went to Ladybrand to pick up the TLC team in Ladybrand.  They did some shopping on the way in Maseru and Steph had lunch for us when they got here.  After lunch I took the two boys into town to buy some building materials.  We got back late because there was an army check point on the way home.  Traffic was terrible but fortunately they didn't search us or our vehicle.

Friday they helped with an outreach at Ha Seleso.  They did a children's service, we passed out tracts and then had a short service for adults.  They did a great job.Saturday we climbed the mountain behind our house.  Only three of them (Jeremy Howard, Klaus Hobbs, & Priscilla Lefever) made it to the top.  I stayed with the rest of the girls who made it about 3/4 of the way or a little more.  I think they had fun.  In the afternoon they went down into the donga below our house then we went into Ladybrand for supper.  They took us out to a nice restaurant there.  We had a really nice time while they were with us.

Thanks so much for praying for the political situation here.  I don't think the problems have been solved, but the curfew has been lifted with helped to calm things down again.  It seems as though a small part of the military mutinied or are in rebellion against the current government.  They stole some government vehicles, firearms, etc. and temporarily kidnapped some of the government ministers body guards.  It's all related to politics and needs continued prayer.  So far there doesn't seem to be particularly dangerous for foreigners, but the situation is volatile.

A team of South African young people were supposed to arrive for a 10 day visit at Uncle Piet's on Sunday, but somehow their transportation didn't work out.  (I think they had chartered a taxi, but it broke down.)  Uncle Piet felt sorry for them and sent S.W. with his truck to pick them up on Monday.  They are staying with Marais' but want to help with outreaches, etc. in Lesotho.  Since they arrived a day late, it kind of threw off plans a little, and then this snow storm changed things even more.  Tuesday they helped Nt. Mokoena and I and a few other young men put a ceiling in two rooms at Ha Matala.  Today we had planned to go to a village in the mountains to pass out tracts and hold a service, but we couldn't with the snow.  The Lord willing, they'll be back Friday and Saturday for outreaches in two other villages.  Please pray a lot for them.  Several of them probably aren't saved.  The purpose of their visit is to expose them to mission work and also try to help them spiritually.

Besides hosting teams there is a ladies' conference this weekend.  The special speakers (Bro. and Sis. Merrifield) will be staying with us.  Another thing that keeps us busy is that I'm working on getting ready to go to Zimbabwe.  As of now, I think we'll leave the 17th, so there's still a little time.

Well, I need to write another note or two, so I'll sign off.

Love you all.  Thank for praying!
Glenn, Steph, & Kaitlyn
P.S. I'm going to try to put some pictures on the blog.

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