That day Paul preached at two schools in Ficksburg, on the South African side of the border, and then we headed for the border.
Border crossings are always a little nerve wracking, but this one seemed like a tame little one. What could go wrong? Um, a lot could go wrong. It was there at the border that we discovered we had Josh's shiny new passport, which does not include his SA visa, and that was not enough. We needed his old one as well, the one with the SA Visa in it.
Time to move on to plan B or wherever we are in the alphabet.
We went back to the guesthouse where we had been staying, moved back into our newly cleaned room, shuffled luggage frantically, and then Paul set off for Lesotho alone. We didn't know if he would be back that day, or later in the week.
He found a border crossing a breeze, and then put "schools" into the GPS. He drove to 6 schools, and scheduled 5 of them for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday! Whoo-hoo! That's good.odds! (It sounds so simple, as I re-read that, but if you could see the roads...)
Then he came back to us in Ficksburg.
Meanwhile, Josh and I had called "base camp" in Cape Town, and Paul's nephew James got the missing passport into DHL, who said they'd have it here by Wednesday noon.
Tuesday Paul and I went into Lesotho to preach at three different schools. Josh stayed at the guesthouse and made progress on his missionary video he's had in the works for years. The end is in sight!
Wednesday Paul and I went back to Lesotho for more adventures. Let me just say here, I am so thankful for our Jeep! It can handle Lesotho conditions! It's covered with dust, and it rather matches the dust which is an extra perk.
The first school on Wednesday made some memories. The principal of that high school talked to the students in very halting English after Paul was done preaching.
He said, "This...man...he told me...to call him...Small...Paul. That's...just...irritating." (The principal is a little guy.) That's where I cracked up. But there was more.
"This... man...came straight out...of heaven. He...fell...from...the sky." Now the students were laughing too. When they got quiet, he went on.
"Do you know why I say that? Because. I...never...heard...of this man. I didn't know anything about him, and he came here. God promised to feed His people in the wilderness, and we are here in the wilderness, and he is like bread that came out of the sky." I think the students clapped at this point.
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| The school "in the wilderness" has an amazing view! |
So my MANna and I had some time before the second school, so we went and scheduled another school for Friday in between. We ate sandwiches as we drove, and were pretty well refreshed before we got to school number 2.
That school had a unique way of gathering for assembly. The teacher had one class (grade one?) go over to a spot on the grass and set up their chairs.
Then she called another grade and they raced across the grass to stand behind the seated children. One by one the grades raced over to find their spots.
They were nicely attentive children, but the principal was flitting talking to her colleagues and doing whatever, often with her back to Paul. As he was starting the invitation, she must have tuned in, because she came to me at the back and said, "This is a Muslim school."
I didn't quite know how to respond to that. All I could think of was, "He's almost finished." I should have said, "This will not hurt them" maybe. Anyway. He finished, and the teachers received books and DVD's. On the way home I told him. He was rather pleased that he had just preached in a Muslim school.
Back in Ficksburg, we had some tension because Josh's passport with Visa had not arrived, but it did show up about 4 hours later than we thought.
We have enjoyed our guesthouse so much, with one of the exciting things it has is HEAT!!! This morning the Jeep was covered with ice and had to be scraped before starting. I've been so grateful for that heater, for my own comfort too, but most especially for Paul as he was sick at first. He is getting better each day.
Today, Thursday, Josh and Paul went to schools in Ficksburg, on the South African side of the border. It's Ascension Day which is a school holiday in Lesotho so Paul scheduled two schools yesterday morning in Ficksburg. It is so exciting how the Lord has opened those doors.
When they came back from the first one, I asked how it went, and Paul said, "Good, but I had to fight for it."
Though they had scheduled it yesterday, today the principal who scheduled the meeting was not there, and the ones there were not so sure, so he had to convince them again. The assembly finally happened, and when it was over, all were delighted. Josh told me one of the teachers seemed thrilled with Paul's teaching style of constantly asking for feedback, to see if the kids understood. Another comment was how this was going to change the school. Thrills!!!
So we plan to sleep in Ficksburg three more nights, with one more dip into Lesotho (Josh for the first time!) on Friday, and then head for Cape Town Saturday morning right after Josh and I do the local parkrun again, but we won't boast because we don't know what each day will bring.
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| The view behind the school "in the wilderness" |
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