From Me!

Hey again! Well, life is still as crazy here this week as it was last week! Our selling clothes saturday in the village didnt really go as well as planned. It ended up being a super cold, rainy, misty day. Also we had a few obstacles in our way and ended up leaving later than planned, which left us with very little time in the village considering it is almost an hour away and we had to be back by supper. We had some issues/miscommunication before we left the center - which left us pretty frustrated. It's difficult to know how to deal with things here.. Please pray for those involved in the children's center. This weekend we (all us volunteers at MIS) are taking the juniors to Durham Link for the weekend. Its kinda an international youth organization. Its just here in Maseru, but it will be nice for some of the kids to get away from the orphanage for the weekend, since all the older kids already got to go on a trip. It will kinda be like camp, with lots of fun and games, devotionals, singing, and sleeping in bunks. I am in charge of the games on saturday afternoon, should be fun. I am really looking forward to it, and yet at the same time I am sooo tired and pray that God will get me through the weekend with lots of energy! Pray that the trip will go well, that we can build on relationships with the kids and most importantly that they will learn something this weekend that they can apply to their lives here in Lesotho. Pray also for all of us leaders; that we will be good examples for the kids all weekend and that we will be able to have tons of energy to keep us going! On another note.. when Annie and I were walking home today, there was shooting across the street. We didnt see the shooter, but there were forsure five shots and people around us (the streets are crowded) were all a little tense. Its was kinda scarey, so we just kept moving faster to get by. Sometimes it really does get scarey here in Lesotho. So many houses (especially missionary houses) have been broken into in the past couple months, people are being mugged, one lady just got pretty badly beat and robbed last weekend just coming home after work by her gate, random gunshots... it scares me sometimes.. But on the other hand I know that God is good and he is taking care of me. I don't need to be afraid because He is with me always:) Please continue to pray for our safety as well as our health (yupp got another ringworm!). Until next time!

3 months gone already!!

Well 3 months have gone by in a heartbeat it seems! It's seriously crazy how fast time flies out here. You blink and you miss a month, well pretty much anyways. I do look forward to coming home again in July as I miss everyone very much, but its going to be difficult saying goodbye.. I pray that God will give us the strength to do so. Last week we got the chance to take a few much needed days away, and it was very nice and refreshing. We got to go on a small game drive, which was neat. Didn't see terribly much because the weather was quite cool, but thats okay we still had fun. 12 huge giraffes crossed the road right in front of us so that was pretty cool. We also got to go to a small Lion Park where we got to play with and hold lion cubs. How cool is that?? I'll attach a picture for you. Other than that, we just got some good relaxing in to rejuvinate ourselves a little:) Funny though, how the instant we get back, the busy life greets us again! haha. Its all good though, thats just the way things are out here. Annie and I slept at the orphanage last friday night to see what its like. It was alright, not sure if I would choose to sleep there again though. The evening was lots of fun, hanging out with the older kids - kinda reminded me a little of camp. We slept in the girls dormitory. I think the sleeping part is what makes me not want to stay there again. It was cold, someone had their music blaring, they kept the lights on all night, my bed was uncomfortable, not to mention i slept tense because i was paranoid about all the bed bugs.. Yupp that pretty much sums it up! haha. You think we are a little blessed in this world by chance?? I am very thankful for my bed right about now:) We got the chance to go see a South African travelling circus on Sunday, that was pretty fun. We took Melvin and Kari's kids and went with some friends who also volunteer at MIS. It was small, but we enjoyed it. Not often a circus comes to Lesotho! This week so far at MIS has been pretty busy. I'm busy helping Annie with the babies in the morning and I've been working away on the storage room getting everything ready to sell this weekend. We are taking a trip out to a nearby village to sell a bunch of the clothes (we have so many that arent really the greatest) for really cheap, so that we can help the people out there as well as help MIS by getting some more funds in. Hopefully all goes well. The kids are doing great and are growing and developing so fast, I can't imagine what it must be like having your own kids! 3 babies are crawling already since we got here, 1 is walking, some are talking, the list could go on.. and thats in only 3 months!! The smiley baby in my pics is our precious little Roma (Chubb Chubb). Hehehe. He's too sweet, I'm going to really miss that little dork! Can you believe he is going to be 2 in July?? Yupp, he was the one who was very malnutrioned when he came, so he's a little behind. But he's come a long way thats forsure! The little boy in the striped shirt is new at MIS. His mother said if we didnt take him he would throw him in the river. How sick is that? Actually, thats just what some mothers do here to get rid of their babies... very sad. His name is Tyler and hes about 16 months. Hes still pretty shy, but in time that will go away like it always does. The picture with the 3 girls in the blankets are a few of the older girls who dressed up traditionally for a school event they had that day. Face painting, traditional dresses and the Basotho Blanket. Its pretty cool when they get all dressed up like that for school. Well I gotta cut this letter for today, so I'll talk to you again soon. Please continue to pray for MIS staffing/funding, and overall health of the children. Also pray that God will give us the energy to make it through each day. Many thanks, lots of love!

Blog from mwa!

Hello again from Lesotho. I hope that all is well back home and you are all enjoying some nice spring weather:) Our mornings are quite cool now when we leave for work, usually above zero but below ten somewhere. We layer up and head out! During the days when the sun comes out it still gets pretty nice, maybe around 20 celcius. I had a really bad cold at the start of this week and wasn't feeling so well, but with lots of rest and some yummy tea I am doing much better! Myself, Annie, Wilma and Sylvia are taking some Sesotho Lessons, its pretty fun. The words are so difficult to say and it takes a lot of practice, but we are slowly learning some things. We are learning about progressive pronouns right now, how fun?! hahaha. The children are absolutely loving the new shelter and play there all the time, what a wondeful blessing from the ausi team. Nick (one of the youth volunteers) has just started up a bible study for the older children and it seems to be going so well. Pray that this will be able to continue and that God will use him in each of the lives of these children. Also that when he leaves in July, someone will take over what he has started. We've been having some issues with the staff at MIS - they are not all getting along so well. I think a lot of it happens because we are short staffed and these workers are working all the time and are not taking well scheduled breaks. Please pray for our staffing issue that we can get good staff that will stay long-term at the center, and also that there will be the funds needed to pay each of the staff. We will really be needing volunteers beginning in July - minimum 6 months. If you know of anyone who is interested, please let myself or wilma know. This week I've felt a little homesick - probably partly because I wasn't feeling so well and also we are pretty much at our half way mark right now. It really brings a lot of mixed feelings. Its going to be difficult to leave and I know we will feel empty because we are so used to caring for children and suddenly we won't be. This is one incredible experience to have at such a young age and my view on life will never be exactly as it was before. God has been stretching me here and it isn't always easy, but i know that it is only for my good, shaping me into who he has designed me to be. This is only a portion of God's plan for my life - only the beginning. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord; plans to prosper you and not harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future" - Jeremiah 29:11. God is good and although I don't know what the future holds and sometimes it gets frustrating, I know that my life is in His hands and He will always be taking care of me. He only wants good things for us, whether we choose to accept them or not, is our choice.. Thank you for being my support and praying for me.

RATS!

So how do you all feel about rats???? lol. I'm doing a lot of work in the storage room this week - its a crazy mess and there's so much to do!! (couple photos for you). So yeah, in the meantime a few rats have decided to make this room their home. Lucky me working in there everyday! Today I found one looking right at me only a few feet away. Talk about huge and ugly. Me and a few of the girls working at the center tried to chase it out, then it came running towards us and lets just say a little fear crept out of me! We lost him somewhere in the room and he is still hiding I'm sure. I just keep a nice little shovel beside me in case I need to do some rat killing, haha. Can you picture me with that kinda courage? Yeah, me neither! Well, the Ausi team has finised the Rain Shelter! Its great and the kids really like it. I'll throw up a picture of it. Its so great to have teams come here and do big projects like this. I'm getting a little frustrated with my ringworm - yupp, still got it. Its just incredibly itchy! It's crazy to think we've been here over 2 months already. At first it was hard for me to settle into everything again and I found myself missing home quite a bit. Now each day just gets better and better and I come home each day feeling happy and fulfilled. I'm loving it! It's all in the relationships we are building, God is really blessing me through these people. The young mothers my age that are now working for the centre are so great. Attached is a pic of Annie and I with these young ladies, all in pink today! I love the friendships we are building here:) Thank-you for your support and prayers. God bless!

Lesotho Update!

Its seems to have been a while since I have written any updates - sorry for that. Life tends to get pretty busy out here sometimes. The kids are just back to school after a nice long week off for Easter. We only took friday off, but had a good Easter weekend with Wilma & Sylvia and Melvin & Kari Peters. While the kids have been home from school, things have been more off schedule - but its been fun. We've spent more time with the older kids just hanging out and building relationships. We have a cook now (PRAISE GOD) after a long period of other workers taking their turn in the kitchen - cooking for 100 children. We have a good amount of care workers at the moment which is going great. Hopefully they will stay. The washing ladies quit yesterday, so maybe pray for that situation. This means much more work for the other ladies, who already have a fair amount. We've been building relationships with a couple young mothers staying at the centre - its so wonderful just to talk with them (sometimes for hours) about anything and everything. There is a team from Austrailia working at the orphanage right now for a couple weeks. They are building a rain shelter which is coming along quite well! I even helped do some painting which i enjoyed. There are many issues going on within the orphanage right now and much prayer is needed! We are starting prayer meetings once a week now for all of the volunteers at MIS - we know that all of the problems we are having is one big spiritual battle and we need to fight against Satan in prayer. That is the only way. So please keep MIS in your prayers! I have ringworm again, in TWO places this time. Annie has it as well. It doesnt suprise me though considering the conditions we are in everyday - we are constantly exposed to it. Luckily we are only getting the fungai ringworm and not the actual worm. Its much easier to treat and way less ichy. I wish these things could just stop, its so frustrating. If its not one child, its the other. Someone always has something, and someone is always sick. Pray for the health of the children and workers. One more thing. My expenses are greater than anticipated, so i am requesting prayer that my financial needs will be met for the remainder of my stay here in Lesotho. Thank you for all your support and prayers. We serve a great God who loves us and cares for us.

Another week gone by..

Well, things didn't slow down at the orphanage for the rest of the week. We worked very full days without any breaks. It has been quite overwhelming, and I know that it is not our own strength we have been running on. Thank you for praying for us - I honestly think I can feel the power of prayer behind me. Yesterday I felt so worn out, I wanted to just collapse and sleep, but God kept me going! We had a good bible study tuesday night which I found very encouraging in this situation. We talked about how it is important to bring everything to God in prayer as well as to rejoice and praise God in EVERY circumstance. Small little example for you:) Yesterday when the day was coming to an end at the orphanage, one of the babies (and im not kidding) had a poop explosion! hahaha. I know it sounds funny, but at the time I was not impressed. It was so nasty and happened to be everywhere, including on me! It was hard enough to keep myself from vommitting. Being human, my first reaction was me not being very impressed at all, it made me want to be grumpy. But for some odd reason, the bible study came to my mind and I thought "Praise God you are healthy and not constipated"! ha ha ha, gotta look for the joy in everything right? Just thought I would share that short little story with you, hehe. Anyways, 'Me' Ma Danke (the lady in living in the baby room) is back today, so we are really excited about that. She is absolutely great with the children and she works so hard. What a wondeful lady she is! This coming week, since she is back, I will need to get back into the storage rooom as there is still much to do and things are piling up.

Last night, Wendy (the teacher we live with) had some of her IB students over for a movie/fun night. Annie and I really enjoyed this because the ages were 18-22 so we got along really well and got to meet som Basotho people our age. It was a lot of fun! I really enjoy getting in with people of the culture, they are so great.

Blessings,
Michelle

Lesotho Mountain Climb!

Yesterday I got to climb a mountain in the middle of Maseru, it was incredibe! I went with a few friends and I really enjoyed it. Once to the top, you could see pretty much all of the city, except for areas which were hidden by other mountains. It was so beautiful to stand so high and look down at everything! Although, it was a super hot day (+36 in the sun), drank a lot of water. We had a neat little experience as well as we travelled up - wonder if God had any part in it:) We met this young boy who was shepherding his sheep near the mountain, and he ended up showing us the way up. It turned out there were areas in which us girls could not have made it up the rocks without his hand. Personally I think that was God, just being there when we needed him, through a young shepherd. Neat hey? I'll throw up some pictures here for you forsure, including one of the boy. On our way down we met some boys at a small well where they offered water. From here the women carry water in about 20L buckets on their heads through the mountains to their homes. These women are incredible, i could NEVER do that!

I can definitely feel that things are busier at the orphanage this week already, as expected! With 'Me' Madanke (the lady living in the baby room) being gone for a week, and 'Me' Ma Ktlokleso (the young women also helping in the baby room) helping in the kitchen, it feels a little busy in the baby room. I will add that a few of the babies still are not feeling well - vomitting and diareah, which of course busies things up a little more! Poor little Petrie still has scabies and often just cries and cries because her legs are so itchy. I finally figured out a way to sooth her today, it was pretty cute. She was supposed to be having a nap and kept crying because of the itch. I just started to massage and rub her legs up and down, and she was instantly quiet and in 3 minutes time she was asleep:) Great to discover these simple medicines! We still don't have a cook - continue to keep that in your prayers. And also this past weekend, the lady staying with the junior girls quit. So we are kind of short staffed right now. Please pray for the staffing issue!

And thats my story for now!