In August came our team mate and Masotho ntate Sekelemane (a person who lives in Lesotho is called Masotho). Several are then called Basotho) and announced that he saw a possibility that we could move to Lesotho as soon as possible, because he would have found a house for us. And so it was that one week later we looked at the "house" together.
It turned out that the Basotho understand something different by "house" than wir😉Es was a rather dilapidated hut with two rooms. Quite adventurous, with a leaking roof and two doors that were pulled by the rain and hardly usable anymore. But the Basotho were happy about this opportunity to see us accommodated. We were speechless at the first moment.
But when our team mate showed us the round hut and the view, it was clear to us that God wants us right here on this property. It's hard to describe but we had an unspeakable peace at that moment about living in a dilapidated and far too small hut right here on this spot of earth. And so we contacted the owner and negotiated a contract with him to live on his property.
(The upper left picture shows our hut when you walk towards it from the village. The lower left picture is a view from the round hut to the hut towards the village. The one on the right shows our outhouse during repair. They're affectionately called "Longdrop." She's behind the cabin on the field. Very small to see in the picture below.)
When Stephan came back from Germany in October we started building the garage/warehouse. Many of our team mates help us and we also hire locals to make fast and good progress. They also do work we just can't do, like pouring the floor and making it look so smooth that it looks perfect.
We started with the warehouse, so that we can get everything over to household goods as quickly as possible, so that we can also move out and be on site during construction. Just make things easier. No constant driving back and forth, makes things a lot easier. In addition, the things that belong to you and on the property lie less quickly Beine😉.
Last week we started with the interior work of the hut. The floorer had done a hell of a job. Handicraft, of course. It took him the whole dear long day and he even forgot his food. The floor is now smooth like an ice rink. Tomorrow the other room will be made and on the weekend we can move in and sleep.
(sorry, but the light conditions were really hard to handle for my camera.)
We will then use the round hut, in which we had slept so far, as a temporary storage room and continue to use it as a kitchen and lounge in case it rains again. That's how it is in construction. Many things are transitional and provisional, but in the end, once they are finished, they are good.
This week we also started pulling the fence. It's kind of better if not everyone comes and goes whenever they want. Day and night. Human or animal. Even our Basotho team mates noticed it every day that we should pull a fence as fast as possible, so that not everyone could run across the property as he wanted. We hadn't felt that bad about it yet, we have to admit. But I think it's because everything is still new and there's a lot of impressions all at once. But there was one thing we had already noticed, and that was that the private sphere somehow falls by the wayside when someone is always standing in front of or at the door. Be it a horde of children, goats or sheep or just a few neighbours who wanted to see what is going on here. It makes you feel like you're in a zoo. And yes, the fence would make a lot of difference.
Some asked if it was normal to draw a fence? You wouldn't see many in the area. Well, if you have the money, you can build a fence around the house, or at least around the field, so that the grazing goats, sheep or cows don't eat the harvest. Or you can at least create a dog to keep unwanted visitors away. However, this leads to a lot of dogs looking for food at night and sneaking around in the villages.
But back to the warren. During the week the warehouse will be closed with a small wall so that the things can be stored safely and dry. That's what the bricklayer has to come for. Unfortunately, he had left us sitting yesterday, because he still had to sleep in his intoxication. A big problem here in Lesotho. The alcohol. So we are again on the search for a suitable man who can help us there. Our teammate ntate Sekelemane is a big help to us. He asks around and looks for the people together who would be suitable to help us and makes the contacts and then translates us. If we didn't have that, everything would be so much harder!!! For him and his wife we are more than grateful that God has put the two by our side. Two treasures of heaven.
At this point we would also like to thank our parish Lankwitz in Berlin for the great financial support, without which we would not be able to realize all this. Thank you!!!! Thank you for making this possible and for being with us in the mission!
Thanks also to all the small and big supporters in muscular strength, prayer and keeping in touch. We need all of you. We thank God you exist.
Blessed pre-Christmas time
Yours Chrissi and family
