Outfitting the Rondoval for the Journeyguys

Just got back from the mountains - Matsaile Village. We did a MAF cargo flight to carry up the new door and other furnishings for the Justin and Korby's rondoval (round house). This is phase one of outfitting the place. Everything has to be weighed and then secured in the Cessna 206T. Oliphant and Maila did a great job getting all the stuff loaded in and tied down. The flight is about 40 minutes - roughly 70 miles. There are no roads to the village. The airstrip is 0.4 miles from the village so we carried things by hand and wheel barrows. Took 4 of us two trips but we got the door/frame, futon, mattress, table/chairs, bedding, some kitchen items, and the portable generator and tools I needed to put in the new door. By the time we got everything to the village it was close to getting dark so the work had to wait till morning.

We are so grateful for the way several people in the village have embraced the idea of having the guys living there to share the gospel and teach the bible. This week I had three guys that were so helpful in getting the door put in - Ntate Tsupane, Ntate Thabang, and Ntate Moloi.

Woke up the next morning to a cloudy, drizzle and cold day. Started by tooking out the old door that didn't fit and

couldn't latch shut. (Note the traditional Basotho blankets. They are really warm - part wool/acrylic). Next was the task of fitting the new door frame into the opening. Fortunately I was able to drill and anchor the frame to the stone blocks. Then it was the task of fitting, and adjusting and re-adjusting till it was in. I am so grateful to my dad for his patience over the years of teaching me a lot of different things like basic carpentry and electrical and plumbing. Some may argue that a little knowledge is dangerous, but hey, with the combined skill of the four of us we got the door in. (Ntate Tsupane knows stone work and some carpentry). After that, it was time to

use mud/manure mixture to seal around the door frame to fill in any gaps. Sounds weird but really works good. Through out the day we talked about a variety of things including the word of God and what place it has in their lives.

We finished the work by around noon but the weather was too bad between Matsaile and Maseru for the pickup flight. It worked out well as it gave me time to reassemble the futon, the table and chair, to put down 2/3 of the floor covering, and clean up. I was blessed that evening by one of the widows who had cooked something like an egg omelet and cornmeal for me for my supper. It was pretty exciting to be able to sleep in this rondoval that will be the home of Justin and Korby. I enjoyed the extra time to read my bible and pray for the people of Matsaile, for Justin and Korby, and for the expansion of God's kingdom there.

I woke up the next morning to look out the window to see 10 feet of visibility as the entire village was blanketed in a fog. Turns out Maseru was totally enveloped in a fog as well so all aviation activities were on stand by. By mid morning the fog lifted and the flights could begin. Ntate Tsupane, Ntate Thabang and I headed to the airstrip carrying the generator and tools. I got back to a sunny Maseru by mid afternoon, thanking God for a successful journey.

We have more trips to go as we still have the solar panel, batteries, radio antenna, radio and other supplies to install. That will happen the end of May after we get back from the USA.

Oh yeah, we are so excited to be heading to Michigan next week. We are so proud of our daughter Megan as she will be graduating from Hope College on May 9th (her birthday too).

More about that later...