The Resilient Basotho: Building Faith Amidst Challenges

Lesotho. South Africa.

They were so proud. 

The Basotho people of Lesotho had worked so hard on their church. They saved their Loti or currency and put together enough to purchase the materials to construct all four church walls. No roof yet – but that didn’t matter.

We met in that church “building” and worshipped with the believers that morning. They spoke in a Bantu language that none of us understood, but the presence of God was unmistakable. We smiled and nodded in affirmation and love because of our common faith in the same God. Our missionary friends interpreted some of what was being said, but for much of it, we just listened. 

Lesotho is a landlocked country surrounded by the country of South Africa and is home to the Basotho people. It is known as the “Kingdom in the Sky” because of its high altitudes. It is the only independent country in the world that lies entirely above 3000 feet in elevation, with the highest peak at over 11,400 feet above sea level. 

The small villages in the mountains are cut off from society at sea level, and in fact, it took our team 5 hours by jeep up the mountains to reach the village we visited. Statistics show that Christianity is the predominant religion, but this is questionable as witchcraft and witch doctors are prevalent in the villages. 

How do you hear and discern the truth in such a place? 

That church house proved to me that you can. God desires, even more than we do, that knowledge of Him touches every living soul on earth. His spirit is powerful, and God, being the all-knowing, all-present God that he is, can make Himself known to those in the hidden places of the earth.