To the ends of the earth

Note from Anne: Andrew wrote this late Sunday night and asked me to post it Monday morning after dropping him at the airport, but I have had internet problems since then! He arrives back in Cape Town tomorrow evening, but you can still pray for the team as they travel, as they return home having been grown and stretched in new ways, and for the people they were able to reach that God will water and grow the seeds that have been planted.

I guess I am bad at sightseeing…

I think when you travel to a new country you are supposed to tour historic monuments and sample local cuisine. Call it God’s sense of humor, but when I visit a new country I continually find myself ministering in the local prisons.

Last year it was prisons in Botswana and Zimbabwe, and now this year it is Lesotho. Hillsong Church is sending a team into “the Mountain Kingdom” and they asked me to coordinate a prison visit. Needless to say that the only thing cooler than prison ministry is getting to the prison via a 4X4 truck on mountain roads!

(the Sani Pass -- 4x4 vehicles only! -- connecting

South Africa with the most remote region of Lesotho)

On a serious note, it is always a little humbling (or maybe even frightening) in leading an outreach to a new prison. I do not believe that safety will be an issue, but there are a thousand logistical challenges in arranging security clearance that are beyond my control. Add in the unique challenges of Lesotho’s geography and things are getting interesting! (it has the highest low-point of any country in the world, and some of the villages where we will minister can only be accessed by foot or by pony!)

I have made several connections with local volunteers who are working in the prisons, and I am exploring the possibility of future partnerships. Lesotho is an amazing country, and I look forward to what I will discover about their prisons and about myself. I will be leaving cell phones and email behind, so I am hoping that it will be a time of reflection and growth.

Thank you for being a partner on this adventure!