Beautiful Dream Society is working on an expansion of our childcare program in Lesotho’s capital, Maseru, to a much bigger Children’s Village, including housing, a school, and a church. Join BDS Founder, Jennifer Crow, as she reaches out to our Lesotho neighbors and partners on the journey toward completing the Lesotho Children’s Village!
A New Children’s Village in Lesotho
Recently, two of our BDS Lesotho staff members, Rebecca and Malerotholi, and I visited some wonderful women in several villages near the airport in Lesotho. The villages are also located near the land purchased by Victory Church Oklahoma for the purpose of building Beautiful Dream Society’s Children Village, including housing, a school, and a church for vulnerable children in Lesotho. Our current childcare program aims to prevent children from falling into the horror of human trafficking, a widespread problem throughout southern Africa. We’re excited for the opportunity to see the program expand into a Children’s Village!
Meeting Our Neighbors
Our land purchase came with beautiful opportunities to reach out to our neighbors who live near the Children’s Village plot. Each meeting proved to be a blessing and moved our hearts for the strong,
resilient people of Lesotho.
We traveled to meet our neighbors with Lintle Letsika, who is the founder of an organization called Footprints of Hope. Lintle works with many volunteer community workers in these very villages to assist in caring for the most vulnerable members of the population – those affected by HIV, tuberculosis, and other illnesses; the elderly; orphans; and child headed households. She and her ladies are doing a great work in Lesotho. She was kind enough to take us around to the villages and introduce us to the people who live there.
Overcoming Tragedy – Justina’s Story
In one village, we met a beautiful family headed by 80-year-old Justina. Originally from a faraway mountain village, Justina is a refugee in this village near the capital. Her mountain home was struck by lighting and two of her children were killed. When the local newspapers reported on this story, the chief of Ramakotjo, the village we were visiting on this particular day, invited her to come and live in his village. We met the chief and expressed our admiration for his generosity to this widow.
Still performing physical labor at the age of 80, Justina is the primary breadwinner for her family. We also met some of Justina’s family members: two adult daughters, one who is blind and one who has a mental disability, and two of her beautiful grandbabies. To provide for her entire family, Justina assists her neighbors in grinding their grain, and in exchange, she receives a portion for her family’s daily food. They live in a one-room house in which there is only one bed. Our hearts were touched by their story. As we shared encouragement and God’s love with them, Justina was moved to tears. You could see much love on the face of this sweet woman.
Please continue to pray for Justina and the people of Ramakotjo. Pray for Victory Church Maseru and Beautiful Dream Society as we continue to reach out to our neighbors, friends and partners on our journey to building our Children’s Village. If we were to ask Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” He would most certainly include Justina and the people of Ramakotjo.