Dials ftom the mountains April 2007

April 25, 2007

Dear Faithful Prayer Partners,

Thank you for your persistence in prayer for the Basotho and for the Basotho Team. It has been a wonderful week as we have slipped joyfully back into our "routine" thankful that we are home for a few days. We miss the excitement of worshiping in the villages with the Basotho. We have returned to face an interesting issue in our sojourn here in the mountains. We have been informed that our home will be for sale and we will be required to vacate in the very near future...this from our housing manager. But, just as we were digesting that news, a phone call from the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority site manager let us know that he was moving us into the actual Katse Village. We were (are) a little confused. The doublewide trailer we live in now is in what is called the Katse Extension outside the actual village of Katse. It was established twenty years ago as temporary housing for the technicians and their families while working on the Katse Dam project. The trailer has served us well and while not fancy it has been our home for the past two years and we have enjoyed it and the beautiful view it provides. Now the trailers have to go to complete the requirements of the World Bank to return the land to it's original condition. If this seems complicated...it is! Now below is a picture of our home on the day we took occupancy:

Since that day we have worked hard to improve it. We have a multitude of flowers around the house, fruit trees planted across the front and vegetable gardens on the side. We are a little sad at saying good-bye, but we know God will provide another home for us. Now, where will we be going? If we move into the actual Katse village we will be living in a VERY Western style 3 bedroom 2 bath home. In fact those that have come to the Maluti Mountains on mission trips could tell you that the Katse Village homes are very much an anomaly here in the mountains. It would be as if you uprooted a middle class neighborhood out of America and plopped it down into the middle of the 1800's. The village homes were constructed to house the engineers and their families as the dam was constructed. Below is a picture of the entire site and where we live now and where we may live: This is called "moving uptown"

Anyway, the picture really doesn't do justice to the issue. There are other options of course in the event we don't move inside the village, one being to move down the mountain and make trips back and forth but this we know from experience is very physically exhausting. Another option would be to try to locate a rondoval (a round one room home) or platte (rectangular 1-2 room home), but quite frankly, we are not sure that we could maintain our sanity if all of us are living together in one room with no electricity or inside toilet. And my favorite is the indoor plumbing,...yes, I know I am a spoiled missionary! We utilize long drop toilets all the time but we have come to really appreciate our inside toilet and would like to keep it. It gets very cold up here and trudging through the snow for a morning stroll is not something I look forward to. We will find out this coming week the decisions made regarding our housing location. For sure the trailer will be sold and moved, and if God is willing we will remain in the mountains. I do not want to ask for anything particular, just that you pray that God will show us where he wants us through this event and in any case we will give Him the glory. The timing for all this is rather inconvenient since we leave for Stateside Assignment in only a few months, however, if they give us a home inside the village then we can be moved and settled prior to leaving with a home to return to. So, please pray that God will move us according to His purpose and as is pleasing to Him for whatever will bring Him glory.

On another issue that we request your prayer; it seems if Comcast and AOL have declared us "persona non grata" and are blocking all our Weekly Prayer Partner Updates as spam. I don't know if this is the result of someone declaring our emails as spam (really all you had to do was ask to be removed from the list) or if everything originating in Africa is considered risky...remember that fellow in Nigeria that will only trust you with the millions his father left him, or the Christian lady in Lagos that got your name from a reliable source and will have the money sent straight away. Anyway, if you know someone who is no longer receiving this grand missive, please pass on to them the reason and a copy. Thanks! It seems we are battling the opposition team more and more as we request intercessory prayer for the Basotho. Please pray that this email issue will be resolved so we can continue to communicate with all our prayer partners. Remember, Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (1Jn 4:4 KJVR) What a joy to know that we belong to the Victor! Well, we will keep you posted on the upcoming changes and in the mountain ministry. Be sure and check out the new Basotho website at http://www.basotho.org...our/ our team members are doing a great job in keeping it informative and up to date.

On another note please pray for Babs and the other team wives as they travels to Kenya this week and pray for Daniel, Mohau and I as we bachelor it in her absence. Pray for the two teams visiting over the next two weeks. Blessings from the mountains. Have a wonderful week. Thanks for your prayers on all of these requests.

Thanks for loving us and for allowing us to love you.

In His Name,

Alan, Babs, Mohau and Daniel

Katse Village, Lesotho

Southern Africa