Bearing Fruit

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit…” (John 15:8)

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit…” (John 15:8)                                                              

When school is in session there is a church service on Sunday mornings for the boarding students at the local Lesotho Evangelical Church.  About once a month or so students lead the service and this month our Scripture Union group was given the opportunity of leading worship.  We give thanks to God for such occasions when the students can witness and bear fruit for God’s Kingdom.  SU members led the order of worship and hymn-singing, offered prayers, read the scripture, received the offering, and shared a message during the sermon time.

The scripture chosen by the students was the story of the birth of Jesus in Matthew 1:18-25.  Mrs. Salemane, who helps me lead our Scripture Union group, had used this story the previous Sunday during our SU meeting and the students decided to base their message on this passage.  In the first picture are Mphonyana and Bokang, both of whom spoke on these verses.  Their names are quite appropriate for the text as they mean “small gift” and “Praise!  Give thanks!” respectively.  As God was with both Joseph and Mary during their difficult time, so God is with us even today in the problems we face.  Mphonyana, in particular, could testify to this as she is the girl I mentioned in my August 2010 newsletter who was hospitalized after falling and suffering burns from hot water she was carrying.  She has made a full recovery and although small in stature, she has a big heart for Jesus!

Later that afternoon our SU meeting was blessed by the presence of Ntate (“Mr.”) Waza, shown with Mrs. Salemane in the second photo.  Ntate Waza is the high school coordinator for Scripture Union in Lesotho and he was spending a week visiting schools in the southern part of the country.  He organized and led the SU Camp in December and is greatly loved by the SU kids.  He came prepared with some games that brought our afternoon to a close.  The group members were delighted to see him again and he will be leading a training session here for student leaders at the end of the month.  He has borne much fruit through his labors on behalf of Scripture Union in reaching out to the young people of Lesotho.

With summer having reached its peak, and with the abundant rains we’ve been having since December, the plants in Lesotho are also bearing much fruit.  The Prickly Pear is an introduced species in Lesotho (pictured at the bottom).  Until recently, I’d never sampled its fruit, called “torofeie” in Sesotho.  One of our teachers, who eats them to relieve joint pain, brought some into the staffroom.  I was a bit dubious about trying it, but was pleasantly surprised by the taste.  After peeling away the outer skin, the fruit is juicy, soft, seedy and somewhat sweet – perfect for a hot summer’s day!  I’ve become quite fond of them.  You can buy them from young children selling them along the roadside, washed and free of the thorns and stinging coating which I’m told make them rather dangerous to harvest without gloves.   

Jesus says in the remaining words of John 15:8 that by bearing fruit you will be “showing yourselves to be my disciples.”  While telling others we are disciples is well and good, I’m always mindful of that old adage, “Actions speak louder than words.”  Even better, we could remember that old grade school tradition of “Show and Tell”!  

Yours in Christ,

Mark Behle
Email:  mark37438@yahoo.com

Mark Behle is a missionary with the Lesotho Evangelical Church.  He is a Mathematics teacher at Masitise High School, Lesotho.