Scripture Union Rally

by Global Ministries | published on Oct 10, 2014

Mark Behle – Lesotho

Live as children of light…and find out what pleases the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8,10)

Every year Scripture Union of Lesotho holds rallies in different regions of the country for the primary and high school groups to attend. Last month our Friends of God group attended the rally held here in the southern part of the country at Mt. Tabor High School. The school was a bit off the beaten path so not as many schools were represented as in some years. However, we still enjoyed a day of being together in Christian fellowship and sharing the Word of God.

Live as children of light…and find out what pleases the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8,10)

Schools in Lesotho do not have big yellow school buses to travel in. Some schools, such as Masitise, do have a 15-passenger van for small groups to use. However, we had about 30 people going to the rally so we hired a bus (called a taxi here) to take our group. There are plenty of taxis available to hire as they are the main means of transport for most people. They will pick you up anywhere along the main roads and drop you just about anywhere, too. Considering gasoline in Lesotho is about $4 a gallon, taxis are an inexpensive way to travel. You can make the 100-mile trip to Maseru, the capital city, from Masitise for about $5.

Our speaker this year was Mr. Lucas Ntsinyi. He leads the Scripture Union group at Mt. Tabor. Our theme was “Living for Christ” and he used Ephesians 5:8-12 for his message. His talk centered on the importance of understanding who we are and who we belong to in order to understand better how to live for Christ. After listening to his presentation we divided into smaller groups to discuss questions from the Bible passage and his remarks. One of these questions was, “What does God require from us?” In our discussions the familiar words of the prophet Micah were brought up: To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (6:8).

Then it was time for lunch. Every school is responsible for feeding their students. What do students eat for lunch when they are away from school and have no place to cook? Most schools, like Masitise, have polony (think baloney) and bread along with a piece of fruit and some flavored drink. After lunch the students gathered outside on the sports ground for games.

In this last picture from the rally you can see part of the hall filled with students from various schools. Later in the afternoon each group was called forward to present their offering for supporting the work of Scripture Union in Lesotho.

In other news, the basketball team won their quarterfinal match last month and is moving on to the Final Four this coming weekend. While we had a very good draw for the quarterfinals, playing probably the weakest of the eight teams, we have found ourselves up against probably the best team, and defending national champions, in our semifinal. We’ll have to play our best to advance any further.

The church at Masitise will be receiving a new pastor soon. The Lesotho Evangelical Church rotates some of their pastors each year and there have been quite a few changes this year. We expect to have Rev. Z.K. Ramonotsi with us by early October.

The political situation has not really changed since I last wrote in June. Parliament has been out of session for several months now as efforts to resolve the impasse over the allocation of seats have so far proved fruitless.

A few people have had some problems getting their emails through to me at the address below. If you should encounter any difficulty, contact Global Ministries for my alternate email address.

Your prayers are requested for:

Progress in resolving the political problems in the country.
Food relief for up to 25% of Lesotho’s population needing assistance due to the terrible drought (the worst in 30 years, according to some reports) during the first quarter of the year.
My Form A math students, many of whom are really struggling with the subject.
Mr. Peter Thobea as he takes over the responsibilities of being the National Director of Scripture Union Lesotho.

Yours in Christ,
Mark Behle

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