Planting Trees

Mark Behle – Lesotho

One of the many problems facing Lesotho is soil erosion. Throughout the country you find large areas of land disfigured with massive gullies (called dongas here).   One nearby example is shown above.  Some of the contributing factors are topography, overgrazing by sheep and cattle, too little arable land which encourages people to cultivate even on steep hillsides, and rainfall which often comes in heavy downpours. There are places where efforts are being made to rehabilitate the landscape but they seem to be few and far between.  Every year more and more soil is lost as it is washed away and leaves Lesotho via the appropriately named Orange River.

Mark Behle – Lesotho

One of the many problems facing Lesotho is soil erosion. Throughout the country you find large areas of land disfigured with massive gullies (called dongas here).   One nearby example is shown above.  Some of the contributing factors are topography, overgrazing by sheep and cattle, too little arable land which encourages people to cultivate even on steep hillsides, and rainfall which often comes in heavy downpours. There are places where efforts are being made to rehabilitate the landscape but they seem to be few and far between.  Every year more and more soil is lost as it is washed away and leaves Lesotho via the appropriately named Orange River.

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it…” (Psalm 24:1)

Each year there are events at which government officials seek to raise awareness of the benefits of planting trees, one of which is to help reduce soil erosion.  These occasions encourage the public to be involved in planting trees.  The current Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili, has been active in this effort.  In October he came to Masitise Lesotho Evangelical Church, along with the Minister of Land & Forestry, to help members of the congregation plant trees on a barren hillside behind the church.  During the church service they both spoke of the importance of caring for the land.  God has blessed us with an amazing creation.  May we learn to care for it compassionately.

At our school we have a big problem with litter.  Picking up papers is one of the jobs I give to students who don’t turn in assignments or are late for class.  People in Lesotho are very neat about keeping the immediate areas around their homes tidy, but it seems throwing papers and other rubbish further afield is acceptable.  I remind students that they would never throw trash right outside their home or in their neighbor’s yard and then mention that they shouldn’t do it anywhere, because the whole world is God’s house.

The school year has now ended and classes will start up again in January.  In case any of you were wondering, the boys’ basketball team finished in third place at the national tournament back in September.  We lost in the semifinals to the eventual champion and then won the playoff for third place fairly easily. 

We are bracing ourselves for the likely prospect of having to take even more students next year.  Seven years ago the government introduced a policy of free primary school education beginning with Standard 1 (first grade).  Each year they added another year.  All seven years of primary education are now free.  So it is expected that in 2007 there will a much larger number of students applying to high schools and the pressure will be on the schools to take more of them than they have in the past.   

In the book of Genesis, after the flood, God gave Noah the sign of the rainbow as a promise that the earth would never again be destroyed through a flood.  Often, after heavy thunderstorms have passed, we are blessed with rainbows.  Despite massive environmental destruction by mankind, God continues to remind us of that promise made long ago to Noah.

We are about to celebrate another of God’s great promises, the birth of the Christ-child.  In the Gospel of Luke, after the shepherds had visited the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, we are told they spread the word to others about what they had been told about the child.  May God help us to make the most of the opportunities we have to share the news about Jesus with others.

Prayer requests:

• For peaceful elections in Lesotho this coming February. Lesotho has been plagued with political violence in the past. During this year there has been one political assassination of an opposition leader and two other attempts on cabinet ministers.
• For increased environmental awareness in Lesotho and care of the land.
• For healing for Mr. Mohlatsane, the husband of my local pastor.
• For the Scripture Union High School Camp in early January. May the students who attend be blessed with a sense of God’s love and call on their lives.

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.