Prepared to Greet
Jeff & Susan Moore – Lesotho
It’s July, and Pastor Joseph Mopasi and I are riding between villages in the mountain parish he serves in Lesotho. The horse he is riding was paid for through the Common Global Ministries “Ponies for Pastors” program. The horse I am riding has been borrowed from a church member.
Jeff & Susan Moore – Lesotho
It’s July, and Pastor Joseph Mopasi and I are riding between villages in the mountain parish he serves in Lesotho. The horse he is riding was paid for through the Common Global Ministries “Ponies for Pastors” program. The horse I am riding has been borrowed from a church member.
We’re going to see a group of lay people who are cutting tall grasses that will be used to thatch a roof for a building to store the pastor’s horse and some of the vegetables and grains he grows to help provide for his family. As we ride along I think about what it must be like to ride through these beautiful mountains to visit parishioners, some of whom almost never cross the mountain passes to go down into the lowlands.
Like many other Basotho pastors, Joseph knows horses well. They are the only form of transport for many of the people who live in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho. As we ride over rocky outcroppings, and through steep passes, I’m thankful for this sturdy, sure-footed pony that carries me safely on difficult paths. Life seems very different here from the life I usually live as a seminary and university lecturer in the lowlands. And yet, for many, these two are closely connected. As we ride along, I suddenly here a voice from behind, asking Pastor Joseph if the man riding with him is Jeff Moore. Who could be asking for me on this small path so far up in the mountains? I turn around to see a young man on foot. As our faces meet, our eyes confirm that yes; I am the Jeff Moore he thinks I am! He’s one of my students from a Christian Ethics class. Usually accustomed to seeing each other in a classroom near the city where there are cars, cell phones, and markets, we each laugh a little at our surprise at this chance encounter.
We talk about school and families. He tells me where his village is, and I tell him why I’m riding on this path today. He smiles at Pastor Joseph and me, and says, “Salang hantle”(“Stay well”). We smile at him and say, “Tsamaea hantle” (“Go well”). As my student walks down the path and around some rocks, I turn to Pastor Joseph and say, “Small world. I guess you never know who you’ll meet.” Joseph laughs and says, “Basotho always meet someone we know, so we must always be prepared to greet people.”
The world is smaller than we sometimes think. People and places connect in ways that may sometimes surprise us. After all, many of us go through each day seeing mostly the same people and same places. We never know, though, who might come walking down the path to meet us! I pray that I can always be prepared to greet people, and that I can keep them in my heart and mind between meetings. Carrying one another in our hearts and minds, no matter what distance may separate us, will help us to be prepared to greet one another in Christ – with good will and hope – as the Apostle Paul so often did in his letters: “Grace to you and peace.”
Khotso (“Peace”)
Jeff and Susan Moore
Lesotho
Jeff and Susan Moore are missionaries with Morija Seminary in Lesotho. Susan serves as a teacher of psychology and English. Jeff serves as a teacher of theology and Biblical studies.