Church in Maputsoe

November 2, 2008

We got up this morning and just before 9 a.m. we all headed off to Maputsoe to attend Mathesbesang’s church.  Patti and Stewart asked to come along, and we said sure.

It was a very interesting service in and outside of Mathebesang’s cinder block house back off the main road a few clicks.  The bulk of the service was held in a 10 x 12 foot room on a collection of assorted chairs.  None of which got used much – the chairs are there only for those people who get tired – the bulk of the service seems to take place in the standing position.  Capacity of the room is probably 6 people comfortably – we packed 40 in there!  And yes, it was a nice warm day.  But all of the Basotho we had met so far had a very strong faith in God, and were most enthusiastic during services.

Mathebesang is a sweet lady, who as you will remember has suffered enormous personal loss at the hands of HIV/AIDS.  And she has a deep personal faith.  But this church she has formed is quite interesting. The first twenty minutes were musical, and it was easy stuff to sing along with. After that we did about an hour of prayer, interspersed with the occasional song.  The prayers are moving, but also a little comical.  One of Mathebesang’s assistants would announce what the next prayer was for, and then each person would pray aloud in their own words, all at the same time.  In a sort of unintentional competition, with voice levels rising until they were almost shouting their prayers.  Then the woman would interrupt by starting the next song or announcing the topic for the next prayer.  And she spoke Basotho, so Mathebesang would kindly translate for our benefit.

Mathebesang was a passionate preacher, and I remember one of the songs was “Send us your fire, O Lord”. 

Then the kids were gathered together to sing a few songs and give some memorized scripture verses. They did well and were cute as all kids are when called upon to speak.  And they sang us several songs before trooping out to Sunday School in the yard.  Which allowed more adults to come inside.  At this point we had been in the tiny, hot room for two hours, so I interrupted the service at a break to announce that despite regretting it, we had to leave as we had other commitments that afternoon.

Everyone said goodbye and then we piled into the Little Miss Sunshine bus for the return trip to Hlotse.

We got home, hit the Shoprite for some lunchable munchables and dinner ingredients for later, then back to the nunnery. Stewart and I are headed to the hospital in a few minutes to borrow some free wireless internet access.

If something exciting happens this afternoon, I will keep you posted.  Shake ‘n Bake hot once again today!

Tomorrow is a travel day for Wes and Shelley. I will bring them to the Maseru airport in the afternoon.

Stewart and Patti’s dinner concoction was great!  Pasta with tomato sauce, with chicken and assorted vegetables mixed in.  We drank some wine with dinner, then went out for a walk looking for the source of some loud noise in the neighbourhood. (Stewart thought it was one of the downtown evangelical store front churches, but we never really found the source of the noise). Stopped in at the hotel for a drink and then home to the penguin palace for an early night.