Pray for Lesotho on Sunday, April 1, 2012

Pray for Lesotho on Sunday, April 1, 2012

Prayers for Lesotho: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 and Mark 11:1-11

Dear God,

May we never cease to lift up our hands and our hearts to you in thanksgiving!  Your love, indeed, endures forever!  On this Palm Sunday, as we celebrate the joy of Jesus’ entrance to Jerusalem, may we also celebrate the joy of servanthood which he exemplified for us and commanded us to follow.  He sought not his own glory but to glorify you.  Mold within us obedient hearts that gladly accept the cost and joy of discipleship in serving one another with humility, grace and peace.  And may this bring you glory!  

In Lesotho, we pray for political candidates who are not self-seeking, but seeking to serve; not selfish, but selfless; not seeking power, but seeking to empower others; not thinking to be better than others, but thinking how to better others.

We give thanks for the many servants of the Lesotho Evangelical Church.  We pray for:

·         pastors and evangelists serving the LEC and nourishing the spiritual lives of their parishioners

·         doctors and nurses ministering to the sick at the LEC’s hospitals and clinics

·         students and staff at the LEC Seminary and Bible School

We join the Lesotho Evangelical Church in praying for:

·         a productive synod meeting and meaningful “Journey of Prayer” event, both at the end of April

·         peace and political stability as the country holds elections on May 26  

We pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Mission Moment from Lesotho:

Technology is changing lives around the world.  But in some places access to technology is a real struggle.  In Lesotho computer education is gradually coming to more and more schools. Recently the subject has become part of the national curriculum and classes are highly popular with the students.  However, providing practical training requires equipment that is not easily within the means of the schools.    

Masitise High School is one of many schools associated with our partner church in Lesotho, the Lesotho Evangelical Church.  Computer education classes have been available there for a number of years now.  Last year the school refurbished one of its classrooms to accommodate another computer lab.  Thanks to generous gifts from individuals and churches to Global Ministries, fifty computers were purchased to equip the new lab.  This additional lab has greatly improved the capacity of the school to provide computer instruction for the more than 1000 students at the school.

Thanks be to God for the work of Global Ministries and for those who support its worldwide ministries!

(Prayer and Mission Moment by Mark Behle)

Video Resources for Lesotho:

Global Ministries International Partners in Lesotho:

  • LesothoEvangelicalChurch- TheLesothoEvangelicalChurchis one ofAfrica’s oldest Protestant churches, founded in 1833 by missionaries from the Paris Evangelical Mission society.  It isLesotho’s oldest denomination and today it has 261,350 members in 112 congregations.  It also maintains 580 schools.  The LEC-sponsored schools have contributed to the 83 percent literacy rate nationwide.   Global Ministries’ relationship to LEC began in 1983.
  • Christian Council ofLesotho- The Christian Council ofLesothois a fellowship of Christian churches and Christian organizations. It has two main objectives: (1) to foster closer cooperation and unity amongst churches and organizations of different Christian traditions; (2) to enable member churches and organization to more fully share in the spiritual, social and economic endeavors.  It has been involved over the years in social development, formal and informal education, health and sanitation, environmental protection and agriculture, civic education, conflict management. 
  • Christian Health Association ofLesotho- The mission of the Christian Health Association of Lesotho is to facilitate the participation of the Christian churches in ensuring that the right of all members of society to the highest quality health services is upheld.  In pursuit of this mission, the Christian churches are committed to see to it that quality health services reach those who have least access, the families and communities, through appropriate technologies, in spirit of mutual trust and cooperation as a tangible expression of Christ’s vision to love our neighbors as ourselves.

For more info on Lesotho: http://globalministries.org/africa/countries/lesotho/

Global Ministries Missionary in Lesotho:

Mark Behle serves with the Lesotho Evangelical Church.   He has been in Lesotho since 1996 and taught mathematics and religion at Masitise High School through 2011 and now serves as the denomination’s planning officer.  Before coming to Lesotho he taught for eleven years in Zambia at a school of the United Church of Zambia.