Recent Projects

Part of what we are wanting to accomplish while we are in South Africa is updating the mission house and the other buildings on the grounds. This last trip we were able to get three pretty big projects done, which is super exciting.

First, we went through the missions house, decluttered, cleaned, and redecorated. It is so much fun to make the house start feeling like a home. We were able to find many treasures in the closests and drawers that hadn't been gone through in years.

Our second project was redoing one of the guest rooms.

This turned into a bigger project than expected. First, Brandan sealed all the cracks in the room with a concrete mix. Once that was dry, all the spots had to be sanded down. Then came the taping, priming, painting, cleaning, and finally decorating. It was so satisfying to see it all come together, and we couldn't be happier with the result.

The third project we were able to complete, was repainting the tabernacle roof with a water and UV resistant paint to preserve the roof as long as possible. We got the supplies and then hired a couple guys from the Kestell church to complete the job. They did excellent work, and within just a couple of days the roof looked brand new.

We thank God for the work that was able to be accomplished, and we are excited to get to work on the next projects.

ICHA's Mission Statement

Mission statements often go unnoticed and are forgotten. We are convinced that our mission statement is extremely important, and we strive to keep it foremost in our thinking and planning. We think of our mission statement as a sort of roadmap that informs our decisions and guards our purpose. When we look around at the fallen world in which we live and minister, needs present themselves on every side. We are tempted to try to extend ourselves even more and attempt to meet each need, but that is unwise.

Mission drift is an ever-present threat to any organization. The mission statement is just one line of defense against mission drift (Greer & Horst, 2014). We, as the Conservative Holiness Movement (CHM), have done a good job of warning against spiritual drift, but mission drift is a bit harder to recognize. As I have said, we see needs on every hand, and the compassion the Lord has placed inside us drives us to adapt and attempt to meet these needs. When we expand outside of our strengths, we set ourselves up for failure. There's nothing wrong with "staying in your lane," and mission statements help with that.

For our purposes in Lesotho, we categorize our ministry outputs as follows: philanthropy (reach); evangelism and weekly worship services (preach); and evangelism & theological training (teach). Our ingenious mission statement allows us a great deal of flexibility in our missionary work

, yet holds us to the central task of making disciples (Matthew 28:19). For instance, there are a myriad of ways in which we could conceivably reach the unreached masses of Basotho people, and our mission statement does not specify how we must reach them. Our mission statement allows for creative philanthropic initiatives that allow us to make the initial contact and have the opportunity to preach the gospel and teach scriptural holiness. However, the insistence on preaching the Word and teaching scriptural holiness, ensure that our philanthropic efforts support our gospel commission.

The closing prepositional phrase of our mission statement provides the final and most significant directive for ICHA Lesotho. Everything we do is for the glory of God alone. It's incredibly easy for those engaged in any sort of philanthropic initiative to develop some of Messiah complex that they are going to save the world (Corbett & Fikkert, 2012). Our mission statement serves as a reminder that we do what we do in order to bring glory to God alone.

Baby Dedication

We had the privelage of dedicating two babies in our ICHA church in Lusaka this past Sunday. It was such an honor to work with pastor Mantwa as we dedicated these precious lives to God in hopes that they will grow up to serve Him. Brandan spoke from his heart to the parent's, imploring them to set a good example for their children and let God govern their lives so that their kids can have a home filled with the presence of God. We had a wonderful time of prayer over the little ones and their parents. It was a precious time.

The rest of the service was wonderful as well as we heard some on fire preaching from pastor Mantwa. We were blessed as she encouraged her people to seek after God in every situation. Many came to the front to pray once she had concluded. It was wonderful to see the Holy Spirit moving in the hearts of people.

Once the service ended we had a time of fellowship to celebrate the newly dedicated babies, and we got to experience lots more baby snuggles ( Which was Katie's favorite part.) We thank the Lord for a wonderful Lord's day and the part we were able to play in it. He is so very good to us.