Please join the Office of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) in special services of worship and inclusion that will be held at Maseru LECSA on 22 September 2019 at 7:00AM, 8:30AM and 10:00AM.
The Lesotho Evangelical Church in Southern Africa (LECSA) has realised that people with disabilities are often left out of many church activities, so it has committed itself to making efforts to include people with disabilities in the life of the church by accommodating them, ensuring them access to services and giving them a platform to be heard as much as possible. One of those efforts at inclusion will be the September church services, organized by Rev. L. A. Motsomai and Rev. S. L. Makhabane, where those with disabilities will be leading worship: one lady with physical disability will conduct the service, a lady who is blind will read the Bible in braile, Rev. Makhabane will preach, and sign language interpretation will be done during his sermon.
Church members and leaders alike suffer from disabilities that affect their ability to participate in the life of the church. Rev. Makhabane is a LECSA Pastor who acquired his physical disability later in life due to illness. He started his ministry at Kolojane LECSA, where he was ordained in 1995. Then he worked at Qacha’s Nek LECSA from 1996 -2007. He transferred to Qhomane Parish in 2007 where he acquired his physical disability due to illness. He is now confined to a wheel chair.
Rev. Makhabane’s life completely changed with the onset of his physical disability. From 2007 until 2017 the church building at Qhomane Parish was inaccessible for him; he used to be lifted in order to get in and out of the church. He was unable to use the pulpit; he used to sit on the left hand side of it and perform his duties. He never visited his congregation in villages like he used to do. The members of his family had to make alterations to the house and other buildings in order to accommodate him. More often than not he used to go to the meetings in Morija, as one of the members of Morija Presbytery, but to his dismay, he would be left out of the office where the meetings were held due to the building’s inaccessibility. He longed to attend big church ceremonies like “Leeto la Thapelo,” but was unable. It was heart-breaking that he was marginalized not only by people but also by infrastructure.
Since 2017 things have changed. LECSA realised that there was need to address the issue of inclusion of people with disabilities in the church and decided to train a Pastor, Rev. Motsamai, in this area so that he could advise the church on a way forward. After returning from a conference held in Pretoria on inclusion, Rev. Motsamai and church members from Maseru LECSA constructed a ramp for Rev. Makhabane at his church. Rev. Makhabane is now able to access the pulpit and preaches looking at his congregation. He easily goes to big ceremonial church services and preaches there. He and his family accept that disability is not inability and they happily accept his status and assist him to do his job.
Rev. Motsamai, who is seated next to Rev. Makhabane, together with the JPIC coordinator had several counselling sessions with Rev. Makhabane and his family.
Sadly, Rev. Makhabane is not alone in his experience of feeling left out of church activities. In an interview with other members of the church, one lady who is blind, by the name of Mrs. Khetsi, says when blind people go to church they can only listen to what is being said because there are no Bibles nor hymns written in braile. She is a member of LECSA who is highly educated but has never been given the chance to perform duties in the church due to her blindness. People with hearing impairment stay at home on Sundays; they do not bother to go to church because services cater to those who have the ability to hear. Many people with physical disabilities claim that most churches have steps which they cannot climb, so they stay at home.
In an effort to make LECSA a church of All for ALL, please come and join us for worship on 22 September at Maseru LECSA where all will be celebrated and welcomed.
LECSA 