A National Anthem

In six days we leave for a two-week mission trip to Lesotho. As a 4th grader at the local British primary school, I learned to play the Lesotho National Anthem on my recorder. I can still play it. Today I looked it up to see if I remembered the words correctly (and I wasn't too bad through the first verse and chorus). Here it is for my ghost readers:

LESŌTHŌ FATŠE LA BONTAT'A RŌNA

Lesōthō fatše la bo ntat'a rōna;

Ha ra mafatše le letle ke lona;

Ke moo re hlahileng,

ke moo re hōlileng,

Rea lerata,

Mōlimō ak'u bōlōke Lesōthō;

U felise lintoa le matšoenyeho;

Oho fatše lena;

La bo ntata rōna;

Le be le khotso.

English translation:

Lesotho, land of our Fathers,

Among the lands it is the most beautiful.

It is where we were born,

It is where we grew up--

We love it.

God, please protect Lesotho.

Spare it conflict, and tribulation--

Oh, this land,

Land of our Fathers,

May it have peace.

The lyrics were written by François Coillard, a French missionary, and the music was composed by Ferdinand-Samuel Laur. It has been used as the national anthem since 1967.