But Take Heart

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world."

These words from Jesus constitute my favourite Bible verse in John 16:33 (I've posted on this before here & here). 

I like the fact that trouble is just part of the human condition. Jesus didn't say we were being tested or refined, nor is there a suggestion that god is a malevolent being that relishes in visiting bad upon mankind. Nope, trouble is simply a fact of life, full stop.

Exciting Times

Today was an exciting day for The Gathering as we were blessed with 23 boxes of peanut pastes from our dear friends at My Father's House in Simon's Town.

This means we can once again be generous with the pastes which have become incredibly popular amongst our Soup Kitchen regulars.

Call That Work?

I'm not sure one could call what I do work given how much of a blessing so much of what I do is, and days like today are so enjoyable and pleasurable that there should probably be laws against it.

This morning after picking up a trailer I had the joy of driving through to Simon's Town to My Father's House where my dear brother Shaddie loaded my car and trailer with loads of food for The Gathering.

This Is Not Work

It has been said that if you can do what you enjoy for a living then it never feels like work.

Well that is definitely true for me and never truer than on a day like yesterday when I had the privilege and joy of delivering a load of food to the two Macassar Soup Kitchens which The Gathering supports.

Super Sunday

The Gathering always feels like an awesome place to be on Sundays, but this morning that sense of excitement and expectation was heightened as our spiritual big sister Rose Roode came to minister to us.

It is always a joy to welcome a guest speaker but an absolute pleasure to welcome someone like Rose who is so anointed in her prophetic gift of ministering God's word to his children.

The Gathering @ My Father's House

Today has been an immense blessing as some of The Gathering were able to go through to Simon's Town and serve at My Father's House and then join them for church at the beach ministering to some of the local homeless community that My Father's House are in relationship with through their Community Kitchen and Resource Centre.

Church at the beach was an exciting gathering and it felt like church that Jesus would have wanted to be a part of. 

24 Hours In The Life Of

It was an all action night at The Gathering's Soup Kitchen last night.

Whilst the Soup Kitchen itself passed off peacefully as usual, thank you LORD! It was chaotic outside with one of the local youngsters getting herself run over causing the driver to crash in to a parked car.

Amazingly the ambulance actually turned up (they rarely do in these communities!) followed by a fire engine (why?!?) and eventually a traffic cop showed up too.

Sharing Our Blessings

What a joy and a privilege it was to be able to share some of The Gathering's blessings with the three Soup Kitchens we support (two in Macassar and the one in Chris Nissen Park).

Thanks to the generosity of My Father's House, we were able to share with each of them: 25kgs of oats, 20kgs of maize meal, 2 boxes of peanut pastes and 4 boxes of Easter eggs for the kids.

Blessings Abound

It was such a blessing to have Shaddie & Liza from My Father's House ministering to The Gathering this morning.

As ever Shaddie was on fire and was stirred to share a specific word with two different members of church as well as having a word based on Daniel 3 for The Gathering.

This word fit perfectly with what God has been saying about the purchase of the building and it really stirred the hearts and faith of all our members.

Truckload Of Blessings

Once again we're thankful to Jehovah Jireh, the LORD our provider for the abundance with which The Gathering has once again been blessed with.

This morning we received two pallets (150 boxes) of the much treasured peanut pastes that our Soup Kitchen regulars love so much. 

Thanks also go to our dear friend Shaddie at My Father's House for sharing their blessings with The Gathering.

K Is For Kilograms

K is for Kilograms

Actually, that would be 6000 of them as The Gathering took delivery of six pallets of the peanut pastes we've been busy giving out lately.

Once again it was a total blessing to be able to receive such a huge food delivery and it's an even greater blessing knowing that we have already allocated all 432 boxes and they will be gone by Friday afternoon. 

Day 365 & Counting...

South Africa's 21 day lock down was announced by the govt on March 23rd last year giving us all just four days to prepare for the coming few weeks.

Life got a little hectic as we knew certain items would be banned from sale for the duration, and so many people went crazy with hoarding, and it wasn't just loo rolls!

Sharing Is Caring

Alongside doing the bulk of the donkey work in terms of collecting donations, I also get to do the fun bit of passing them on to those that  are in need of them.

Over the last few weeks The Gathering has been blessed with just over 6 pallets of peanut sachets, with each pallet holding 72 boxes and each box containing 150 sachets. In total we've received about 450 boxes and as of today we have so far given 300 boxes away.

A Morning With My Father's House

It was pure joy and a real privilege to spend a few hours with my mate Shaddie this morning serving My Father's House as they prepare the food for their daily feeding programme providing for the most vulnerable members of the Simon's Town community and beyond.

I love what My Father's House are doing and their vision and motivation behind it all, so it's probably a good thing that we don't live any closer because I would invest more of my time in to their vision and work to the detriment of my main focus.

Flip-Flops & Blessings

One of the joys of what we do is being able to collect donations, sort them and then send them out again to the right people/places to ensure they have the maximum impact.

So recently it was great to be in touch with a local who had several boxes of brand new flip-flops left over from a recently closed business enterprise. They were keen that the flip-flops were not sold but rather would go to people who need them and would appreciate them, which is where The Gathering comes in. Sadly some of the boxes were water damaged so we've had to bin the worst of the damaged flip-flops, but we were able to rescue seven boxes of 24 pairs to be given away. What a blessing!

Shower Of Blessings

In the book of Ezekiel it says: "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing" - Ezekiel 34:26.

Today has been a true showers of blessing kind of day as I went with Joel to Simon's Town to meet up with Shaddie at My Father's House kitchen where they are doing a stunning job of feeding the neediest and most vulnerable in the Simon's Town area and beyond.

That Was My Morning, How Was Yours?

This morning was a little bit different as I went in to Cape Town to pick up another 12 boxes of emergency food rations. Thank you My Father's House!

These peanut butter sachets are proving very popular with our homeless Soup Kitchen regulars, so it's good to know that we'll be able to continue to bless them for a while yet.

Each sachet weighs just 100g and they are packed with goodness and calories, providing an adult with all the nutrients they need in a single meal.

Blessings

One of my passions in church and mission is working in partnership with other churches and NPOs, and one church we've known, loved and worked with for quite a while now is Father's House over in Simon's Town, led by our dear friend Shaddie.

Before the lockdown they had stopped meeting as a church on Sundays in the regular sense and were reaching out to the homeless on Saturday afternoons. They truly are being the hands & feet of Jesus in the community. Once lockdown started the homeless were rounded up (that's a rant for another day!) so they refocused their efforts on the informal settlements in an area called Redhill in the mountains above the town.

They now have a separate NPO called My Father's House and together with some other local community groups are feeding almost 4000 children everyday.

Thank You!

Thank you to all of you who contributed financially, in kind and prayerfully to The Gathering's Soup Kitchen Christmas Lunch, we really couldn't have done this without you.

It was an amazing day and we feel tremendously privileged to have been a part of it and we hope & pray you're blessed too.

Thank you Lord!

Soup Kitchen Christmas Lunch

Wow, what a day that was!

For me it was the most exciting day of the year and a tremendous privilege to be a part of.

It was amazing to see how the seed of a crazy idea planted just over a year ago came to bear such incredible fruit.