- The Finnie family in Blighty, December 2021
- Dean and Paula pastor The Gathering together
- The Gathering
- Baptisms at The Gathering
- Preparing to serve at The Gathering's Soup Kitchen
- Soup Kitchen Welcome To 2022 lunch
- Serving hands - the heart of The Gatheirng
- Thankful Thursdays
- HOPE Home Based Care Team
- Gathering Ground
- Staying fit as a family
- The Helderberg - The prettiest of the mountains we face
We're in the countdown for our trip to Blighty, and life just seems to get busier & busier.
In the midst of preparing for our trip, we're still juggling life and having to make some plans for the future, especially regarding my health.
We're really excited to be coming back to Blighty for a month, it means we'll miss a month of winter here, but most importantly, it means we'll get to spend time with Eli, having not seen him for over 18 months!
FTM Roadshows 2024
After six years and Covid, we're finally returning to conduct some of our Roadshows (see details in the image).
We will send out more detailed information for each Roadshow and church visit nearer the time, but in the meantime please make a date in your diary and we hope to see you very soon.
Future Plans To Present Realities
The first one was our Christmas Lunch for 120 of our regulars and the second was taking our soup up from 70lts to 100lts, but we were really going to need some miraculous blessings for these to happen.
Bath Time.... Not
Our drought seemed to be a popular source of conversation in Blighty as I was asked countless times about it, especially as it had hit international headlines a few months ago as Day Zero was scheduled to happen within days of that news breaking.
Adopted Son
I've had a fantastic time, reconnected with many good friends, and spent time with school mates I hadn't seen in 35 years. I had the privilege of spending time with some truly inspiring fellow pastors & ministers and can't believe that a few of them even let me preach in their churches (I'm sure one day I'll be found out 😂 ).
But the greatest joy has been spending time with family, and this last week has been special as I've never spent so long with Paula's sister & brother-in-law on my own before. All I can say is that my love and respect for Lisa & Stephen grows exponentially each time I see them and realise just how much they quietly get on with as they serve and support others around them. I really love you both! XX
Going Home.....Not Quite Yet
It has been a great time, but it has been quite tiring, and the first two weeks were a bit of a whirlwind as I caught a train from London to Stockport, spent a few days there then got a train to Sheffield where I spent a couple of days before getting a train to London where I spent a few days in Wimbledon -which included a train ride out to Witham in Essex- before getting a train to Abingdon, and then finally a train to Weald to spend the last week or so with Paula's family. I have to say, it's nice to be able to hang a few shirts up rather than grabbing bits out of the suitcase!
Coming To Blighty
Quite simply we cannot afford to all come and the boys can't miss school like they once could. ðŸ˜
So, if you are in or around the Manchester, Sheffield, London or Sevenoaks areas, please come and say hello at one of my Roadshows or Church Visits, the dates are in the image to the right.
For the Sheffield and Wimbledon Roadshows, please save the date and I'll confirm the venues ASAP.
Church + PowerPoint = Chaos
One of the best was on the Wirral many moons ago. We had been clear with the church as to what we needed tech wise, back then it was as simple as an overhead projector, and the church had promised all would be fine. On the day there was no OHP so we had to pass our acetates around the congregation whilst we spoke. Priceless!
On another not so distant Roadshow, we were in a church where the vicar (an ardent Mac fan) decided to overrule the tech guy and interfere with the PC and our PowerPoint. Needless to say it didn't go well. 😂
I'll probably get told off for this but
To The Gathering With Love
Whilst on our recent FTM Roadshow Tour in Blighty we asked if a few friends and supporters would mind to speak to our folk back at The Gathering.
This is the result and it was greatly appreciated by all at The Gathering!
Baby Saver
The Baby Saver is on the side of Choices, a crisis pregnancy counselling service run by the local churches in the Helderberg. The Baby Saver itself is on the side of the building, away from any CCTV or other forms of surveillance, so mothers that need to give their babies away can do so anonymously.
Greatest Joy
However, every once in a while you get to meet someone who truly is a mentor and truly does have the skill of asking the right questions in the right way and of drawing out the best in you.
We had the privilege of spending time in the UK with Paul, one of Paula's former bosses. He now runs a mentoring network and is in the process of establishing a brilliant ministry called Chapel House.
Anyway, in the midst of our precious time with Paul & Jane, Paul asked a very simple question: "What is your greatest joy in your ministry?"
That Was Blighty
Well our long anticipated and planned for trip is over, we're just a few hours from being back home and it's been good to spend a few hours reflecting on the last five weeks.
Square Pegs
We were both asked quite early on about what was different with this trip than previous trips back to the UK. This seemed to be born out of the fact that many folk commented on how happy and relaxed we appeared.
From Britain With Love
Tonight at our home group meeting we'll be showing the short film we made of the various responses folk gave to camera about our Roadshow presentations.
All we can say to those of you that spoke to camera is "Thank You!".
Been & Gone
We really did hit the ground running and by the end of the first week we were exhausted but absolutely thrilled with what we'd achieved.
The Final Curtain
It was a truly great evening with an incredibly diverse mix of people from the vicar who was responsible for Paula getting saved through to a complete stranger and his cousin who had seen the event advertised in the parish magazine.
We're really enjoying our Roadshow events and are particularly enjoying the variety of different contexts in which we get to present about Tree of Life and our amazing friends in South Africa.
Today we were in the well heeled town of Cobham and had the privilege of sharing our Roadshow with a lovely bunch of folk from St. Andrew's, Oxshott.
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