Another Year Older!

On Friday I sat with a group of Rastafarians and chatted for an hour or so (I'm now fluent in their greetings - respect!) which was very enlightening. They feel very strongly that alcohol is a huge problem and want to see the shebeens closed but also the breweries. I found this a little amusing as the pulled out a 'sack' of hash and proceeded to roll the most enormous spliffs! They saw no irony in this rather explaining it as being what helped them meditate on the book of life! They want to talk again so I'll being doing some research on Rastafarianism before that.

Visiting And Building

Today was a beautiful Spring day - cloudless blue sky and temperature at least 28 degrees with no wind, wonderful!! We are so looking forward to more of this type of weather. Paula spent yesterday afternoon with Joel and a friend and her 2 children in the Nature Reserve. It was another day like today and they had a wonderful time enjoying the scenery and chatting while the children played. Please pray for a deepening of these friendships for Paula and Joel. In many ways God is really answering this prayer after only 2 months in the country, but Paula is keen to establish deep roots from early on so that they both have real security in the coming years.

Update

On Sunday we showed The Passion at church after the morning service. This was primarily aimed at folk from CNP, Lwandle and Nomzamo who didn't manage to see the film whilst it was in the cinemas. About one hundred folk stayed for soup followed by the film and the initial; response to has been very positive. Dean was particularly encouraged by Dina's response after the film when she asked for prayer as she was going to go back to CNP and make her peace with Sandra (a community leader), please pray for this and for Sandra to be saved. It was also exciting to see Patrick attend the film after his recent amputation. He conducted himself with such grace and dignity as he struggled from the bus to the church hall.

Death In The Community

Mama Jane's husband -Harvey- died from straightforward TB in the early hours of Monday morning. Tannie Jane has been a faithful steward of her finances and has been paying into a funeral policy so the costs of Harvey's funeral are taken care off. Given that Jane will now lose the grant her husband was receiving and she continues to care for her two children and two grandchildren she will need all the money she can find. Please pray for Tannie Jane and her family, they know Jesus and are faithful witnesses to his word. Pray for blessing in their lives.

Awesome Weekend

We've had an amazing Sunday and a very good weekend overall. Dean had Friday off as he had worked quite a few late nights and was feeling quite shattered emotionally having been a sounding board for some folk in Chris Nissen Park. Things are beginning to happen and it appears that Dean has gained the confidence of most of the key leaders within the community. We praise God for this as we asked you to pray that he would be accepted by the community as we left the UK and God is certainly answering this prayer! Please continue to pray for favour for Dean as he continues to build relationships in CNP.

Cycle Of Poverty

Dean had a very illuminating afternoon in Chris Nissen Park today. He met with a man called Michael who wanted to talk about the witness of some Christians within the community. Many residents in CNP receive monthly grants from the Govt' due to their age or disability, however most of those who receive these grants have borrowed against the next month's payment in the Shebeens. They can buy their groceries and alcohol in the shebeens but they have to 'sign' for them and leave their ID cards and grant papers with the Shebeen owner.

Spring Has Sprung

Spring is now officially 2 weeks old and over the weekend it has felt like winter is finally over. Whilst this is great in terms of wearing T shirts and shorts it also means that there is no more rain due until March next year. This is really serious in the Western Cape now and water restrictions will be in place from the 1st October. We don't know what form those restrictions will take yet but water bills will definitely increase by at least 20%.

Dean visited Patrick last night and enjoyed a brief chat, he is doing well and was sat in the chair next to his bed which is really positive. Dean will be taking Chris Nissen folk again this week to see Patrick and he is really looking forward to seeing his family again. Continue to pray for swift healing and strength of spirit as he recovers.

Hospital Visits

Dean has been ferrying family and friends of Patrick to see him which involves quite a long drive from Chris Nissen to the Govt hospital. Patrick really appreciates these visits and this afternoon Dean visited on his own taking some reading material and some salted popcorn. Patrick appears to be coping reasonably well with the amputation, he was out of bed this morning and he has already been trying his crutches. Not bad for a 72 year old!

Latest News

No bad news today, primarily because Dean got the dates wrong and hadn't realised that Palace weren't playing on Sat due to an international match. However we had a lovely evening with some new friends here and look forward to building upon that.

Late last week Dean took a group of ladies from CNP to see Patrick in the local Govt hospital. Patrick is waiting to have a leg amputated as gangrene has set in due to his diabetes. Patrick was chuffed to see so many friends and family members.

Theft

We discovered at about 10am this morning that our car had been broken into and the stereo stolen along with Paula's sunglasses.  The rear quarterlight was put through creating a huge mess inside.  We spoke with our neighbours but no one heard anything and none of the dogs barked!  This is really strange as we live right in the middle of the complex and ordinarily the neighbours dogs go crazy when anyone comes near the house.  We're not too concerned about the stereo itself as an object but it's the mess created and time involved in clearing it all up that is annoying, as well as the unbudgeted expense of new glass and trying to get a new stereo and sunglasses in time when we feel we can afford it.  (We can't claim on the insurance because the excess is higher than the replacement cost!).

Answered Prayer

Our God is a faithful God!

Minton and his wife were released from custody last night.  We're not sure yet as to whether charges have been dropped or whether there is insufficient evidence to detain them further.  Either way it is good news as the case is obviously very weak.  Minton and his family are now having two weeks away to come to terms with all that has happened but also to be away from the community in which the tragic events took place, they don't feel safe there at present.

Joel's Day Out

We took Joel to the Cape Town Aquarium on Saturday and he really enjoyed himself.  The highlights for him were being able to stand against the tanks and watch the fish, sharks and seals come right up to his face.  The seals were particularly impressive with their acrobatics and Joel just giggled the whole time.  Afterwards we had lunch at the Aquarium restaurant and there were 3 seals on the quay immediately below us, needless to say Joel was enthralled.

Arrest Update

We've heard today that Minton & Womisile have both been charged with the murder and as such remain in custody.  However, we are thankful to God that they remain in the local police cells as opposed to having been transferred to the infamous Pollsmoor prison in Cape Town.

The police now have a further 7 days in which to investigate the murder and then there will be a further court appearance at which time Minton & Womisile will either be released due to lack of evidence or a trial date will be set and they will be moved to Pollsmoor.

Please continue to pray for Minton & Womisile and for justice to be done.

Church Under Attack

We need to ask you to pray for Minton and his wife.  Minton is the church caretaker and a very quiet & gentle man.  However on Tuesday he was arrested for murder together with his wife, Womisile.  Needless to say the whole church was stunned!

Over the weekend a dispute took place in a Shebeen in Nomzano which left a young man called Malibongwe dead.  The community then sought the perpetrator and murdered him next to Malibongwe.  This is a growing problem in the townships as the communities do not trust the police.  It transpires that Malibongwe is Minton's 'son' (culturally) and somehow it has been alleged that Minton and Womisile have committed the murder.  However they say they were in bed at the time of it.

Prayer Items

To the Faithful Oaks who pray so brilliantly for us

We're having a really good week and want to share some prayer items with you, but firstly we'll give you a bit of news.  A major breakthrough tonight...Paula has gone to church on her own in the car.  She hates driving and is never too keen to drive at night so this is a bit of a first.  Dean went mountain biking again tonight and managed to stay on the bike this time.  Steve and Jonathon (fellow riders) are very fit so Dean feels a bit of a lemon trying to keep up.  However they're very patient and encouraging, Jonathon tried to persuade Dean to join a 25km race at the weekend but Dean declined! 

Fun & Laughter

We had a lovely family day today - one of those days that you wonder how it could have been so happy when nothing particularly significant was planned!  We went to church as usual in the morning and Joel had a great morning in creche.  He then slept for over 2 hours after a huge lunch - great for his parents!!  In the afternoon we went for a walk and came back past a proper skate boarding and bike ramp area. 

August Marches On

Well August is drawing to a close and at last it feels as if the weather might be warming up a touch, certainly the last few nights have been better and the last 3 days have been glorious!  Winter here is definitely a little odd!  It appears that the North-Westerly wind blows in over the mountains and brings the cold and rain for 3 or 4 days and then the wind turns to the Southeast and brings warmth and sunshine for 2 or 3 days and so it goes on.  At least we know that every few days it will be good.

Winter Has Arrived!

Well winter is truly here with a vengance.  The winds in the last few days have been quite frightening (as well as keeping Paula awake at night).  The rain is almost non-stop and many places are flooded.  Summer shouldn't be too far away now - we hope!

The big news is that our visas have been approved until 2007 so it's good to know we're legally here!  Dean will drive to Paarl to get the passports stamped in the next few days.

What A Week

Winter hit with a vengeance with the North West wind battering everything around.  A few times this week we thought our roof was going to take off.  The saddest part of this is that Cape Town has experienced severe flooding with the 'informal settlements' (squatter camps) suffering the brunt of it.  Many people have been washed out of their shacks.  On Sunday we were supposed to welcome some new members but a number of folk were unable to be there as their homes were destroyed by the floods.  Please pray for these families as they try and piece together the little they had to start with.

Life

We are settling in well and are very pleased with our house.  The rain has arrived -only a month late- and is persistent so it is a bit depressing.  I think we'll be swimming out of our front door this afternoon!  Dean started work this week, so is slowly starting to develop a strategy.  It is frustrating at first, particularly as the main woman he was hoping to work with has now got full-time work, so isn't around to help and Dean doesn't speak Afrikaans!  Lots of prayer needed.

The Holiday Is Over

Dean starts work properly tomorrow (Tuesday 3rd) at 8.30 so today was our last day of 'holiday' (although we've been racing around getting the house sorted and a few other things!).  We took Joel out for tea tonight and really enjoyed himself.  He ate some of Dad's potato wedges followed by Mum's ice cream as well as polishing off his own tea!  This afternoon Joel and Paula went for a walk with a friend who has a 3 year old and needless to say Joel wanted to be doing all that he saw his friend doing.  His not walking is definitely frustrating him now!  Please pray that he would soon start to walk, it would transform his life.