Birthday Weekend

Joel had a lot of fun over the weekend celebrating his Birthday. The party on Saturday was great and all the kids had a lot of fun, even the parents seem to enjoy it and they all commented very positively on how we had structured and organised the event. Joel's friends were incredibly generous with the presents they gave him, we were quite stunned at some of the stuff and Joel was delighted with his new favourite toys.

On Sunday we celebrated his Birthday proper and opened a few presents before church, followed by lunch out and more presents on our return. The definite favourite is the Duplo dragon from Eli, Joel hates to put it down.

Enjoy the photos below:

Michael's House

We wrote recently about Michael & Joyce being evicted from the home they share with Michael's father. The eviction date is March 31st which is looming very closely now.

In our last post about this situation we mentioned the possibility of you helping us to provide Michael & Joyce with somewhere to live. We are currently looking at 'Wendy Houses' which are basically large garden sheds with 2 or 3 rooms in them. These 'houses' sell for around R4500 (£450). We currently have approximately £200 and need to raise the balance as soon as possible.

If you would like to help (no amount is too small!) please email us or leave a comment on this post and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

Thanks in anticipation of your help!

Fighting

Paula went in to Chris Nissen tonight to meet with Dina and some new women for tea and fellowship. She had also been invited to look in on the building of the new netball court and to meet the new team of girls and pray for them. Just as they were walking down to the site Dina disappeared like a shot and Paula realised that Sandra, the community leader was heading straight for her full of aggression. She immediately started her accusations about Dina and the fact that she didn't know about the project etc.etc. Thankfully, Shirley, the new leader of the netball team was with Paula and Paula managed to get Sandra to direct all her accusations at her.

Family Update

Where to begin since we last posted? So much seems to get crammed into a week leaving little time to worry about Blogging, so we're sorry if you're feeling out of touch. As well as this post, we've also just posted some photos on our photoblog: Finnie's in Focus.

Family wise we're generally OK although Joel has a really bad cold right now and Eli is showing signs of picking it up. Joel had to miss church yesterday which wasn't much fun, but he's managed to go to nursery this morning.

Eye Of God?

This picture has recently been posted on the web with the title "Eye of God". I was stunned by the photo from the Hubble telescope, especially when such pictures are viewed from the context of God's word...

Genesis 1:16-18 ...He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good

Psalm 8:3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place

Psalm 147:4 He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.

A Meaningful Update - At Last!

We apologise that it has been an age since our last blog update but life has been hectic, hectic!! We eventually moved house on Monday 21 February - typically it was the day of the first torrential rain of the year and we all sorts of furniture to move! Thankfully we managed to dodge the downpours and everything is now in situ. We have also had nearly 3 weeks of huge power cuts right across the Western Cape which has impacted everything from not being able to sterilise bottles, make a cup of tea, sew up curtains, cook dinner, wash clothes.

Family Photo

Steve & Anne Murphy from St. Christopher's in Pott Shrigley were on holiday in Cape Town recently and we caught up after church. We had an excellent time together and whilst they were with us they took the family photo below which we just received in our email.

Thanks Guys!

Adoption Update

The 60 day consent period has now ended which means that the birth mother can no longer change her mind and request her child back. This is great for us but must be awful for her. Please pray for her as she seeks to rebuild her life, also, give thanks as she is a Christian and knows Jesus as her saviour!.

The social worker was in court this morning and we're waiting to hear what the next step is. As you could imagine we're really excited to know that Eli is now ours pending the technical formalities of the legal process.

Please keep praying that all would go smoothly and quickly!

We're Back Online!

We've had an eventful few days moving house, as ever with such ventures, whatever can go wrong does go wrong, so our washing machine decided that it didn't like the new house and gave up on us, but not before it flooded the kitchen! Dean fell through the stairs on his way down, one step completely collapsed, but thankfully gravity was stronger than velocity so other than a gashed leg there was no real damage. In the midst of packing and moving we enjoyed a series of prolonged power cuts, generally losing the electricity for 7+ hours at a time which had a really negative impact on the jobs we needed to get done before and during the move. The cuts have finished for now but are due again in the next few months as the nuclear generators are repaired. Our phone eventually started working today only 10 days after it was supposed to!

That's A Good One!

Eskom (South Africa's monopoly electricity provider) has just blamed a massive 12 hour blackout across the Western Cape on the recent fires and the mist which covered Cape Town this morning! Incredible!

We always thought that British Rail was pushing it when they blamed delays on 'leaves' or the 'wrong kind of snow' but Eskom really has BR licked when it comes to pathetic excuses!

Yes we're cross that we couldn't have a cup of tea when we got up this morning! At least church was interesting and our guest preacher (Adrian Holloway) coped admirably and lead 6 people Christ. Praise God!!!!!!

Another Taster

Here's a couple more photos to give you another taster of the photos we've just posted at Finnie's in Focus.

We hope you enjoy them

A Passage I Love

JN 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

I love this passage simply because Jesus let's his followers know that troubles are guaranteed (not promised) for no particular reason (not for character building or testing etc) other than we are of this world and have to live in it. So being robbed or living through Hurricane Katrina are not judgement by some vindictive deity but rather just part and parcel of life on this planet.

Photo Update

Here are a few 'taster' photographs, you can see more on our Photoblog 'Finnie's in Focus'.

We'll post some more over the next few days too.

Catch Up

We've finally managed to get back onto Blogger after 3 days, apparently our monopoly phone company messed up and barred access to the service which is about what you'd expect from a monolithic uncompetitive monopoly. Gripe over and on with the posting...

Quite a lot has happened and we'll try and give a brief update on each thing...

Can't Access Blogger

We're emailing this post through in the hope that it will be posted automatically.

We haven't been able to log onto Blogger for over 24 hours despite trying several different computers.

Hopefully all will be back to normal soon, but if you happen to know why Blogger is down, please email us.

Action in CNP

Dean has just been to an excellent meeting at the municipality with Dina & Mama Jane regarding the vegetable garden in CNP and the proposed netball court for the community. Amazingly, the parks dept have agreed to give the community R1000 towards the vegetable garden for seeds, fertiliser etc so after almost 2 years the garden will now be utilised properly. The parks department have also agreed to fund the construction of the netball court and to supply the basic equipment such as hoops and balls. Needless to say Dina & Mama Jane were delighted and the community will be thrilled when they hear about this.

The Law Is An Ass

Dean accompanied Michael & Joyce to court this morning for the final eviction hearing. You may recall that Michael & Joyce are living with Michael's father (Douglas) who wants them to leave the house, primarily because he's an alcoholic and they've been trying to address this issue with him. As expected, the court made it's decision based purely on the law thus ignoring the moral arguments for Michael & Joyce remaining in the house.

Dean was quite angry afterwards as he feels that Michael & Joyce were steamrollered by Douglas's lawyer as they had no legal representation themselves (legal aid was refused and they can't afford legal fees) into signing a settlement document. This then allowed the lawyer to make direct representations to the chief magistrate in his chamber rather than having to go into court.

Emyezweni Pre School

Debs has just updated her Blog with some cute photos of one or two of the kids at the pre-school. Take a look at Deb's SA News

Here's one to whet your appetite

CNP Men's Bible Study

Dean had a great bible study on Thursday morning with a possible record attendance of 11, which is really encouraging, especially as most of the guys are now coming along regularly. We're continuing our series of Character Studies and this week looked at Paul and his life.

Left to Right: Cyril (in blue shirt),Danny, Michael, Basil, Peter, Trevor, Vicky, Alfred, Ernest & James.

Depictions Of Mohammed

Controversy over the publication of images depicting Mohammed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten has erupted into an international furor. While Muslim nations are calling for a boycott of Denmark, Europeans are divided as to whether they should stand up for Western principles of freedom of speech, or cave in to to self-censorship in the name of multiculturalism and fear.

Wed Afternoon In CNP

Dean had an interesting afternoon in CNP on Wed. He started by visiting Peter (one of the men in Dean’s bible study), whilst there a fight erupted in the street outside a shebeen and Dean noticed that a young man named Colby was one of those fighting. Later he bumped into Colby and whilst they were talking it became clear that Colby was drunk. This is articularly sad as Colby is a young man who has just joined the police force and he has a bright future.

Weekend Fun

We've had a lot of fun over the weekend despite the fact that Paula was unwell on Thursday evening and Dean was unwell on Sat evening. We think the cause is a dead animal in a newly installed storm drain outside our house. The stench drifts into our house and has been giving us headaches for a while now. Unfortunately, the developer who installed it says it's the Body Corporate's responsibility, the Body Corporate says the developer is responsible so we're stuck in the middle whilst they sort it out.

Table Mountain Fire

You should have heard on the news about the fire on the slopes of Table Mountain which is causing huge destruction to the Nature Reserve there. Sadly, the fire appears to have been started by an idiotic British tourist who flicked a cigarette end out of his car window. Thankfully a local guide saw him and made a note of his registration number and the police caught him.

More Photos

Here are some photos taken this morning before Joel went to nursery. Joel seems to love Eli more with each day that passes and currently really enjoys wheeling him around in his pushchair. Between doing this and playing his guitar Joel is as happy as it's possible to be! Despite this we are experiencing some behavioural challenges as Joel copes with going to nursery 5 mornings a week and getting less attention from Mum & Dad than he's used to. We're going to try and address this so at lunchtime today Paula & Joel will go out on their own for lunch, hopefully they'll have a lot of fun.

Reality Of Life

These last few days in Chris Nissen have been really good in terms of time spent with people, but also in terms of putting life into perspective.

On Thursday last week we started our men's Bible study again after a long break. It was really good to catch up and hear everybody's news. Sadly, Cyril's cousin died earlier during the week, they shared their house in CNP, and now Cyril concerned about what will happen to the house as his cousin's family don't like Cyril very much. Also, Danny has been thrown out of his house, this is all very sad, but you may remember some of our posts about Anna Bop who died last year. Danny's house belonged to her, but after her death he remained in the house, but now Anna Bop's mother has sold the house. This is illegal in CNP as the properties belong to the CNP Trust, so now we're involved in sorting out this mess. Meanwhile Danny is staying with friends in the community but can't stay for long as his host are already severely stretched! Despite the bad news, I was really encouraged by the group and their attitudes and faith that as I drove home I realised that this group alone make my time in CNP more than worth it!

Family Life

We've not posted much over the last week or so, partly because we've been very busy but also because we were feeling a bit demotivated after a number of events which haven't made 2006 the best start to a year we've ever had! Dean being robbed was awful, but at least he was unharmed, then the head gasket on his car blew leaving us with a hefty garage bill and then our Harddisk crashed and we lost 3 months worth of photos (yes dean does do weekly backups but still disaster struck!).

Helicopters & Fire

There have been lots of fires in the Western Cape this summer and things are set to get a lot worst as we've just entered another drought period, although the drought shouldn't be as bad as last year. Late last week there was a huge fire in Grabouw which is just the other side of the mountains and shortly before that there was one in Franschoek which apparently destroyed an area the size of 40,000 football pitches!

Another Week For Paula

Paula had another good morning in CNP today. Dina went with her to introduce her to some new people and she met 6 new women, which is great! Her Tuesday evening social evenings will now start to be held in the homes of these people. They are all keen to get to know her and spend more time with each other. It was interesting that half of them were sick to a varying degree, from eye infections to asthma to bad hip, and none will go to the doctor. This is not because of cost, but because they don't trust them and are either scared or embarassed or both to go. This is not surprising as people are often needlessly and publicly humiliated by the doctor at the clinic. It is a long, hard slog to convince people that they must go. Paula now goes into CNP with an obligatory pack of Ibuprofen to dish out, but this is really not good and certainly isn't a long term solution. One of the ladies was so sick we had to lift her up to take the pills. Please pray for God to move so that this stigma is removed. They all want Paula or Dean or someone to go with them to speak to the doctor, but this just isn't possible.

Paula Back On The Circuit

Paula went back in to Chris Nissen on Friday for the first time since Christmas week and all our activity collecting Eli and getting ourselves used to being new parents!! 'Her ladies' were so pleased to see her again, but can't really understand why she won't take Eli in to see them there yet. We are doing this purely for health reasons in that Eli's BCG jab takes 3 months to kick in and the TB rate in CNP is so high that we can't take the risk. Maybe, making this stand ourselves as a family will shake people up to take their medication and see what a serious problem TB is in the community.

Dad Bloggers

I've just come across a Blog entitled 'Dad Bloggers' and so far I like what I've seen, not to say I agree with it all (it's not a Christian Blog for starters) but it's worth taking some time to read through what has been written.

Chris Nissen Park

Dean was in CNP again yesterday after an almost 3 week break (he did comment towards the end of the break that he needed to get back to work to get some routine into his life!) in which he has really missed his friends in the community. Apparently they missed him too, but we'll have to take their word for that!

Christmas Card

In case you missed our 'e'Christmas card click on the image below to view it. We hope you enjoy it even if it is belated.

Squash And A Squeeze

Joel & Paula enjoying a 'squash & a squeeze', Joel does appear to have become a bit more affectionate since Eli's arrived which is lovely. To see more family photos have a look at our PhotoBlog

A Day On The Beach

On Friday the wind dropped significantly and we managed to enjoy one more day at the beach before Dean goes back to work on Monday. As you can see we had great fun, especially Joel playing 'Catch you' in the sea and then burying his legs in the sand. As ever, Eli happily snoozed his way through the whole adventure despite Joel's efforts to wake him up.

Here Joel's attempting to wake Eli up. Joel doesn't really understand why Eli is so boring at the moment, however we know that will change all too quickly.

Katrina - Christians Continuing To Respond

Below is a comment which was left on our Blog by Pastor Troy of RAVEN in relation to a post entitled: Katrina - Christians Respond this was originally a BBC News article which can be seen at: BBC News | In Pictures | Bringing Slavation.

Check out Troy's Blog: RAVEN Team

I've been wanting to post about Katrina again for a while but didn't know what to write or how to go about it, so I'm really grateful to Troy for taking time out to comment on our Blog.

Let's Go Fly A Kite...

Dean has the rest of this week off so we're making sure we have lots of family time together, particularly making a point of spending time with Joel. So yesterday we went for a walk along the Lourensford River so Joel could throw some stones in (he loves doing that) and then we cut across to the sports fields so that Joel could try and fly his kite again. Thankfully the wind wasn't too strong so the kite flew really well. As you can see below, Joel really got the hang of the kite and he had a great time flying it.

New Year

Here's a quick snapshot of our New Year, we didn't stay up late as the kids were totally unaware of the fact that anything was going on and would be awake as usual in the morning. Dean cooked sirloin steaks with chips and salad, the steaks were marinated in a honey and mustard sauce which was lovely. We did allow Joel to stay up until about 9.30 to watch Stuart Little with us which he really enjoyed, otherwise it was just a normal evening.

Joel & Dad digging holes in the sand on Strand Beach. How else were we supposed to spend New year's Day?

Life On The Beach

Joel and Sam playing on the beach at Strand. We had a lovely morning with Pete & Ash and the kids, rounded off with a McDonalds lunch. It was such a pleasure to spend time with the Smyth family again as we rarely get to see each other these days. Pete & Ash were incredibly supportive friends during our time in Zim, especially as we struggled with the issue of moving on from the Just Children Foundation. Pete now leads the 'God First' church in Jo'burg.

Family Shakes Blog

At long last my best mate Roger and his family have gone online and set up a Blog called "Getting The Shakes" which will chart their move from the UK to New Zealand in 2006. Do take a look and enjoy the photos and news as and when they post.

Some of you may remember that Roger was Best Man at our wedding back in 1991.

Chris Nissen Thank You Christmas Lunch

On Thursday Dean joined some of the key CNP residents for a Thank you / Christmas lunch hosted by Chris Nissen himself. The lunch was great and the guys from CNP relly enjoyed the venue as the restaurant juts out into the sea with stunning views of False Bay, Table Mountain & the Cape Peninsula. Sadly, Chris Himself never pitched which was a real shame, but a good time was had by all regardless. Usefully, Dean got to meet some of the key players in the local police force including the station commander of Somerset West police station and the provincial director of Helderberg area police. Contacts which will definitely come in handy!

Post Christmas News

We have been enjoying a very quiet family time since Christmas Day. We are loving getting to know Eli and he is settling quickly and well into a routine. As a result, we aren't too shattered and are able to enjoy some good family time. Joel has been enjoying playing with our next door neighbours' children who are 2 and 5 and has been taken out by a good friend of ours here one morning, whilst Paula looked after Eli and Dean did some studying! We rejoiced on Thursday to learn that Eli's birth mother officially signed her consent to release him to us for adoption.

Helderberg Nature Reserve

Dean & Joel went to the Nature Reserve again yesterday, mainly to give Paula & Eli a bit of a break but also to give Joel some special time with Dad. We had some real fun as you can see from the 'Dilemma' video posted below. We're not sure where Joel gets his flirting skills from but they're definitely not from his Dad (probably gets it from his mother!).

Whilst we were feeding the ducks the Cape Weaver Birds were getting quite bold so we put some crumbs on a post a watched them swoop in and take them.

Dilemma

Below is a short video taken in the Nature Reserve of Joel and a girl he got talking to, as you can see she suddenly presents him with a real dilemma... does he run after the pretty girl or does he stay and watch the tortoise? Decisions, decisions...

NB. The clip below is about 5mb and without a broadband connection may take a while to download.

Christmas

We've had a great Christmas so far! On Christmas Eve we had dinner with some friends and two of their family members which was great as we all have children of a similar age and they really enjoyed charging around together.

Birth Announcement!

We are proud to announce the birth of Eli Thomas Finnie, born on 21st December at 12.45pm weighing in at 3.88Kgs. After a long day Paula and Eli arrived back in Cape Town just before 8pm and were met at the airport by Dad & Joel, Joel was immediately a very proud big brother!

Trying To Keep Life Normal!

In the midst of all that is happening we're trying to make sure that we give Joel a lot of time and attention, and on Saturday afternoon we met up with some friends in the local Nature Reserve for a couple of hours. Joel had a great time running around with Sean including a brief visit to see Spikey the porcupine (for more photos look at our Photoblog).

Future Worship Leader?

Below is a brief video of Joel spontaneously imitating our worship leader, he's obviously watched how we begin our time of worship on Sundays and does quite a good rendition!

The quality of the video is low but if you listen carefully you can hear him saying things like: "Yes Lord" & "Thank you very much". Also, watch for the hand and then listen carefully as he ends his prayer and launches into playing his guitar.

We hope you enjoy the video below as much as we do!

Bloemfontein Update & Photos

Here are a few photos from our 'flying' trip to Bloemfontein. We had a good trip despite the disappointment of not returning home with the baby. The good news is that we will definitely get the baby as soon as s/he is born and we'll keep you informed of happenings.

More photos can be seen on our Photoblog

Here we had just arrived in Bloemfontein. The weather was really hot with cloudless skies, beautiful!

That Rollercoaster

Never mind the 'Big One ' in Blackpool, we've got our own personal rollercoaster and it's way more exciting/frightening than the static sort you find at funfairs!

Well, we're home...... without the baby!!! It has been a very emotional time in Bloemfontein. The birth mother has been induced 4 times - poor woman, but nothing happened. Her due date isn't till Sunday, so we're not quite sure why they advised us to come this week, but there we go, there must have been a reason.

Adoption Roller Coaster

One has to wonder when (if ever) the rollercoaster will stop. We're now in the last few hours before we get up at some unseemly hour to drive to Cape Town airport and fly to Bloemfontein on the 'redeye' at 6am. Suddenly it all feels a bit crazy and almost reckless, even though we are convinced that this is part of God giving us our hearts desire.

Baby Finnie!

Well the last 48 hours or so has been spent on that rollercoaster again! - somehow this is no longer surprising in the Finnie household!! We had our first meeting on Thursday with the social worker to discuss the possibility of adoption. She had informed us previously on the 'phone of a possible adoptive placement in Bloemfontein and we had therefore put together and submitted an all singing all dancing family profile for the birth mother and social workers to use.

Emyezweni Christmas Party

We recently posted a couple of photos from the Emyezweni Christmas party which was a great event. If you would like to see more of Dean's photos and read a bit more detail about the event take a look at 'Debs News'.

Debs (together with Rachel) runs Emyezweni pre school in Lwandle (a township just outside Somerset West) with support from Ukuthasa a UK charity and Helderberg Christian Church. The pre school offers a valuable service to many parents who would otherwise have to stop working to care for their kids.

Table Mountain Trip

As promised, here's a photo from our trip. You can see more on our Photoblog; Finnie's In Focus.

This photo shows Paula with Cyril, Danny, Michael, Alfred & Peter standing over Cape Town.

Gutted!

We had our trip to Table Mountain yesterday after church for our respective groups. The weather was great, no cloud in sight and a very excited bunch of adults keen to experience the mountain (most for the first time in their lives!). We got to Table Mountain just before 1pm only to find that the cable car had been closed 10 minutes before we arrived due to gale force winds at the top of the mountain. We waited for almost an hour and had our picnic lunch, but there was no sign of the wind abating. Sadly we had to leave without actually getting up the mountain.

CNP Men's Bible Study

We had an excellent morning looking at Job. We concentrated on the character of the man, looking at the first 2 chapters, a little at his interactions with his friends and then a bit more in depth at God's response in chapters 38 - 41 and finally God's amazing blessing on a man of great faith. Our study was followed by an excellent time of prayer which is so encouraging as I was struggling to get 2 men to commit to regular participation at the beginning of the year. Praise God! We now have between 8 & 9 men each week and look to be growing.

Chris Nissen Update

On Monday Dean spent the whole afternoon with Dina, when he first arrived she was furious due to a few events over the weekend involving a church members daughter, after half an hour Dina had calmed down and we had a really constructive discussion followed by a great time of prayer. Bethany our FYP joined in for part of this which was great. Paula then had an excellent time on Tuesday night with Dina following up on some of the issues Dean had discussed with Dina. We feel this is such an amazing part of our ministry, to be involved as a family in CNP and we really thanks God for this.

Warning, Scientist On The loose!

The BBC News web site is carrying a story entitled: "Science faces 'dangerous times'" and is about Lord May's last speech as president of the Royal Society. In his speech tonight (Wed) he is said to be speaking on the rise of 'fundamentalism and is to warn that core scientific values are "under serious threat from resurgent fundamentalism, West and East".

Andy, Father Christmas, Noddy Et Al

We've had an excellent time with Andy Clasper from Queens Road Church in Wimbledon, it was a pleasure to spend time together and to be able to show Andy a little bit of what we're up to. Andy has also had a brilliant 3 week holiday in SA and has been able to experience things normally not on offer to tourists including playing Santa for 70+ children in Emyezweni, our pre-school in Lwandle township (enjoy the photo below).

Photos From Andy's Visit

Joel & Dad jumping off a rock at Boulders Beach

Click on an image to see it full size.

Thursday

On Thursday Dean's Bible Study met in the containers in CNP again, after a few months of not being allowed access. Praise God! It looks like we'll be able to meet in there each Thursday which will be so much better as it is so big. Also, this means as a group we can grow, which is one of our key aims for next year. Please continue to pray that we would be allowed to use the container without all the nonsense of CNP internal politics getting in the way.

Boulders Beach

Andy is with us from the UK and we're enjoying his company, Joel seems to have clicked with him and particularly enjoying running around on the baech with him. Yesterday morning we went to Boulders Beach to see the penguins and then in the afternoon we went to Chris Nissen. This morning Andy will be joining dean for the CNP Men's Bible Study.

Hope you enjoy these photos from yesterday. There will be more on our Photoblog this afternoon.

Launchpad Party

As promised here are some photos from the Launchpad party held in honour of John & Sophie. To see more of Dean's better photos look at our Photoblog.

CNP Men's Bible Study Social

I forgot to take my camera to our Bible Study social last Thursday, however we did manage to find a disposable camera and get the photos put on CD so here are two of the better ones for you.

From left to right: Cyril, Alfred, John, Michael (in Palace shirt) Dean, Trevor, Basil, Danny & James