Getting The Shakes

We're always happy to publicise the Blogs of friends and we've highlighted this one before.

Getting the Shakes is the Blog of Roger & George and their preparations for emigrating to New Zealand. Their lives have been very hectic of late especially as they race around and try to catch up with friends and family before they leave on Sunday! Wow that came round really quickly!

Rog' is an excellent writer and his Blog posts are always good. Recently he Blogged about our brief overnight stay with them when we were in Blighty and you can read this post here.

Keep an eye on the WHSmith bestseller list, one day Roger will be there with his novel!

HelderPos

Recently Bell Valley Initiative held a 'graduation ceremony' for the 10 volunteers they have trained in Chris Nissen Park. One of the local free rags picked up the story and ran it on the front page. As you can imagine the guys in CNP are really pleased to be in the paper.

Matthew's 3rd Birthday Party

Joel went to Matthew's 3rd Birthday party at Kidzoo yesterday. Needless to say all the kids had a blast and the parents enjoyed catching up with each other and having a good yarn as you can see from some of the photos below.

Birthday Boy on the train

A Random Number

No idea what this is about but have a go anyway....

Random Number

Videos From The Weekend

As promised here are some videos we shot over the weekend. On average they're about 30 seconds long although the one of Joel spreading jam is a minute long.
The first one is Eli crawling

Enjoy!

Cape Town Bus Lane (& Aquarium)

We had a great morning on Saturday, taking the boys to the Aquarium, we were surprise by how much Eli enjoyed himself whilst Joel wanders around as if it's his 2nd home, which in fairness it almost is as we have been members for over 2 years now.

Hope you enjoy the pictures, we'll post some video on Monday.

Pluto Demoted By Mad Scientists!

I've long held the view that science is little more than a value or belief system rather than the exact and objective discipline it claims to be. Whilst some branches of science definitely have value (medicine is a class example) not everything done in the name of science is objective or empirically quantifiable.

Eli

Does he really need any introduction!

PS. It's Eli as in Elijah or Elisha not as in elephant!

Prayer Need

We've been thinking for a while about changing Dean's car for a 'bakkie' (small pick-up) which would allow us to do a lot more for Chris Nissen than we currently can, particularly with the feeding programme and assisting folk in their housing needs (lugging materials etc).

Aloe Vera In Bloom

Despite it being winter here in the Western Cape, it's very much a growing season. Primarily because the Southern Cape is the only part of the African continent in which it rains in winter, consequently, keeping on top of the grass is almost a full time job in itself.

There are however some great benefits to this, and one of them is the variety of blooms etc. which can be seen in the garden. Whilst we make no claims to be related to Percy Thrower we are enjoying having a decent garden, Dean recently bought a wheelbarrow and a few implements to do some stuff (sad!) which he's enjoying.

Baby Boom

There has been a real baby boom in Chris Nissen in the last few weeks. Sadly, this boom is amongst the teenagers with several having given birth, several about to give birth and several more due in the next nine months. There seems to be a lot of negative peer pressure amongst the teenagers to have sex which inevitably leads to pregnancies. The other massive negative in this is that they are having unprotected sex despite the very real dangers of contracting HIV.

Beta Blogger - Finnie's In Focus

Blogger have recently introduced a Beta version of blogger and it's still in trial form at present but we've decided to give it a go. So our PhotoBlog Finnie's In Focus is now on the Beta Blogger system.

This will mean little if anything to you in real terms other than you may notice a few character issues as certain bugs are ironed out. The address remains unchanged, but the Blog itself should look a bit leaner and crisper.

Quiet Weekend

At last our recent bout of illnesses seems to be over. The last two weeks in particular have been a complete write off as one or other of us has been unwell. We've just had a great weekend, On Saturday Joel was at a birthday party which he really enjoyed and then we lazed around in the afternoon. On Sunday we had a young couple over for dinner which was great, they've recently moved into the area and are still finding their feet. The weather was also much better than predicted so we were able to spend a bit of time in the garden which both the boys love, especially on their swings.

Alone With God!

We had an excellent ladies cell group last Thursday. Thank you so much for all the prayers as God is speaking to us in a wonderful way this term. I have decided to bite the bullet and we are studying Mark's gospel this term. We are literally reading a chapter and a half each week at home and coming to the group with our thoughts, insights and questions. I knew this was risky as several of my ladies can't read, but they are really doing so well. Those who can are reading to those who can't and everyone is coming ready to share. We are having the most interesting and lively discussions. It is also so good and powerful to read God's Word together each week in the group.

Create Your Own Zoo - It Must Be Friday

Some people obviously have too much time on their hands (like those that can Blog rubbish like this). Take a look at this link, it's totally childish and yet....inspired.

Create Your Own Zoo

Hammock

As part of Paula's birthday present I bought her a hammock to relax in the garden and yesterday finally got a chance to hang it up. Joel immediately took to it and once ensconced in it he ordered us to bring his drink and book. Not sure where he learnt to use a hammock but he was a complete natural at it!

Fire!

With the onset of winter we've been using the wood burning stove in the house quite a lot. Imagine our shock when our bedroom filled with smoke and the carpet around the chimney was smouldering! Thankfully we caught it just in time and were able to prevent the house from burning down. This was a bit of a shocker especially as our landlord is overseas, thankfully we managed to find the original installer who came and sorted it out pronto.

I Want That Train

Sunday

We had a great day on Sunday which started with an excellent morning service in church. The worship had a real sense of expectation in it which lifted the whole service, brilliant! Also, as part of the service 10 new members were welcomed into the church. This was particularly exciting for us as 3 folk from Chris Nissen were welcomed into membership, they were Michael, Cynthia and Yolanda. This is a real testimony to the impact we're having as a church in the community and we really praise God for this!

Winter Blues

Oh how we long for Summer!! This week has been hideous and exhausting. Joel kicked off with a nasty bout of flu one week ago which in true Joel style led to bronchialitis. He hates his medication and it is a real trial getting it down him. He has also been off of Play Group all week - oh brother! Then, on the routine trip to the doctor with Joel, Eli was diagnosed again with a double ear infection on top of his cold, so he has been miserable and on antibiotics. To cap it all Dean has been quickly sliding downhill only to be diagnosed today with bronchitis. Our doctor is becoming quite a family friend!! He is now on the same medication as Joel but 3 times the dosage. Whilst there, the doctor showed concern about Eli and inspected him again. It seems that his ear infections have got worse and he is now on a 10 day course of powerful antibiotic (his 3rd different type in 2½ weeks). This is all very wearing physically and emotionally and we have also found it very expensive. Much as we may have moaned about the NHS in the past, we have spent the best part of £80 this week alone on doctor's visits and medication, none of which is covered by medical aid.

Twinkle Tots At The Fire Station

Joel went with Twinkle Tots to the local fire station this morning and had a great time, despite the awful weather. Joel was a bit disappointed not to see Fireman Sam but was quite pleased to see Fireman Michael who is a real fireman. All the kids seemed to have a great time and there was an unusually good turnout of dads!

Last Weekend

We forgot to post these photos from last weekend. As you can see the weather was decent so we spent quite a bit of time in the garden. Eli is now enjoying Joel's old swing and Joel loves swinging on the 'big boy swing' next to Eli.

Carstens Experiences

Our good friends Nikki & Rian recently moved to the UK for work and we miss them a lot! However, they are now online and have joined the 'Blogosphere' with their own Blog 'Carstens Experiences' where you can read about their new lives and see some great photos of their gorgeous kids.

Douglas's Funeral

This morning Dean attended Douglas' funeral and these were his thoughts afterwards:

So, how do you address the congregation at a funeral where you had little respect for the deceased and really didn't like him very much. After all, I only knew the man as a cantankerous old drunkard who placed a heavy burden on his son and never showed any appreciation for his loyalty and unconditional love.

Eli

Eli was getting very excited last night as he was watching Mummy prepare his food, so we couldn't resist taking some photos of him as he is incredibly cute!

Michael's Father

I spoke to Michael this morning to find out what's happening with Douglas, as when we visited him in hospital on Friday evening he was unaware of why he was in hospital and what was going to be happening. I managed to explain to Douglas (with Michael's help) that he was due to have both his legs removed due to gangrene. As you could imagine Douglas was very upset, whilst Michael was just cross that the hospital staff hadn't informed Douglas about the impending surgery.

Helderberg Nature Reserve

On Sunday afternoon we went to the Helderberg Nature Reserve for a very pleasant stroll around the grounds. Joel was delighted as ever to see Spikey and to feed the ducks. This is definitely one of our favourite family activities!

Watching 'Spikey', both Joel & Eli seem to enjoy watching Spikey, Joel enjoys feeding him bread (although we were told-off last time!)

Whale Watching

We took a gamble on Saturday and decided to go to Hermanus to see if we could see any whales as the 'official' season is just about on us. Thankfully the weather was great and we did see a couple of whales although they weren't very close to the shore. Joel was excited but we could tell he was a little disappointed that we couldn't get a really clear view of the whales.

Just before lunch it clouded over and the swell was increasing so we decided to go home via the coast road (the same road where Jaguar filmed their ad for the new XK!) and as we were about 15Kms from Gordon's Bay we saw a whale really close to the beach. Hope you enjoy the photos below.

The Law Is An Ass - Update On Douglas

Back in February we wrote a post entitled: 'The Law is an Ass' in which we told you about the court case involving Michael, Joyce and his father Douglas. You may recall that the court agreed with Douglas' counsel and ordered that Michael & Joyce be evicted from Douglas' home. However, Michael & Joyce had no legal representation and were steam rollered throughout the whole process. Dean's point at the time was that: "Douglas would now be a very vulnerable man within the community due to his drinking" because Michael & Joyce had provided Douglas with a high degree of care which enabled him to live freely and healthily.

Bell Valley Graduation

After 2 years of working with Chris Nissen, we're fed up of regularly hearing about so and so who does such and such in CNP, we probably hear such rubbish at least once a week and it's never true. However, recently an organisation called Bell Valley Initiative went into CNP with a view to undertaking a needs assessment prior to actually working with the community. We're pleased to say that they have stuck with it and have now completed their needs assessment and will shortly begin working in CNP in earnest. This makes a welcome break from hearing about things that aren't actually happening.

Blogging Works!

This posting is aimed at those back home who still don't really get what Blogs and Blogging (yes that really is a verb) are all about.

My post below talks a bit about the interaction between bloggers on the web, and this post will hopefully demonstrate a little more as to how it can work.

What Is Blogging About?

There are a number of reasons for Blogging, some perfectly reasonable and some just downright voyeuristic, but equally these reasons can be applied to why people read Blogs.

Dean's Perspective

My first week back in Chris Nissen was mainly taken up with visiting friends and reassuring folk that we had returned – it’s nice to know that we were missed. By and large, things seem to have ticked over quite well in our absence with the members of our groups having held onto some of the key teachings we imparted just prior to our leave. In particular, gossip amongst the brethren appears to have reduced which is an amazing answer to prayer! We now need to build on this and help people to move forwards, building on the works God is doing in their lives. As such, our groups will press on with basic biblical teachings and discipleship which is really key to seeing personal spiritual growth.

Paula's Thoughts

I (Paula) have arrived back in Somerset West with a bang. My first week was hectic, not least getting everyone used to the old routines again! It is very hard to get out of bed at 7 am when it is freezing and dark.... convincing Joel that it is time to get ready for nursery when it is like this is even harder!! Nonetheless, it has been good to catch up with old friends and to meet 6 newborn babies from the last 6 weeks! (still 4 more to come!! Eli is going to have a huge peer group and hopefully plenty of future wives to choose from!!). One of these is the new daughter of 2 teenagers in Chris Nissen. I went to see her on Friday with her mum and both are doing really well. It is so hard to believe that 7 months have gone by since Eli was that little! Also encouraging in Chris Nissen are 2 new groups set up by social welfare for pensioners and the ongoing creche which keeps going despite very limited resources, praise God!

Ice!

This weekend is predicted to be the coldest of the year with snow falls on most mountains in the Western & Eastern Cape. Certainly it is very cold at the moment and after 5 weeks of decent weather in Blighty we're not really prepared for this.

This is a picture of some ice we found in the garden this morning, just to prove it really is cold!

Thomas & Gordon

Life has certainly been busy since being back, not least because there's a lot going on in Chris Nissen, mostly encouraging but not all of it. We'll post more over the weekend, but for now thought you might like to see some photos of the boys.

Baby Of The Year Finalist!

Paula entered Eli into the Johnson & Johnson Baby of the Year Competition a couple of months ago, primarily to take up the offer of cheap baby portraits of Eli. When we arrived home we had a message on the answerphone to say that Eli was a finalist in the competition. The entrants had been whittled down from thousands to 30 in his age category.

Break... What Break?

We certainly hit the ground running when we got home. Joel is back in the swing of nursery and friends which is great, he certainly seems to have got his rhythm back. Eli is about to start at a weekly baby group with Paula, whilst Paula has had to debrief our last FYP volunteer as well as juggle life.

Dean spent Monday afternoon in Chris Nissen visiting his friends and saying 'Hello' & catching up with many people. It was great to be there again and we definitely feel affirmed that this is where God wants us to be which is great as there is no better place to be!

People

We had a god time back in Blighty although it is good to be back home here in Somerset West. We didn't get to spend as much time with friends as we would have liked (hopefully we've not offended too many of you) but we were able to spend some quality time with a few friends who are special to the kids and we hope you enjoy the photos below.

Praise God!

The most excellent news on our arrival home was that Eli's name change is now 100% legal as we have his new birth certificate and ID number stating that Eli Thomas Finnie is here!

We are so grateful to God for this massive answer to prayer as it means we can now crack on and get other bits of paperwork sorted such as passports, residency etc.

Arrived Home!

After an 11½ hour flight we're home and in one piece with no missing or damaged luggage!

We arrived at Heathrow quite early and had to wait to check in which went smoothly once it happened. We managed to find the only bit of terminal 4 from which you can watch the planes coming and going and Joel really enjoyed that. We had some dinner before boarding and that's when our evening started to go downhill. The manager of the restaurant told us that we'd have to take our trolley out of the restaurant (though it was causing less obstruction than the pushchair) and we had a bit of an argument over this. We couldn't believe how pedantic he was being, plus we didn't want to lose the trolley, so eventually we agreed that he could take the trolley on the condition that he finds us one after our meal. To cut it short, he stored the trolley in the entrance to the restaurant which caused mayhem and resulted in them losing several customers! Pathetic really.

Final Countdown

We're in the last 24 hours of our time here in the UK as we fly out of Heathrow around 7pm on Saturday. Things are getting a bit tense in our house as we struggle with the packing and making sure that we're within our weight allowance, thankful we have just over 100Kgs allowance to return with which is a blessing.

Photo Update

Here's a quick update on what we've been up to in the last few days. On Monday we had a great Christmas dinner with all the trimmings (no photos to post!), we all had fun and were very stuffed afterwards.

On Tuesday Dad, Grandad and Joel went on the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, a real boys day out. We had a lot of fun and hopefully will repeat the event next time we're home, so that Eli can join us.

Hectic!

Life has been very hectic since leaving the Lakes. We had an excellent Sunday with Holy Trinity at Gee Cross, and it was a pleasure staying overnight with Norma! After giving our Powerpoint presentation in the morning service we had a shared lunch in the church hall which was a great opportunity to meet people and to renew old acquaintances. Straight after lunch we shot off to Sheffield to stay with Roger, George, Yas' & Theo which was brilliant. Sadly it was a real flying visit as we had to get home on the Monday afternoon as we had a commitment on the Tue morning.

Our Week In The Lakes

We've had a fantastic week in the Lakes, staying at Santon Bridge near Wast Water. This was a short break sandwiched in between our visits to St.Mary's Cheadle and Holy Trinity Gee Cross. We really enjoyed having some time and space just to ourselves. 

Right Text

Below is the text which should have accompanied the post below:

We arrived in Cheadle on Saturday afternoon and just had time to settle the boys down before we were off to the Upper Room in Cheadle to speak at an evening meeting which was part of the Stockport ‘Big Deal’. The evening was excellent and despite a slight technical glitch with the laptop and data projector the presentation went well. We had a lot of positive feedback and were encouraged by the response. It was also great to see some old friends such as John & Helen.

Mission Education Update

We've had a busy time giving our powerpoint presentation, having spoken on Saturday evening at St. Mary's Cheadle and again at the 11.15 service on Sunday morning. We were also interviewed in the 9.30 service, so we were really pleased to be in the Lake district for a week after that before speaking at Gee Cross next Sunday.

The Boys have been an absolute credit to us as they cope with so many new and different people almost daily, they've also carried on in their routines brilliantly which makes our lives much easier. We know many of you are praying for Joel & Eli in this respect and we know that God is faithfully answering these prayers.

Below are some photos of our time in then Lakes so far.

Down On The Farm

Joel went to the farm this morning with his Godparents and by the look of it he's had a lot of fun! The reason Joel is frowning in one of the pictures is that he heard another tractor and was waiting to see it.

"Avast Me Hearties"

Joel was at the Weald playgroup this morning and really enjoyed himself there. This is a real blessing for us as it allows us to get some stuff done without having to drag him around with us. Eli remains 'under the weather', we're sure he's got hay fever but will keep an eye on him. Please pray against hay fever as he already has a lactose intolerance and suffers eczema quite badly so he really doesn't need any further allergies.

Photo Update

A quick photographic update as we're too lazy to write too much!

We've also updated Finnie's In Focus so feel free to take a look at that Blog too.

Eli enjoying the garden but getting a bit bunged up as he appears to have hay fever.

Weekend In Wimbledon

Our Mission Education has begun in earnest with the weekend being spent in Wimbledon. We had a great time with Susan and catching up with old friends from Queen's Road Church. We also met up with John & Sophie who served on the Frontier Year Project who were also hosting our friends Nikki & Rian who recently moved to the UK from SA. Joel especially enjoyed seeing Nikki & Rian as he got to play with his friend Sean.

On Saturday afternoon we gatecrashed Catherine's 40th Birthday party (she's Susan's youngest), one of the activities they'd laid on was African drumming which Joel really enjoyed.

Eli's Dedication

On Sunday we had Eli dedicated at St. George's Weald. We decided to have the dedication in the UK rather than SA as family are here and we want them to be involved in Eli's life. The service was excellent and was followed by a massive lunch which several good friends joined us for. Many thanks to Lisa for putting so much effort into a magnificent spread!

Arrived

We arrived safely after a remarkably good flight. Dean has been very critical of BA in the last few years but they almost fully redeemed themselves on this flight. The staff were incredibly helpful and couldn't do enough to help which was really good.

Itinerary In UK

Well here we are an hour before we leave for the airport and I'm still doing emails!

We'll blog again real soon but for now here's a list of the important dates and events whilst we're in the UK:

Fri 9th June Arrive

Sat 10th England v Paraguay

Mountain Bikes & Baboons

Dean went mountain biking again last night with the regular crowd and again had a real blast on the mountains in Sir Lowry's Pass. The sunset is simply stunning up there as the moutains turn a pinky orange and the light through the trees is almost surreal. Once at the limit of where you can cycle to the views looking back over False Bay and Table Mountain are superb!

Last night Dean and the gang met a troop of Baboons out on the tracks and had some fun winding them up, although one has to be very careful and ready to sprint off VERY quickly should the alpha male take umbrage.

Experiencing nature so closely and in such peace is a real privilege and after a few stressful days in Chris Nissen it's great to be able to escape into the mountains, even if it is only far a couple of hours.

Ouma Sophie's Shack

With the onset of winter those who are living in 'informal' accommodation in Chris Nissen Park begin to suffer. You can see from the photos below the reality of life for Ouma Sophie. Life is hard enough without the extra pain and suffering brought on by the cold and rain. Sadly, this is not an isolated case in the community, but at least in this particular case we are able to rejoice as one of our church members has offered a small wendy house to Ouma Sophie so we're hoping to get it sorted out early next week. Praise God!

Chris Nissen Social

We had a 'Soup Social' at church last Friday for the folk in Chris Nissen whom we are directly involved with, church members, the men from Dean's bible study group and the ladies from Paula's cell group plus children.

A good fun evening was had by all and we plan to hold a few more socials in our efforts to get our church members and other Christians in the community to unite and stand together.

Beautiful Baby

Paula recently entered Eli into a 'Beautiful Baby' competition and we recently got the photos back. We hope you like the one below.

CNP

Quite where the time is going at the moment we're not sure and we just don't seem to get enough time to write anything serious on the Blog. We'll try in a few short lines to let you know what's happening in CNP and with us, so hopefully you'll be up to speed.

For those of you who don't know yet, we managed to get Eli's passport fiasco sorted out, thanks to our living God who is a lot more accessible than the British high commissioner in SA! We really value your prayers, and can confirm that God did indeed answer them.

Fundamentalist ?

A friend at church emailed this to me today and having read it thought it would be fun to post it and see what reaction (if any) it solicits. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did...

I'm reading some pretty interesting philosophy lately and came across this quote in an academic book on Christian Philosophy. Read it carefully and seriously... ; )

Plantinga and the "Real" Meaning of Fundamentalist
Having just stated that his Aquinas/Calvin model involves his belief in the “internal instigation of the Holy Spirit,” noetic effects of sin, and other specifically Christian beliefs, Plantinga writes this bit on what it really means to be called a “fundamentalist,”

The Child Within

Something about the sight of a new airplane excites the child within, so when photos were released of the Airbus A380 I was enthralled as this really is a behemoth of a plane!

Below are some photos of the A380 on its way to Heathrow taken by members of the public. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did (Joel thought they were quite cool too).

Food Parcels

Over the last few months we've been delivering food parcels to some of the neediest folk in Chris Nissen. We have fairly strict criteria as to who qualifies so as to avoid unnecessary conflict (not always successfully) and also to ensure that we really do target those in need. To ensure that this happens we work through relationship with some faithful Christians in the community whom we know we can rely on. We really thank God that we have such a circle of trusted friends in CNP!

Eli Can Travel!

Praise God!

Our prayers have been answered and Eli can accompany us to the UK in June! Today Dean flew to Jo'burg and then drove to Pretoria to get the document for Eli, all went very smoothly and wasn't too time consuming.

Dean has come home very tired but delighted with the result of his endeavour. We really appreciate all your prayers, God definitely smoothed the way and oiled the necessary cogs.

ANSWERED PRAYER!

STOP PRESS!!!!

God is answering our prayers.... Paul Boeteng, the British High Commissioner has agreed to our appeal and Eli will be allowed to fly with us - praise God!!! HOWEVER, we must get his passport stamped officially in Pretoria. So, Dean is now looking for the best flight price to go on that little expedition!

Thank you so much for your prayers, we really can't tell you what stress we were under here

Serious Prayer Need!

Following the final adoption order for Eli, we applied to Home Affairs to change his name (as ordered by the court) and at the same time applied for a temporary passport in his pre-adoptive name in order to allow him to accompany us on our trip to the UK in June. Home affairs were incredibly helpful and got the passport to us within 7 days but informed us that the name change takes up to 4 months (so will happen by August at the earliest).

Two weeks after we applied for the temporary passport, the British Govt. very unhelpfully announced that South African temporary passports would no longer be accepted for entry into the UK. This has put us in a very difficult position as it is simply not possible to obtain a full passport for Eli until after the name change has been completed.

For All The Mums Out There...

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson©

A Rare Shot

It's not often that we get a photo with Dean in it as he's usually hiding behind the camera. Hope this one doesn't scare you!