Table Bay

Us at Table Bay, Cape Town

New Beginnings

Today has been an exciting day of new beginnings! Firstly, Joel started nursery - what a proud day for mum and dad! He seemed pretty pleased with himself too going off with his little tortoise shape bag packed with goodies and art T shirts etc etc. Paula stayed with him for about 2 minutes before one of the helpers had him engrossed in a puzzle on the floor - oh well, no time for "I'll really miss you mum"!! Apparently he was an absolute angel all morning and had a ball - particularly during wet play, when Joel took it literally and got completely soaked to the skin! The leader also noticed how much he loves music and said that he has a really infectious belly laugh which had them all laughing! Thank God for a flexible, friendly little boy!
Where was God in the Tsunami?

We've just heard that the latest death toll for the tsunami is now 280,000 and rising.  We've also heard many questioning the where's why's and how's of God and his role in the tsunami.  We  believe that the creator God needs no defending and we have no intention of defending him.  However, we would like to offer some thoughts to those that would ask the questions; how could a loving God allow the tsunami to kill so many? or where was God whilst the tsunami was killing thousands.

However, let us make it clear that this is a personal perspective based on our faith in God.

Items For Prayer

Please pray for Michael and his daughter (we don't know her name and M was to upset to give it) as she has been attacked. She definitely has a broken arm and it appears that she has been raped, although we can't confirm this. Michael is really upset and feeling very angry, pray for grace as he comes to terms with his daughter's ordeal.

Breakthrough

Dean had a good day in CNP today -if a little sad too- as he spent over an hour with Michael and his wife Joyce counseling them after a long weekend of rowing and domestic violence.  This is an area Dean has been wanting to get involved with and so to have an opportunity to work with a family in this was really good.  Michael was very receptive and appeared to be genuinely remorseful, whilst Joyce appeared to be glad that he had been open and honest with someone.

Sad News

We've had a really good week, both in CNP and out and about, however Paula is really looking forward to this week as finally all the groups she and Joel attend restart after the summer holiday. Also, we should know in the next couple of weeks whether or not Joel has got a nursery place. Please pray that he will as this would free Paula up to commit more time to her role in the church and to the cell group she is starting later this month.

Missing Blogs

Below are two Blogs that for some reason weren't published.

Wheelchair at last!

Dean took Patrick and his 2nd daughter to the physiotherapist again today and the physio commented on how well Patrick is progressing. We then had a conversation about our attempts to acquire a wheelchair to no avail. Amazingly the physio said that we could take their brand new one (just had to fill in a few forms) and they would get another one for themselves, Brilliant!!! Patrick and his family are well chuffed! Now we need to find someone who could build him a ramp from the street to his front door.

New Year

Welcome to 2005!

What will this year have in store we wonder? If any of the previous years are anything to go by it should be time to buckle up and hang on for the rollercoaster is about to be launched....

Dean has been back in CNP since Tuesday (as well as visiting a bit during the Christmas break) and learnt that three folk died on Christmas day.

It's New Years Eve as we write and once again we find ourselves on our own. This seems to have been the story of Christmas for us this year. Our original plans were scuppered by our friends 'outlaws' who forced them off to Durban. Failing any further invites we decided to do our own Christmas and bought the turkey etc. only to receive a half hearted 'sympathy invite' very late on. Christmas day was great, Joel was able to open his presents at his speed and play with each one before moving onto the next so he wasn't swamped. We had a lovely Turkey dinner in the evening under the stars in the garden.

Happy Christmas!

We want to wish all of you a very Happy Christmas!

Don't forget the one who's birthday it is..... Jesus Christ

Lots of love

Dean, Paula & Joel

XXX

We had our Mulled Wine & Mince Pie evening last night. For those who have ever been to one of these (at Bible College, Zimbabwe, Wimbledon) you'll know how legendary they've become! If you've not been to one, you have no idea what you're missing!

Christmas Buildup

Many businesses seem to have shut down already in time for Christmas or as it seems to be more popularly known here; the 'Holiday Season'. We've always been disappointed with Christmas in Blighty as it seems to start in Aug' and drag on for months, but at least it is called 'Christmas'. Here it appears that Christmas carries very little significance with most shops & businesses advertising for the holiday season, choosing to ignore the reason for the season. Our church held it's first ever Carols by Candlelight service last night which went well, however it was a hot night and a couple of hundred candles didn't help much!!

Reconciliation Day

Today is Reconciliation Day so we've been enjoying the day off. We went to the aquarium in Cape Town this morning and then spent time playing in the river with Joel. He had a great day, at the aquarium he was by far the most excited child and we had a job to contain him at times. Still, it was all good fun!

Last Week

Once again we go into another week having failed dismally to keep our Blog upto date!

We had a good week. We met up with Maurice & Wendy (friends from Zim) and spent time catching up which was great. Then later in the week Pete & Ash came for tea with their 3 boys. Their youngest was born after we left Zim so we hadn't met him and Ash hadn't met Joel so it was a great afternoon catching up. Pete is now leading God First Christian Church in Jo'burg, well worth a visit if you're in that neck of the woods!

Freedom

We've just enjoyed 2 nights away without Joel and it was brilliant! We missed him dearly but it was so nice to be able to do normal things without him. We ate lunch when we wanted, Paula could have a cappuccino without having to share the froth, we went to the cinema but best of all we got to lay in in the morning!!!! Joel was a star by all accounts and was a credit to us.

World AIDS Day

We'd like to encourage you to take a few minutes to reflect upon the pandemic of HIV/AIDS upon the world and your own community.

Pray for those in your community who are HIV+, you might not know them by name (or even realise that some of your neighbours are HIV+) but they need your support.

CNP Thanksgiving

True to 'traditional' African time, the CNP Thanksgiving started about an hour late, but was good fun nonetheless. We finally got to meet Chris Nissen himself (a surprisingly humble man) as well as some of the other key players in establishing the houses for the community. Dean felt very honoured by the public comments that were made about him, we both felt that this was real recognition of the impact that God is having in the community through the church. 

Overview Of The Week.

Patrick was discharged from hospital on Wednesday which appears to have been somewhat premature as he has no mobility at all and can't control any of his bodily functions. Needless to say he's feeling pretty humiliated by his condition and doesn't want to see people. I've seen him a few times and prayed with him but apart from that he wants to be left alone. Please pray for Patrick and his wife Katrina, they haven't had things easy lately. On Wednesday next week I'll be taking Patrick to see a physiotherapist to get some exercises. Patrick's daughters will come too so that they can see how the exercises need to be done.

England 32 South Africa 16

We managed to watch the rugby with some good friends and needless to say they were gutted by the result. The South African team have been very arrogant calling their UK tour 'The Grand Slam Tour' which of course it isn't. Still, it made trouncing them all the sweeter.

Where Did That Week Go?

The flies are still with us and are becoming a major problem. We now have so many different traps etc around the garden and in the house that it's a wonder they can get in. However, for those that do make it in they run the gauntlet of Dean's 'Fly Gun'. This gives Dean endless hours of amusement shooting flies (with what is essentially a spring loaded fly swat) and Joel now laughs when he kills one. We'll not describe Dean's particularly nasty treatment of the ones he catches alive!

Swings

Today was great in CNP as the team from Penge came in and repaired/replaced the swings for the children. The previous swings were old tyres that had been cut to shape and then turned inside out and hung on chains. Needless to say they weren't good quality and had been broken for quite some time. The kids were delighted as the 6 swings now have solid wooden seats and sturdy chains holding them. They were also hung at slightly different heights to accommodate all size of children (and adults!).