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.

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!

Michael's House

On the Friday before Dean left for Lesotho we managed to get a wendy house for Michael for the exact amount of money that we had raised, so a HUGE thank you to those of you who so generously helped. Michael & Joyce feel tremendously blessed and are so grateful to God for His provision.

City Of Joy - Maseru

Reading the 'Welcome' leaflet


Welcome Break

We're off to Franshoek in the morning for two nights 'sans' kids! We've been trying to organise this for ages (it's not easy when you have no familial support just around the corner) so Joel will be with his friends Caleb & Michelle and Eli will be with another couple who generously offered to help us out.

We really feel the need for this time off and are marvelling at God's timing. We tried to organise this for a couple of dates but it kept falling through, but now after Dean's return from Lesotho and some serious issues arising in CNP this mini break has come at just the right time.

Home At Last

Just a quick update regarding Dean's Lesotho trip... after 12 hours of driving Dean arrived home 24 hours earlier than expected which was a really pleasant surprise for Paula and the boys, especially Joel!

In short, about 400 people were saved in Maseru and countless others were healed. We saw a massive out pouring of God's grace and healing in the city and are in awe of His saving power!

We'll post more later with some photos (Dean took about 650!) but for now bed is calling!

City Of Joy

I'm here in Maseru, Lesotho as part of a team of 100 helping to plant the City of Joy Community Church in Maseru. As Paula said below there are about 100 folk from 11 different churches around South Africa and the UK as well as a small core of people who will be the basis of the church. It is such an amazing privilege to be a part of this event and we are seeing God moving in the most amazing ways! We've seen a large number of salvations so far and lots of miraculous healings. It is so good to know that we do indeed serve the one true living God!

On the way into town this morning we stopped to pray for a man who had collapsed at the side of the road. He was definitely healed and then gave his life to Jesus as we prayed for him! We then took him back to the SU centre for some food. What an awesome privilege to be involved in this man's salvation.

Whilst The Cat's Away!

I thank God for our boys... it is as if they fully understand that mummy can't do everything!! They are both being absolutely fantastic whilst Dean is away. Joel in particular, is being a little angel - thanks for your prayers. He does, of course, miss Dean and asks for him everyday, but he is being very good for me. Tonight was a classic as I stood on a chair in his room to put up his black out material and I heard a little voice behind me - don't fall off mummy! OK I will remember that advice, thank you!

Please keep praying. After a long journey and a tyre blow out whilst Dean was driving, the team arrived in Lesotho safe and well. There are about 100 people from 11 churches in South Africa helping out. Dean says it is very exciting and that no one in Maseru can fail to know about the new church starting on Sunday. The evening meetings start on Thursday, so do pray.

CNP Update

This last week has been very emotional and stressful in CNP, not least because we've been working hard to try and resolve Michael & Joyce's housing situation. Well, Praise God! we've managed to get a wendy house for them. We can take no credit for this as Michael actually rang a local Christian radio station to tell them of his plight and an elderly couple called in to say they had a wendy house and they were willing to halve their asking price which amounted to the sum we had raised! So Thank You to those of you who helped!

Family Weekend

We had a really good long Easter weekend which started with spending the morning at Spier vineyard, they have an excellent play garden for children and do lovely picnics, they also have a small Cheetah reserve which was a treat. 

Evelyn

Dean & Joel popped into CNP briefly this afternoon, mainly to catch up with Michael but also to see Dina. Remarkably as we discussed this at lunchtime, Paula suggested I take Joel to see M.i.c.h.a.e.l to which Joel immediately said: "I see Michael", how did he know that was the name we were spelling out? Never mind!

Easter & Other Bits

He is risen!

He is risen indeed!


Easter is such an amazing time in the Christian calendar as it marks the time in which Christ was murdered but then triumphantly rose from the dead (after giving the devil a good kicking for 3 days in Hades!). Wow what an awesome God we serve!

Gospel Of Judas

There is much debate, speculation and misinformation circulating about the so called "Gospel of Judas", so rather than try to set out our stall in terms of how it does or does not impact on our faith and the Bible as we know it, We'll direct you to the Blog of Ben Witherington who has written some excellent and eminently readable stuff on this whole controversy. In fact, read his whole Blog, it's all really good stuff!

Suffice to say that we agree with Ben's view.

Michael's House

As promised yesterday we're posting photos of the shack that Michael & Joyce are forced to live in (hopefully) temporarily. The first thing to say is that if we had a dog, we wouldn't let it live in these conditions! No-one should have to tolerate this and yet for many in Chris Nissen this is sadly the norm.

The shack seen from the front

Chris Nissen Park Update

Dean visited Michael & Joyce this afternoon in their 'shack' and was appalled by the conditions they've been reduced to living in. When it rains their bed gets soaked, and they have to pay for the privilege!! Tomorrow Dean will take some photos of the shack so you can see just how awful their living conditions are! Michael is trying to remain faithful and believe that God is going to provide his family with some permanent accommodation but he's really struggling and cries himself to sleep at night.

Bloemfontein Zoo

We spent the day after the conference in Bloem and took Eli to meet the social workers who had facilitated his adoption at that end. They were delighted to meet Eli and will pass on some photos we left to the birth mother. This also closes that stage of the adoption and will be the last time we meet with the organisation in Bloem.

We then spent the afternoon in the zoo before flying back to Cape Town in the evening. Joel really enjoyed himself in the zoo, especially chasing the Cape Ground Squirrel which was incredibly tame.

Adoption

Eli is legally our son!!!!!

We met with our social worker this afternoon who handed us the final adoption court order. The accompanying letter states quite clearly that: "According to the provisions of the Child Care Act 1983 (Act No. 74 of 1984), your adopted child is now regarded as if born to you."

WOW! PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!

Michael's House - Update

For the last few days Dean has been trying to help Michael sort out some alternative accommodation given that he and Joyce have been evicted from his father’s house and must leave there by midday on the 31st of March. The last two days have been particularly frustrating as we simply don’t have enough money between us to buy a ‘wendy house’ (we underestimated the full cost by half) despite some very generous gifts from some of you.

Action In Chris Nissen Park

Further to our post on 9th Feb (Action In CNP) about a meeting Dean went to with Dina, Mama Jane & Shirley at the municipality to talk about the potential of them installing a netball court and assisting with the finance of the community garden, we can follow up with the proof of good news.

The municipality has at last acted in CNP and the netball court has been laid and marked out. Now we are just waiting for the posts, nets & balls to be delivered and then the ladies will start to compete properly.

So Islam is a peaceful religion?

I can't imagine the Afghan who converted to Christianity (Abdul Rahman) was feeling very peaceful about the mass response towards him from other Muslims, given that most believed that he should be put to death. Indeed, Sharia law dictates that he should be put to death!

See the BBC new website for details:

Afghan Christian (search results)

Table Mountain

On Saturday we eventually had our much delayed trip up Table Mountain for our respective cell and Bible study groups. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in sight and no wind. We spent about 2 hours at the top and everybody appeared to have a great time. Only 2 or 3 folk had previously been up Table Mountain which made the occassion all the more special for everyone. The cable car was particulalry amusing for those who hadn't been before, especially once it started rotating after it had begun its ascent.

Frontier Year Project

We have a great tradition of FYP volunteers coming through the church here and at present we have two young ladies from the UK. They're doing a variety of stuff including visiting in CNP on Monday & Friday afternoons which is a real help.

Sarah has started her own Blog about her experiences including some insights on Chris Nissen, you can see her Blog by clicking HERE.

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.

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.