- The Finnie family in Blighty, December 2021
- Dean and Paula pastor The Gathering together
- The Gathering
- Baptisms at The Gathering
- Preparing to serve at The Gathering's Soup Kitchen
- Soup Kitchen Welcome To 2022 lunch
- Serving hands - the heart of The Gatheirng
- Thankful Thursdays
- HOPE Home Based Care Team
- Gathering Ground
- Staying fit as a family
- The Helderberg - The prettiest of the mountains we face
An Update Of Sorts
We'll post more in the next day or so.
Signs Of The Times?
I have no explanation for this other than to say the goats must be very smart to read the sign
Project Fix It - Part 2
The feed back from the two days has been very positive so hopefully we'll be able to follow it up later in the year.
Busy Times Ahead..
Having had a hectic weekend of birthday parties and 'Project Fix It' this week is about to get a lot busier and more hectic. Dean has a ton of stuff to do in preparation for part 2 of Project Fix It such as collating the outstanding jobs, sorting teams for Saturday and buying the outstanding resources needed all of which needs to be squeezed in between his language studies.
Project Fix It - Part 1
Project Fix It
Shortest Day
Care Packages
"What do you most miss from home?" & "What can we send you?"
These are two common questions which are actually quite hard to answer. When we were in Tanzania we welcomed just about anything, especially Pepperami sticks and Onion Bhaji Mix. However, here in South Africa we can get pretty much anything. Our local fish & chip shop is far superior to anything in the UK, as is most local produce and marmite is on the supermarket shelves. Our local pub (we don't frequent it too often) even serves Kilkenny on draught and Boddingtons is available in the local bottle store!
Mums Come Out In Force
Time Capsule
Not long ago I stumbled upon a Blog entitled Telstar Logistics where they were following the story of a time capsule which had been buried in Tulsa in 1957 to be dug up 50 years later in 2007. The time capsule consisted of a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere and a few other items. Unfortunately at the time of burying the Plymouth it's proneness to rust was still unknown.
Love Hate Relationship
A Proper Curry At Last
Bible Study
Big Joel, Little Joel
The boys were really chuffed to see Joel again and Eli took a real shine to him. I know Joel's parents will read this, so just to let you know that it was a real pleasure to have Joel stay, he's a real credit to you!
Update (Of Sorts)
How to update without getting into trouble with someone? Probably not possible so here goes..
Chris Nissen is a real challenge at present. Mainly because some of our church members are behaving appallingly and preventing other non members in the community from either coming to church or trying out one of our groups.
Should He Stay Or Should He Go?
Ahoy There Me Hearties!
Friends To Play
Health & Fitness
A Wake-Up Moment
I feel shocking but at least I have a name for it as I'm sure Paula was getting a bit fed up with my slow ambling around the house. The headache is incredibly painful, my eyes are really sore and I'm either freezing or roasting, not being able to get comfortable. For the last couple of days I've been craving sunshine to help me warm up. I ache all over so find playing with the boys almost impossible which is really gutting.
Testing Times
Now Dean has been complaining of terrible headaches, achiness and general 'not very well' type symptoms. This morning he came out of the shower sporting a beautiful all over rash. By 10 o'clock he was diagnosed with having measles... he is not a happy chappy to put it mildly. As when Paula had chicken pox for the first time aged 35, Dean says this is the worst he's felt in a long while.
CNP Update
Google Earth
So here are three local scenes we've pulled from Google Earth:
Bible Study
Long Weekend
We've just had a very long weekend thanks to two public holidays, Freedom Day on Friday and Workers Day on Tuesday. Everyone seemed to take the Monday off too to make the most of the break. We had lots of fun, especially as we had 'big Joel' staying with us for the weekend. We last met Joel when he was 2 years old, we were part of a CYFA camp leadership team on which Joel's dad was the Vicar.
Life In Perspective
Health & Fitness
I was able to ride over a few hills and into the neighbouring farm in the next valley but apart from that most of my rides were spent trying to hack a way through the fynbos, which is only fun for a few minutes until your legs are gashed open.
Match The Picture..
Ben's Blog is always worth reading but this post is very good. Enjoy..
In Need Of A Laugh - Pt2
Jacques Funeral
Rastafarian Death
We arrived home to hear that Jacques one of the Rastas in Chris Nissen has been murdered whilst working away from the community. He had picked up some hitch hikers and whilst dropping two off he was carjacked and murdered. The funeral is on Saturday so Dean will attend.
Jacques was a really nice guy and it was quite typical of him to be giving lifts to strangers, being keen to help folk out. He was a gifted musician too, playing the flute in a Rasta band.
Please pray about this as it could be a great opportunity to witness to the Rasta community in Chris Nissen. This murder will also have knocked the community quite badly so please remember them in your prayers.
IE Bug Fixed - For Now..
Family Fun
Joel was pleased to be able to play with Natty and together they got themselves plastered in mud as only little boys can (sadly no photos). Eli tried to keep up with them both and put in a valiant effort, managing to get mud just about everywhere.
Blog Relaunch
However, the choice of Blogger templates has always been naff and so requiring a lot of hacking to get them into shape.
Looking Tired - Must Need A Holiday!
As you can see the scenery was truly stunning and the weather was perfect for the race. Some more stats from the race: I finished comfortably in the top half of all the 28748 riders who completed the race and I was 54th in the starting group of 420 riders, not bad!
PlayBall Birthday Party
The PlayBall team get things underway
Vissy has been an amazing battler throughout and on a number of occasions it looked like she would die, but each time she pulled through. We are so grateful to God for the witness she was in the community.
The funeral is tomorrow morning and Paula will attend on our behalf.
Technical Problems?
Fear not, there is now a dedicated technical response unit just waiting for your call. They will offer you comprehensive but understandable assistance FREE of charge.
No problem is too big or small, software or hardware, all your problems can be solved!
Just click the picture below to access the website directly.
Joel's 4th Birthday
Wow, where did those brief years go? Joel's been very excited about his birthday and has been asking for a bike for a while. We had thought to get him a trampoline but when asked he said he wanted a bike and has been asking ever since. So, having sought some professional advice we got said bike and he was delighted. We had a slight panic on Saturday when he told someone that he was getting a blue bike, but the colour issue seems to be irrelevant now, phew!
Politically Correct Madness
Feeding Program
We know it's only March, but already we're having to plan ahead with regard to this feeding program. Our current funding runs out in December, after which we hope that our church will take on some of the responsibility for it. However, we have no idea whether that will happen or not. Either way, please join us in praying for the means to be available for this important work to be able to continue beyond 2007.
Meetings About Meetings
PS. If you enjoy meetings you might be offended
CNP Update
Psychological Barrier
I was really disappointed last week when I hadn't lost any weight (didn't gain either) as I really wanted to get below the dreaded 90kg barrier. Anyway, I weigh myself every Monday morning to see how I'm doing and this morning I was 89.5kgs. I'm now below the 90kg barrier which seemed impossible not so many weeks ago and it's the first time in many many years that I've weighted so little. So now it's on to the target of 85kgs.
Cape Argus
Church Planting In Durban
It's Broadband Jim, But Not As We Know It
The View From Here - Pt 3
Almost There
The Jesus Tomb
Further to my previous post about the Tomb of Jesus, Ben Witherington has written two further posts on the subject, both of which are excellent!
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