- 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
"Only God Can Remove Me"
The Tragedy That Is Zimbabwe
Tonight we received the following email from our best friends in Zim. All I would say about this email is that in all the years that we've known these friends they've never once expressed any notion of leaving the country they love so dearly nor have they ever expressed any fear, until today. Read it and draw your own conclusions.
Plane Spotting In Cheadle
The Local Church Responds
This video below was put together by Every Nation church in Somerset West to show the church's response to the recent xenophobic / racist violence in South Africa.
Tiny Bubbles Come To Play
Mission Ed' Has Started
"I can see clearly now.."
We really thank God for answering those prayers!
Storm Clouds Looming?
Whilst I was in Chris Nissen Park this morning I was told by one of the well known gossips (who also seems to have a finger on the pulse of community life) that the xenophobic violence is going to start again on Friday.
The View From Here - Pt 4
Calm After The Storm - For Now
"Praise God the situation looks calm on our side. But some are still hungry for violence."
We really thank God for keeping Alfred and his family safe.
This afternoon I met Eduardo from Angola. He rocked up at the office looking desperate and confused.
Friends & Foes
A Spade Is A Spade
RACISM IS RAMPANT!
We've had stories about white students in Bloemfontein abusing Res' cleaners and urinating in the food, and now we have stories about neighbours turning on neighbours. Looting their houses, burning them and in some instances burning their neighbours.
South Africa is a deeply racist nation and needs to get a grip of the issues involved and do something to address them before the next generation adopt their parents attitudes and perpetuate the racism that is so deeply ingrained across all sections of society. Blacks, White and Coloured South Africans are all deeply racist!
Township Riots
Not In The Job Description
Winter Has Arrived!
Winter is well and truly here and the weather is awful. The Northwest wind is pumping heavily and has almost destroyed our TV aerial as well as taking branches off a few trees. The rain also arrived today which gets most locals quite excited but the English in us stops us from finding rain exciting!
Joel & Eli however couldn't wait to put their raincoats and welly boots on and go splashing in the rain. Thankfully they'd had enough after half an hour but Eli did manage to do some jumping on the trampoline in that time.
As you can see in the photo, the weather really isn't too good but it isn't deterring the boys!
Law In South Africa
Two recent court cases, have earned the attention of newspaper readers in South Africa
1. One person was fined R1 000 for not having a TV license.
2. Another was released on bail for R500 after being arrested for murder.
The moral of this South African story:
If you do not have a TV license and the inspector comes round, kill him.
You'll save R500.
Bible Study
Anyway, this morning we were looking at Samson asking the question; was his a wasted life or not? We came to the conclusion that his life was wasted but ultimately God triumphed and something good came out of it. We then sought to apply Samson's story to our own lives, what can we learn and how can we make sure we don't live empty wasted lives? Each of my men agreed that they want to live lives which reflect God's glory so that we can win the community for Christ. I was so proud of them for this!
Grieving And Rejoicing
Sing Along To Pink Floyd
"Your Cape Town's Very Nice"
Bike Race Video
Here's a short video of the boys having a bike race. Joel is on Eli's bike and Eli very determinedly rides Joel's, watch his technique.
This week is a bit of an odd week as Monday was a public holiday followed by Tuesday & Wednesday back at work with today and tomorrow also being public holidays. Great for family time but bad news for work and also quite disorienting as it's too easy to forget which day is which as it feels like the weekend all the time.
Guess we shouldn't grumble.
Pirates & Captains
Petzl Adventure Nights
HIV Training
A Different Kind Of Weekend
As ever the boys had a lot of fun and the trampoline continues to get a lot of use. Joel is getting very confident on it (as you can see) and Eli is determined not to be left behind.
So What Is Wrong With Africa (and the BBC)?
Tragically, the summit came out in favour of the Desperate Despot and virtually dismissed Morgan Tsvangarai and the MDC as a sideshow. Despite their clear victory in the parliamentary poll and seemingly obvious win in the presidential poll. If Desperate despot had won we'd know about it!!!
Quiet Diplopmacy = Sitting On Your Butt Doing Nothing!
THE HANDSHAKE SAYS IT ALL
One should always be a bit wary of being too critical of the president of a country in which one is a guest, but equally, one can only take so much rubbish before one has to speak out.
Another Perspective
Recently we had the pleasure of hosting the Mabbett family from Hertford Baptist Church, one of our supporting churches. It's always a pleasure to see folks from back home and it's always a pleasure to introduce people to Chris Nissen Park and some of our friends in the community.
Recent MTB Race Photos
Here are two recent photos of me mountain biking. The first is from the Vigne à Vigne and the second is from the Boschendal MTB Challenge which is part of the Cape Argus.
Desperate Despot!
Well believe it or not that is exactly what Mugabe and his Zanu PF lackies are doing. Quite unbelievable. Next they'll be claiming that the elections weren't free and fair!
So here we are, nine days after the poll and still the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has failed to declare the results of the presidential election.
Hypocrite!
The days of semi-finals being played at neutral venues like Villa Park or Hillsborough appear numbered for the foreseeable future as the Football Association have signed a 30-year staging agreement to host the games at Wembley.
The Waiting Goes On
It looks like the Mugabe circus has picked itself up, dusted itself off and got back to business. The MDC are once again being harassed and intimidated with arrests being threatened and the Meikles Hotel was raided apparently for this very purpose. The MDC have been quoted on the BBC website as saying: "Mugabe had unleashed a war after security agents ransacked its offices in Harare on Thursday." also, at least two foreign journalists have been arrested by Mugabe's circus. The inevitable state crackdown has begun.
We don't think Joel could have been more overawed than he was and he certainly spent plenty of time taking everything in. Inevitably the pirate section was given the most thorough scrutiny and eventually Joel chose a Captain Jack Sparrow accessory pack for exactly the amount he had. Paula wasn't too pleased thinking it was overpriced but the sheer enjoyment Joel has had from it is priceless. He even slept with the headdress on last night!
Pirates remain a firm favourite in the Finnie household!
Zanu-PF Lose Majority
Breaking news From the BBC confirms what the Independent Result Centre have known for a while, that Mugabe & Gang have lost their parliamentary majority.
Seats Won:
Zanu-PF - 93 seats
MDC (Tsvangirai) 96
MDC (Mutambara) 9
Independents 1
Results So Far - Pending "Verification"
According to the Independent Results Centre the MDC are ahead in the Presidential poll and the Parliamentary poll.
The results so far are:
Cpt. Hook & Smee
Joel has been a bit pirate obsessed for quite a while and now Eli seems to be following suit. Joel let him dress in his 'old' pirate costume this afternoon and Eli really enjoyed it.
It's great to watch them grow together. Joel is beginning to realise that Eli's not a baby but rather is good fun, a good play-mate and a great brother. Eli is talking all the time now (his language is very advanced for his age) so they're really enjoying each other's company and getting into mischief together.
They are such a blessing they are to us!
Carry On Camping
Actually we had a lot of fun and are really keen to go again. The boys had a ball and were really tired at the end of each day. Eli loved having Iza around to play with and generally the kids got on great. We had a really good time with Dawid & Petra and feel that at last we're building some good friendships with some church folk (only took 4 years!).
The campsite, Nightsky Caravan Park near Bonnievale was great, being well serviced with good ablutions with hot water and electricity near the tents to plug a fridge into so we had some cold beer. The site was next to a dam and had lovely views of the mountains in the distance.
Are We Mad?
This afternoon we're going camping for two nights. Quite what possessed us to agree to it we're not sure. We're having visions of the Carry-On film but hopefully things will go a bit better than that. At least the weather will be good and if things go really badly we're only a two hour drive from home.
Breaking News - Mugabe Wins Election
Maybe I'm just overly cynical but I prefer to think of myself as a realist (it's a fine line between the two) and as such I see little reason to get excited about the prospect for change.
Joel The Showman
(1) Mummy, daddy, that boy's got chicken pox (spoken at 100 decibels whilst walking past a very unfortunate acne'd teenage boy in the Nature Reserve!)
(2) Mummy, daddy (whilst jumping on the trampoline), I've got a good joke. (This should be interesting think m and d whilst preparing to laugh "hilariously"..). What's small, green and sticky? (We don't know Joel.... this could be gruesome!) A frog swimming in jelly! (All delivered with perfect comic timing - we did laugh hilariously this time because it was really funny!!)
This could be why his teacher often says that he has the class in stitches - we have a little showman on our hands. Oh dear!
Easter Weekend
On Saturday we had a braai and a potjie (if you don't know what they are you'll just have to come and experience them) with some good friends joining us for the afternoon and evening. In fact we were all so relaxed that we lost track of time and the kids all went to be very late!
Easter & The Silly Season
Our new address is: www.dpfinnie.com
The move will be complete by Wednesday and Blogger will redirect you to the new address for a while but please update your bookmarks to save a bit of time.
Birthday Boy!
Joel opened his presents after school (not sure we'll get away with that in years to come) and was thoroughly delighted by them. The four favourites are Victoria from Underground Ernie, Tom & Helicopter from Fireman Sam, a Zorro action figure and a set of Charlie & Lola DVDs.
This evening we went to Primi's for pizza and pasta which is always a huge hit with our boys. Joel invariably chooses Primi's when he can and the food is excellent.
So we've had a really good fun day with lots of laughs and some really great presents for Joel. Thankfully they're both in bed now so we can chill with a film.
5th Birthday Party
Mum and dad were pretty pleased when all the kids, siblings and parents finally left though - it's exhausting hosting a kid's birthday party! Now we're looking forward to the big day tomorrow (Wednesday). Joel has been counting the sleeps for the last 3 weeks and is telling everyone that he is having his dinner at Primi Piatti's, his favourite pizza place! We wonder how long before conversation swings to what theme his party will be next year?
Random Post
Joel is delighted that Eli can join him on the swing at last
Most of the rest of the weekend was spent playing in and around the tent in the garden. Joel was really upset that we couldn't sleep in it for the last two nights, but tomorrow we're planning to get the mattresses and sleep out, but we'll see!
Cape Argus
So here are my official stats for the Cape Argus yesterday:
Time: 3:31:02
Ave Speed: 30.99
Overall Position:6925/28669
Group Position: 7/422
Age Position: 1096/3366
Recent News & Events
Cape Argus
Unnecessary Quotation Marks
Do pay her a visit and enjoy more silliness of a similar ilk.
Health Care
Boschendal - Cape Argus MTB Challenge
Next Sunday morning I'll be riding in the Cape Argus
which is the 109k road race. Last year's post is here.
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