If we were writing this post a year ago, our conspicuous absence from the blog would have been because we felt unable to speak of the things that were going on.
Thankfully we've moved on from then and the simple reason for our conspicuous absence has been the sheer amount of stuff going on and not being able to keep up with it all.
Our last proper post was about our outreach back in June and here we are in August about to do another outreach this coming Saturday.
- 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
Eisteddfod
by
Finnie Family
on
14.8.12
Some great news for Joel..
He's just participated in the local Eisteddfod again and improved on last year's showing by getting Cum Laude for his prepared reading.
Joel chose to read two pages from The boy In The Dress by David Walliams and really went to town on his characterisation. Even the judges commented on this and the humour he managed to convey.
He's just participated in the local Eisteddfod again and improved on last year's showing by getting Cum Laude for his prepared reading.
Joel chose to read two pages from The boy In The Dress by David Walliams and really went to town on his characterisation. Even the judges commented on this and the humour he managed to convey.
We are so proud of him!
Eli Unicycling
by
Dino
on
3.8.12
Despite our absence from the blog we're well and really enjoying life but we're also really busy which probably explains the absence.
So here's a bit of fun to keep you going until we manage to post something over the weekend.
Enjoy Eli's latest exploits below...
So here's a bit of fun to keep you going until we manage to post something over the weekend.
Enjoy Eli's latest exploits below...
A Tree Has Been Planted
by
Finnie Family
on
11.7.12
If you managed to catch up with Paula at one of her recent Facing The Mountain Roadshows in Weald or Cheadle you will have seen our latest DVD offering.
If you didn't manage to catch up with Paula, shame on you you can watch the film right here from the comfort of your own computer screen.
We hope you find it helpful as you uphold our ministry here in Macassar in prayer.
So get some popcorn, put your feet up and enjoy the next 16½ minutes.
Outreach Weekend - Pt 2
by
Dino
on
25.6.12
We had such an amazing time at our celebration meeting two weeks ago!
It was a real family time as Tree Of Life were joined by Love & Grace from Mitchell's Plain and Simon's Bay Christian Church from Simon's Town.
Graham's team from Mitchell's Plain lead the worship, Shaddie brought a great word and Tree Of Life organised the celebration and lead it. It's such a blessing to be involved in churches working together for the extension of the Kingdom!
It was a real family time as Tree Of Life were joined by Love & Grace from Mitchell's Plain and Simon's Bay Christian Church from Simon's Town.
Graham's team from Mitchell's Plain lead the worship, Shaddie brought a great word and Tree Of Life organised the celebration and lead it. It's such a blessing to be involved in churches working together for the extension of the Kingdom!
Outreach Weekend - Pt 1
by
Dino
on
23.6.12
Firstly, thank you to all of you that were praying for the weather on our outreach a couple of weeks ago, the weather turned out great despite the forecast and we are truly thankful to God for this!
It has indeed been a couple of weeks since the outreach and the reason it has taken so long to blog about it is that many of us are still blown away by the whole thing!
It has indeed been a couple of weeks since the outreach and the reason it has taken so long to blog about it is that many of us are still blown away by the whole thing!
Miles For Smiles Assembly
by
Finnie Family
on
22.6.12
I've lifted this straight out of the school's weekly newsletter:
"MILES FOR SMILES
THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
Through the combined efforts of the International School of Helderberg and Macquarie Securities South Africa, we raised a phenomenal R71878.70 [almost £5700] for Operation Smile South Africa!
Over the last 5 years we have raised almost R200 000-00 for Operation Smile.
"MILES FOR SMILES
THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!
Through the combined efforts of the International School of Helderberg and Macquarie Securities South Africa, we raised a phenomenal R71878.70 [almost £5700] for Operation Smile South Africa!
Over the last 5 years we have raised almost R200 000-00 for Operation Smile.
Wonderwall
by
Finnie Family
on
8.6.12
We're very proud of Joel as he played with his fellow guitarists at the school's Music Cafe this morning.
They played Wonderwall by Oasis and did really well.
An update for those of you who sponsored our boys in their Miles For Smiles ride a few weeks ago.
Our local rag the District Mail ran this article today with a lovely photo of Eli in it.
Our local rag the District Mail ran this article today with a lovely photo of Eli in it.
Prayer Request
by
Dino
on
1.6.12
We're planning to do quite a big outreach next Friday and Saturday as we have another celebration meeting in Macassar on Sunday morning with our friends from Mitchell's Plain and Simon's Town.
We have a few events planned, one of which will be to pamper ladies in the community by doing their nails, hair and make-up whilst serving them with coffee and a muffin.
We have a few events planned, one of which will be to pamper ladies in the community by doing their nails, hair and make-up whilst serving them with coffee and a muffin.
Hair Pulling!
by
Dino
on
28.5.12
I'm no techno geek when it comes to computers but equally I'm not afraid of stripping one down and having a tinker. After all, if I do mess it up I'll only be saving the computer the time and trouble of messing itself up.
Miles For Smiles
by
Finnie Family
on
25.5.12
Eli and Joel had such a blast this morning at what has become their school's annual charity event. They were so proud to ride for Operation Smile in their Miles for Smiles cycle ride. They were particularly thrilled because the school is hoping to crack their target of raising R50,000 for much needed cleft palate operations for children this year and between them they have raised just under R2,000. Thank you so much to all you who so generously sponsored the boys, it really made a difference.
In 2001 during some of Zimbabwe’s darkest days we drove from Harare to Cape Town, it was mainly for holiday purposes and a bloomin' good one it was too, but we also had to leave Zim' for a while due to the mess there. It’s a long story!
While we were in South Africa we had a great time and met some fab people, some of whom we went on to work with when we moved to SA three years later. I remember at the time having a number of conversations with folk about the Zim' situation and was asked the same question a few times.
I could leave this as a wordless post with just the photos and most of you would guess who I would be talking about.
My boy doesn't stay still for long, though the telly is teaching him to pay attention for increasing amounts of time. Not sure if that's a good thing or not?! Anyway, beyond the world of the electronic babysitter, Eli is one incredibly active young man and constantly looking formischief things to do. One of the things I love about him is how he'll take something he learnt and apply it to an area or something for which it wasn't really intended.
My boy doesn't stay still for long, though the telly is teaching him to pay attention for increasing amounts of time. Not sure if that's a good thing or not?! Anyway, beyond the world of the electronic babysitter, Eli is one incredibly active young man and constantly looking for
Moonsquirters
by
Dino
on
15.5.12
Percy Thrower I am not so where Eli gets his desire for a bit of gardening is a mystery but one that shall be capitalised upon.
A while back he asked if he could grow some tomatoes and somehow he managed to sweet-talk mummy into taking him shopping for seeds etc.
That was a couple of months ago and today Eli has eleven very healthy looking tomato plants which he actually grew from seed.
So this afternoon he was über excited to see that one of his plants has two small green tomatoes on it. Bless him, he had no idea what they were because they were so small and green, apparently "they don't look like the ones in the packets".
A while back he asked if he could grow some tomatoes and somehow he managed to sweet-talk mummy into taking him shopping for seeds etc.
That was a couple of months ago and today Eli has eleven very healthy looking tomato plants which he actually grew from seed.
So this afternoon he was über excited to see that one of his plants has two small green tomatoes on it. Bless him, he had no idea what they were because they were so small and green, apparently "they don't look like the ones in the packets".
Mother's Day
by
Paula
on
14.5.12
Yesterday was a particularly special day as Tree of Life honoured all the mums amongst our family on Mother's Day. We had a brilliant time together in church during which each mum was given a little, beautifully created posy of flowers with an attached t-light. We then got the men praying for their women, which was very special.
Garden Centre
by
Dino
on
9.5.12
After a good morning in Macassar I decided to call in on Michael in Chris Nissen on my way home to see how his gate is holding up and just to enjoy being with my mate.
One of the things that never fails to amaze me about our friends there is just how generous they are and this morning I left Michael's feeling like I'd been to a garden centre.
My garden is going to be looking great by next summer!
One of the things that never fails to amaze me about our friends there is just how generous they are and this morning I left Michael's feeling like I'd been to a garden centre.
My garden is going to be looking great by next summer!
Sunday was an important day for Tree Of Life as we celebrated the 60th wedding anniversary of Oom Paul and Aunty Molly.
They are an amazing couple and I have had the privilege of sitting with Oom Paul a few times listening to his life stories. Forget about Kindle or any other form of interactive e-book, spending time with someone like Oom Paul is spending time with a truly interactive living, talking history book!
They are an amazing couple and I have had the privilege of sitting with Oom Paul a few times listening to his life stories. Forget about Kindle or any other form of interactive e-book, spending time with someone like Oom Paul is spending time with a truly interactive living, talking history book!
Blogging From A To Z Challenge - Review
by
Dino
on
7.5.12
The Blogging From A To Z Challenge was a lot of fun!
I've enjoyed the discipline of blogging every day and giving the blog some long overdue attention. I think the best bit though has to have been meeting loads of other bloggers from around the world, sharing posts and comments and reading blogs that I might otherwise not have got to see.
I've enjoyed the discipline of blogging every day and giving the blog some long overdue attention. I think the best bit though has to have been meeting loads of other bloggers from around the world, sharing posts and comments and reading blogs that I might otherwise not have got to see.
Perigee Full Moon
by
Dino
on
6.5.12
The moon is currently 28000km's closer to earth than normal leading to this amazing phenomenon know as the Perigee full moon which means it appears up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than when it is furthest from the planet.
It's quite a spectacular phenomenon and I was quite pleased with these photos of the moon this evening.
Read more about it here on the BBC News.
It's quite a spectacular phenomenon and I was quite pleased with these photos of the moon this evening.
Read more about it here on the BBC News.
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