Soup Kitchen

The Gathering's soup kitchen was great last night and it got us thinking about what we might expect this coming winter in terms of numbers.

Having been running the soup kitchen for almost two years we've established some patterns and the most noticeable one is how the numbers of folk wanting soup in summer is clearly down on the winter numbers.

Maths@Home

We're almost at the end of our third week of The Gathering's Homework Club and it's been an incredible ride so far.

From Precious being trained in the role of Facilitator just days before we started to our opening day with a ton of teething issues, to kids finding their feet and getting cheeky, it's all been good.

We had a very helpful visit on Monday from some of the Green Shoots team, they loved what they saw and gave some very positive feedback and suggestions which we're now working on.

We also decided to change the times of our Friday sessions because all the local schools finish at 1pm. So I had the joy of visiting each family and took the opportunity to find out how the parents and grandparents feel about the Homework Club. Well the response was overwhelming!

Homework Club

After many months of planning and preparing, we were able to unleash our excitement as we launched The Gathering's Homework Club yesterday.

We are running two sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays from 3pm - 4pm and 4:30pm - 5:30pm serving 6 children per session (12 in total) and we already have a waiting list too!

The sessions began with a sandwich and drink before the kids were finally able to get to grips with the tablets. They've been longing for this moment for a while and the joy and excitement was palpable.

It was a hectic afternoon as we grappled with teething issues and just generally figured out how it is going to work in real time, but despite the stresses involved in all of it, it was a fantastic afternoon!

Back To School

Finally the day has arrived in which our boys return to school for the new year.

Unlike many who are breathing a sigh of relief at getting rid of the kids again we really miss not having them around, though it is also good to get back in to routine.

Eli begins Grade/Year 7 and is taking it all in his measured step, he's gone with a wry smile on his face which would suggest his teacher has no idea what she's in for. Ha ha!
It's sad to see that the fires are still burning on the Hotties and the fire crews still battling so hard to contain them. The wind is really not helping things!

This was the backdrop to Eli's weekly football coaching in the local park.  Thankfully Radloff Park is unscathed by the fires and the estates bordering it seem to have got off quite lightly too. As Joel and I were walking Rosie we saw no signs of the devastation we had been warned about.

Soup Kitchen

We had our first soup kitchen of 2017 last night and it was a very special time with a great vibe.

It all began very slowly and by ten past six we hadn't served a single person, but word got out very quickly and in a short space of time we had served 46 people.

Once our regulars began arriving we were given huge hugs from all the kids and enjoyed grateful smiles and banter with the adults in a very relaxed atmosphere. It's a pleasure to see folk so relaxed around church.

Hopefully we're starting 2017 as we mean to continue and we'll see tremendous growth of the soup kitchen and the church through it.

It was also a rare privilege to have Linda and Phillimon with us, normally they're busy with work commitments, and the vibe was assisted greatly by their presence and warmth towards those we serve.

Fire!

Three wild fires are raging locally between Sir Lowry's Pass and the Schapenberg which is right on our doorstep.

The emergency choppers have been out for most of the afternoon doing their best to douse the flames but the wind is really vicious and they have now been grounded.

The pic here is looking from outside our house up the Schapenberg and it really is looking bleak.

Life Is Cheap

We have been shocked again this morning as a church community by how cheap life is in Macassar and Firgrove.

Many of you will remember Linda's story from previous Road Shows in the UK. Linda lost 3 family members in a shooting incident that turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. Of course, the family have been through agonies as they try to process this and continue with life as the days and months unfold.

Birthday Boy

Here's wishing our baby a very happy 11th birthday.

When Paula first met him in Bloemfontein hospital at a mere 12 hours old he was simply labelled "Baby number 9".

This total world-changer, Eli (the Lord is my God) Thomas Finnie, is destined by the King of Kings to bring light and life to all he comes into contact with. This unique, highly slightly off the wall, loving, funny young man is going to bring together people of all different ages and cultures.

Christmas Soup Kitchen

Last night we had our Christmas Soup Kitchen at The Gathering and it was an incredibly fun and blessed time. It was great too that a few more of our members were able to be there and join in the blessing of our regulars.

Big THANKS go to the high school students & teachers at the International School of Helderberg for providing the shoe-boxes and to Pizza Cafe for the pizzas. The kids were thrilled with their presents and everyone enjoyed the pizzas.

We were thrilled to welcome Mark from Green Shoots to The Gathering on Wednesday night to give a presentation on their Maths@Home project which we will be running from January.

This followed an excellent evening last Wednesday of visiting the homes of many kids who attend our weekly Soup Kitchen. The response from their families was brilliant and that was reflected in the turnout for last night.

Blessings

We had the privilege of visiting our beloved HOPE Home Based Care ladies this morning and were able to bless them with small gifts thanks to the generosity of some special friends in Blighty.

It blesses us so much to be able to love on the ladies in this way and to hear their grateful hearts as they pray and give thanks to God for you.  This is true partnership.

Thank you to those that made this possible!

Shoeboxes

Today was a great day for The Gathering and our boys school; the International School of Helderberg, as the High School have been putting shoeboxes together for the children that attend our weekly soup kitchen.

Here we're receiving the first few boxes, we'll get the rest of them tomorrow and we can't wait to give them away next week when we bless our soup kitchen regulars with pizza too.

Joel and Eli are also thrilled because school finished for the year today. Hooray!

Besties


Joel & Nicholas,
best friends since forever
(2006 to be precise).

2011 v 2016

These two are super
chuffed to have finished
their exams today.

Well done lads!

Green Belt

We are super proud of Eli getting his Green Belt in Karate tonight. He's worked really hard over the last few months and it was great to see how much effort he put in to it..

Kancho Terry Lynn said she was hugely proud of him, that there has been a vast and marked improvement in his technique and attitude and she had no hesitation in awarding him the belt.

During the grading Eli volunteered to do a solo Bo Kata and pulled it off with aplomb, we're proud of you sunshine!

Grey Water

We've taken a big step forward in recent days in terms of harvesting as much of our grey water as possible.

The first picture shows the attachment for taking water from our bathroom to the garden, it's just waiting for the hose to be connected.

The pics below are of our slightly Heath-Robinson method of harvesting the water from our washing machine and dishwasher.

Our weekly soup kitchen was brightened up no end last week by these cheeky little chappies who brought their own table and chairs so they could enjoy their soup in a civilized and comfortable manner.

Joel and I couldn't stop laughing at the way the older girl kept bossing organising the other kids.

It's great to know that they feel comfortable enough to do this.
This is the South African Post Office's latest offering of local stamps and I have to say they are very nice.

They're also quite educational given that I only knew of and seen three of these species of kingfisher.

Hopefully they are also a nice distraction from all the name calling and labeling on social media in the wake of last week's election result in the US of A
"History repeats itself

Has to

No one listens."

Steve Turner, Poet.

So what has this picture on the right got to do with Trump winning the US presidential race?

We posted earlier on Facebook about Linden, one of our church members who was stabbed late last night. We now know that he was stabbed three times, twice in the shoulder and once in the neck which severed the femoral artery.Linden is currently in ICU and is being operated on at some point this afternoon.

Sadly this incident has been brewing for a while because the family live next door to an illegal shebeen that started operating about a year ago. The family have tried many times to have the shebeen closed but without success, despite it being there illegally!

Last night at gone midnight Linden asked the few stragglers at the shebeen to leave because he had to be up for work at 4am this morning. All we know after this is that a few of the stragglers rounded on him and stabbed him.

This reminds me of some of our Roadshow visits down the years.

One of the best was on the Wirral many moons ago. We had been clear with the church as to what we needed tech wise, back then it was as simple as an overhead projector, and the church had promised all would be fine. On the day there was no OHP so we had to pass our acetates around the congregation whilst we spoke. Priceless!

On another not so distant Roadshow, we were in a church where the vicar (an ardent Mac fan) decided to overrule the tech guy and interfere with the PC and our PowerPoint. Needless to say it didn't go well. 😂

I'll probably get told off for this but I don't really care I'm used to it.