One Hundred Litres

For some time now it has been a dream of mine to increase The Gathering's weekly Soup Kitchen to 100 litres so that we can be even more generous with our soup than we currently are. Most weeks we have been serving 70lts and sometimes just 50lts depending on how close we are to the social grants having been paid.

Over the last few weeks we've just been using our 70lt pot and a couple of times we've had to turn folk away because we had run out, and that never feels good.

So it was great to be able to be our usual generous selves and then some, as we had plenty to go around tonight and by the time the queue had fizzled out we had just a single one litre pot and a cup left.

Dino’s Guide To The Sani Pass

Firstly, for me the the Sani Pass was the highlight of our recent roadtrip around SA. Sure game viewing in the Kruger & Kgalagadi were amazing experiences, but the magic and beauty of the Sani were something I had never experienced in quite the same way on a drive before. As such, I would wholeheartedly recommend you do it at least once before they have finally paved the entire thing.

Reflections On Our Roadtrip

Joel & I have been home for just over a week now and whilst we're both very happy to be home and to be back with the ones we love most, there's a small part of us that's missing the busyness of the adventure a roadtrip of this scale provides.

We covered 7710.6 kilometres (almost 4820 miles) in twenty days and drove through eight of South Africa's nine provinces. We camped for 10 nights and stayed in accommodation for 9 nights. We wild-camped twice, both in the Eastern Cape where it was very cold. Our coldest night was -4C in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, our warmest night was 14C in the Kruger National Park.

Sharing Our blessings

One of the unintended consequences of the pandemic and lockdown is our involvement with other local Soup Kitchens.

We never intended to get involved with any others as we were quite happy focusing on The Gathering's own outreach.

However it has been a joy and a privilege to be able to serve and build a relationship with two local Soup Kitchens being run by two amazing ladies in Macassar.

Blessed Beyond Measure

Three years ago today I had the privilege and honour of attending Linda's graduation ceremony. It truly was an honour and a privilege to be invited knowing just how hard she worked for this and how hard life was for the seven years in which she sacrificed so much to pursue the dream God had given her.

Next month I will have the absolute pleasure, privilege, honour and joy of walking Linda down the aisle as she marries Mongezi (a great guy!) and begins a whole new chapter in her journey of faith.

I truly am blessed beyond measure!

Delivery Of Blessings

That was a morning well spent as I picked up a trailer early before going to get Errol so we could go through to some friends in Gordon's Bay to collect some old furniture and household bits that they no longer need.

Amongst everything, there was a really nice DVD player which I just had to drop off at Michael's in Chris Nissen on the way back to Firgrove. Michael has been asking for a DVD player for ages so it was great to be able to bless him.

Video Update

We recently sent this video out to friends and supporters but reworked it to include subtitles so as not to exclude any one.

We hope it blesses you

Blessing Our Sisters

This is a little mentioned part of The Gathering's ministry to the neediest women & girls in our community.

For a few years now we have regularly been collecting sanitary pads and other sanitary products to give to the neediest and most vulnerable women in the community.

Initially this was aimed at the older girls attending our Homework Club because so many teenage girls simply miss school when they're menstruating because they have little or no access to the necessary products to help.

Early Morning Ride

I'm really enjoying my unicycling and loving going for longer rides over 10ks, especially since I've had to stop running due to my back.

Yesterday morning's ride was just over 16ks and I got to enjoy seeing the sunrise reflecting on Table Mountain which is always a treat. It's nice to be riding so early too because it means there are few people out and about so I don't have to dodge so many pedestrians.

Getting There

Ever since the beginning of lockdown well over a year ago, and then particularly when I herniated a disc in my spine, I've been battling to get back down to my pre-lockdown weight.

During the lockdown I hit a high of 95kgs (15 stone), but I know this was a result of depression connected directly to my back and the fact that I couldn't run or box. It was a deeply frustrating time and one I have no wish to repeat.

Free Books

There's much that can be frustrating about life out here, but when your health insurance starts giving you free books it makes the world a much better place.

So I was very happy to swing another voucher from our them last night to get my third free book in a month.