Visa, visa, !!

I haven't posted much for a week or so, so first let me just catch up with things. Louise and I have enjoyed our break over Christmas and New Year and have used the time to rest (sheer bliss). We had some great weather and spent part of the time at the beach swimming, however for us both, sitting reading filled most of the holiday.

We're both back at work now, that means back to studying for me. I've just submitted some assignments and work that I've done on my recently completed module (Christian spirituality), I look forward too hearing back from my tutor as to how I have done.

It's not all been work for us both, this last weekend saw us going for what has to be the best swim I've had since I've been here in Jeffrey's. While in the sea I enjoyed having loads of small fish swimming around me! It's been a time of first's for me lately; while walking my dog early one morning I saw my first ever meerkat in the wild(I've only seen them in zoo's before), and was also treated to a great spectacle while driving through to St Frances; a herd of ostriches being herded, like cows, down the road. Driving very slowly past them was fun as they all peered into the car!

We have also seen the arrival of our Churches new Associate Pastor and his family (Donovan, Caryn & Kylie) which is really great news. They seem to be settling in well and I look forward to seeing how God will use this family.

That's about the fill of what has been going on in my life in the past week or so. Now down to explaining the title to this post. I'm living here in South Africa on a "temporary residents visa", this has to be renewed every two years. You may remember an earlier post of mine talking about our previous wasted trip to PE to sort this out. Today we went on the right day and with the right paperwork together with everyone's prayers (many thanks). We did however go with some concerns about the submission of my police clearance certificate (something I did before leaving the UK), my current visa shows it still pending. This was done before leaving the UK as I've said, so we were asked to submit a letter stating this with my application. We now find ourselves having to wait another week for it to go through so that I can go, once again, to PE to collect it. The guy who served us was the same friendly guy we saw at our previous visit and he was great. I hope I picked up the right signals from him, that the police clearance won't be an issue, however, we still must wait. Please do continue to pray, until I have the visa in my hand, nothing is sorted. I know that God answered prayer for us in that I felt real peace while in the office and with us getting the friendliest looking staff member working there.

GOD IS GREAT

PS. Louise put together a newsletter about our past year which can be read by clicking on the link below:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddp84qn2_0gp9kt669

Left to Tell

I've just finished reading one of my Christmas presents. It’s a book called 'Left to Tell' and is the story of a young Rwandan lady by the name of Immaculée Ilibagiza.

 

(Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza and Steve Erwin)

This book is an autobiography which portrays Immaculée's life and experiences during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

I'm not going to give a history lesson here partly because Rwanda's history and the events leading up to the genocide go back years. I will say for those not familiar with this shameful period of human history that the conflict was mainly between two tribes, the Hutus and the Tutsis. Over come by evil, the Hutus tried to kill all Tutsis.

Immaculée's story is about so much more then these killings. Her story is about an incredible relationship that she has with our Almighty God. This relationship is tested in ways that seem totally unimaginable for me. Some of the things described in this book that Immaculée and her family went through made me sick to my stomach but some how Immaculée is able to hold on to God through it all.

Can a person forgive as God calls each of us too? This story describes the struggles Immaculée had in forgiving but also the amazing truth of how God can make it possible for a person to forgive the worst of human atrocities.

As I read this book I went through all kinds of emotions and thoughts, I found myself questioning myself.

In 1994 I was a train driver on London Underground and it’s likely that while Immaculée was going through such terrible things I would have been simply getting on with my life complaining about my job and paying little attention to what was going on in the world.

• Why are we so numb to such horrors today?
• Why are such things happening in this civilized world of ours?
• Weren’t the terrible killings of thousands of Jews in the Second World War meant to have taught us to never allow such things to happen again?
• Are we aware at this very moment what maybe happening right now in parts of the world, maybe in Kenya with all its political unrest or in Pakistan for example?

Immaculée turned to God in prayer seeking for Him too intervene, I think we all need to follow her example.

This book, if read by you, will shock, upset and anger you. It will also challenge, inspire and remind you that God is real and can be found by anyone who seeks Him.

A braai with friends

Last night Louise and I went to a braai around Alfred and Michelle's house, there were a number of us there and we had a great time. I off cause didn't really fancy going when it actually came to getting ready to go there. I tend to always feel like that when it comes to social events, why? I had a great time with everyone, which is normal, so why do I never really fancy going to such things? I think it may be due to a lack of confidence in my self in social settings. I sometimes don't know what to say or do and then feel un-comfortable!

Social skills are like most skills, they are learnt, and this year I want to get better at such things. It’s going to take me stepping out of my comfort zone, at least to some point, but the truth is, doing so is often very rewarding. My friends at the braai were all Christians and our conversations actually encouraged my faith and my desire to live for God. I hope that I too may have been able to encourage others in the same way.

Fulfilling...

Happy New Year too all.

I'm not sure about the New Year thing, you know, all the resolutions and that!
But having said that, I do still have desires for the coming year, they focus mainly on my relationship with God, I want to get to know Him better, I want to live with a constant awareness of Him, I want to live for His glory.

Last year I felt that I didn't achieve all that I wanted too. I made plans but the year just didn't go as I thought. Having faced up to this I go into the New Year not filled with disappointments but with excitement coupled with renewed desires to fulfill all those wishes that have filled my thoughts over the past days.

My ramblings in this blog have been pretty guarded because I know that a number of people read it, but this is one thing I hope to change. Being more transparent with those who care will I'm sure bring good advice and conversation that if acted upon will lead me to fulfill my biggest wish, 'to live for God's glory'.
So stick it out with me please, transparency may not come over night, let me also ask you to please make contact with me and respond to my postings if God leads you to help me with advice or stories of shared experiences etc.

God bless you and keep you.