Great times in the bay.

Its been great having mum with us. We've been blessed with the most amazing weather considering its winter! Saturday we started of on the beach.

The water was a bit cold but hey, we had to get our feet wet!

Later, in the afternoon we went for a drive around the surrounding area, just checking out some of the great spots that Louise and I like to visit. While driving in Paradise Beach we were treated to a meal out - we weren't the ones eating, a family of monkeys had that joy!

Sunday, mum came to the beach with us again (its a hard life!), this time she saw a whole load of dolphins.

Today we had a little surprise for mum, I took her to Lombardini Game Farm which is just outside of Jeffrey's. We went on a game drive and saw all kinds of animals. Mum spent the whole trip with a massive smile glued to her face!

I think she's having a good time.

All's well with my world!

After some serious hours of travelling mum arrived safe and sound At Port Elizabeth. Wow, it was great to see her, I still can't believe that she's here. We have all just enjoyed a nice meal together and are going to spend the evening relaxing together. Mum is holding up well considering she has done all that travelling, I would actually be struggling to stay awake by now! So her time here begins, I hope we can fill her up with loads of fond memories.

What-a-life!

The Eagle has landed!!

Yes, mum's flight arrived at Jo'burg, she's here. I was sat by the computer trying to see when her flight arrived which wasn't the easiest with the SA flight arrival web sites not being great. I think her flight from the UK was a little delayed, but nothing major. Sadly, she has been told that to get on an earlier flight to Port Elizabeth she will have to pay some R900. which is crazy money! So, as I write this mum is sitting in Jo'burg international and has just sent me an SMS to say that she thinks she will have to just wait for her later flight, which is fine (She'll enjoy the shops I'm sure).
The sun is shining and I'm going to be heading of soon to PE, I need to pick up a few things, mum included!

Excitement is growing!

Its hard to believe, but my mother will be here, in my home in two days time. It doesn't feel that long ago that I was writing about my trip to the UK. So mum is coming, the first from my family and friends to make the trip. I know that she's really excited about coming and both Louise and I are looking forward to sharing with her our life here in SA. Things are quite different for us here in comparison to that of the UK, I wonder what my mum will make of it.

Mum is taking a trip to Durban and the surrounding area while she is here, I'm impressed that she's doing this without us, she's going on one of those guided tour excursions (I would actually love to join her!) We are all going away together while she is here; that will be Louise's folks and gran together with mum, Louise and myself. We are of to wilderness near knysna. I've never been to wilderness before which is cool, it'll be nice to see more of this great country.

Keep an eye on my blog to see what we've been getting up to while mum is here.

God bless ya.

Gardeners back!!

A friend of ours has likened weeding her garden to her life as a Christian and has shared some very wise thoughts on the subject. I can't say that I've had such inspiration while working in my garden over this past holiday weekend. I'm still very pleased with how things have come together though I must say. I've just completed my back garden central bed (well, not quite central but you'll get the drift from my photo's I'm sure!). Louise and I, some time ago, decided to put up a wall in the front garden which turned out great but left us with a cycad in a rather undesirable place. Louise isn't a big fan of cycads, unlike me and kind of wasn't to bothered about keeping it. I, however decided that it would make a great addition to our back garden. So I set out to create a nice bed for it; we have a patch of ground where grass struggled to grow so that seemed like as good a place as any. The ground was a complete nightmare with enough rock to create my very own mountain! I did however manage to remove enough to create what has become a rather nice feature bed. The cycad is sitting in the middle of the bed with various other cactus/aloe plants. We had two reed strelizias which I've included and various vygies (English translation is faychies). The bed was hard work in the making but both of us are very pleased with how it has turned out. I'm just praying that the cycad has survived the move!

Once the plants start to grow and fill the area it should be quite something eh?

Guess who?

I'll give you a glue - Two wheels are better then four!

Funky Fred has to go!

Fuel prices worldwide are hurting many people; Louise and I have decided that it's time to let Fred go. Who on earth is Fred, I'm sure a number of you are asking? Fred is my beach buggy!

Fuel prices have kept me from driving it to much and have caused us to think about other forms of transport. Part of my life now as a student pastor will include visiting people throughout the week, some locally, some further out in Paradise Beach and Aston Bay. So, we've stepped out in faith that Fred will sell and have purchased a scooter. Winter is fast approaching which means that not many people are buying buggies, but in the same way as I've had to sell for fuel reasons, some people who own these huge great bakkies are looking for a in-town run-around. So I'm hopping that a sale won't be far away.

It's my first time riding any kind of motorised bike properly so I've been a little be cautious with my riding but recon that I will soon get the hang of it. I'm enjoying it and the fact that the fuel costs will be a lot lower means that I will use it a lot more often then Fred. Wasps here in South Africa don't look like those of the UK, black and yellow stripped but I do when I'm out and about in town. Check it out man!

I've posted a whole load of recent photo's of various things on my photo blog, so why don't you check it out? http://mlk30.blogspot.com/

New challenges

As some of you will know, I have recently been called by my Church (http://jeffreysbaybaptist.blogspot.com/) to serve as a student pastor. This is great for Louise and I and I'm hoping it will open up doors that will give us more opportunities to minister in our area.
One challenge that my senior pastor has given me is to really push small group ministry in our Church. Louise and I have been blessed with the opportunity to birth our Churches small group ministry but growth has been slow, As a Church we recognise that such a ministry may well be key to growth, not only towards maturity of members but also congregational growth in our Church coupled with the further advancement of God's Kingdom in our community. So, pastor Roy has challenged me to take it up a level to which I'm looking at ways of doing so.
I'm very thankful to all those in our Church who have stepped up to serve as small group leaders; I want to acknowledge them and encourage these guys by supporting them in anyway that I can. Part of that will be to regularly visit them as they hold their groups. Tuesday I went to visit Harry and Tina, two of our senior members who are running a small group in a retirement complex called Jeffrey's Rus. What a delight it was for me to be welcomed into their group. Harry is 87 years old and has so many great stories to tell about his life as a Christian. In the group we focused on discussing the previous Sunday sermons and how they impact our lives.
In order to encourage growth in the membership of small groups and development of new small groups, I want to challenge those in our congregation, who aren't part of existing small groups, to take time to explore them. To do this I will need to do some advertising, and to a point, some selling. I also need to look out for new leaders with a view of forming new groups. If any of you who read my blog have any ideas that might help me in my challenge, please make contact with me, I'm interested in advice from those who have developed such a ministry in their church.
God bless ya.