Winter!!

Mum now believes that we do have winter here in SA, it's been cold here for the past few days and today wet.
Sadly mum has been under the weather with a tummy upset, however I'm pleased to say that she seems to be getting a little better.
So, what with the weather and sickness we've not done that much lately. Saturday we did all go out to Humansdorp a town just outside Jeffrey's. We enjoyed some little nik-nak shops and had coffee in a nice little coffee shop. Oh yeah, mum changed the habit of a life time and brought herself a new hand bag!!

News from mum

She's having a great time on her excursion. Having reached the highest point in all Africa via some bumpy four wheel driving, the report is that all is breath taking (in more ways then one!). I'm looking forward to viewing the many photo's that she's taken. What an experience she must be having?

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.

Together we can.....

Autumn

Autumn has been great with hot sunny days, not hot like mid-summer, but comfortable, many here say that it's the time of the year they enjoy the most.
Louise and I were able to enjoy a nice Sunday lunch out in our garden yesterday with birds singing all around us, man it was great.
The picture above is of a male Double Collared Sun Bird; we often have a pair visit our garden, both male and female. We have an empty plot next door to us and usually they are their but of late they have been spending more and more time in our garden and are quickly becoming one of my favorite birds. The female isn't so bright but together they look great.

I'm still not used to the weather here, autumn in my mind means cold wet days with winter looming. However, I do miss the autumn colours of the UK, we don't really get anything like it here. Autumn here to me, is a bit like spring in that our plants start blooming and growth is plentiful.
Incredibly, in less then four weeks my mum will be here. I can't wait to show her my home and let her see something of my life here in South Africa. I'm excited as I think about her arrival but I also know that between now and then we're going to be pretty busy. I haven't decorated my living room yet and hope to be able to do so. Louise and I have chosen our colours, I think when it's done it's going to look great.
Louise today, has started a lift club to st Frances with the manager of st Frances Spar Supermarket. We've been looking for such an opportunity to share the driving and petrol costs for a long time now, it's going to make quite a difference to us. The cost of living is going up everywhere and for everyone, we see this lift club as yet another way God is providing for us, how blessed we are. Many in Jeffrey's Bay are really feeling the pinch, I can't begin to imagine how the people living in the townships are managing. The government here is looking at ways to change the way food is taxed, we're hoping that this will see food prices finally stabilizing.
Well, that's about it for now guys, thanks for reading.
As I finish of this entry my ears are filled with the sound of the sea, the tide must be coming in, it's roaring away nicely; that's one thing I'm going to be sharing with mum soon, anyone else fancy joining her?

God bless ya.

God hears all prayers!

Photo updates

Check out my photo blog for some recent pictures.

Just click on this link.

http://mlk30.blogspot.com

Short wheel base!

I would like to introduce you to Jerry!

Look at that frown!

Louise and I have added to our family, much to the rest of the households discussed!

Max, whom you've met in some of my others entries is the kind of dog who just loves to be with other dogs. We often see them on the beach and he goes wild playing with them. At home, with Louise out at work and me working on my studies, finds Max pretty much left to himself and feeling rather bored and depressed. Have you ever seen a depressed dog!! So anyway, for some time we have spoken about getting another dog for companionship for him and Jerry is the result. We can't afford another big dog so we chose to go for a short wheel base version.

The rest of the house is in varying degrees of disarray, the cats just can't work out what on earth we were thinking about and Max is like, man this thing just won't leave me alone! Don't be fooled by this cute face, Jerry is one feisty Jack Russell!

Jerry has been with us for two weeks now and is nine weeks old, he is a hit with ever guest who comes into our home and after two weeks his brother and sisters (Max and the cats, Pippa and Tessa) are even starting to except him. I think all will be well in our house, (one day anyway!).

(Wow, those socks are bad man!)

Max won't admit it I'm sure, but he is starting to like his little mate sleeping with him!

Sad days in J'bay!

I'm gutted to say that this last week has been a bit of a sad one in the Bay. Our Church Sunday school was broken into and the small TV among other things was stolen. Then on Thursday three of the ladies in our Church who were having a small group ladies meeting, in the same Sunday school building were held up at gun point by two guys. It was a horrible experience for them all, particularly for Caryn our associate pastors wife, she was their with her young daughter Kylie. The ladies had pepper spray sprayed into their faces and had things like mobile phones stolen. All four are thankfully fine but are still dealing with troubling memories of the event. I understand that the two guys have been caught by the local police and have admitted guilt. The bad news just kept coming; one of the couples in our small group, Mike and Lynda have just lost Mike's brother. He died very suddenly, the news has really shocked the family.

Their has been a lot of activity in my road this last week with one of our neighbours moving out and what looks like a new couple moving in, removal lorries have been back and fourth shaking the ground as they do.

Our front garden also has seen change and is really starting to take shape; I've been working hard in my spare time moving plants around, Louise and I are really enjoying how it looks. I know I keep saying so, but I will take some photo's soon so that you can see.

I've been busy with preaching at Church lately, I'm down for three straight weeks with the middle Sunday seeing me preaching at the morning service (cool). Together with this, I've been completing my application form for the South African Baptist Union. The Church has now called me to serve as a student pastor, this means that I'm able to approach the union here for interviews and hopefully to be accepted onto there list of student pastors working towards accreditation with the BU.

Monique's birthday braai

It's been a lovely few days in Jeffrey's.

I've been trying to get back into my routine of getting up and walking the dog early since I've been back home.

I went out very early with with him on Friday, even before the sun had risen.

We headed for the beach and were treated to a beautiful sun rise and an opportunity to watch some guys surfing. I've included some pictures.

Today Louise and I went to a lunchtime braai to help celebrate Monique's birthday. A number of us from Church got together and had a great time despite the weather (a cold front has come in, bringing with it some pretty cold wind and rain). Thankfully the weather couldn't stop the great fire that Jacques got going and we all eat very well. Its nice to get together like this, fun was had by all.

Hey, I'm looking forward to the tail end of this cold front!!

My return

I can't believe that its been two weeks since Louise and I left the UK. In my mind it feels like its been ages since I left my mum and brother at the departure gates of Heathrow (thankfully not terminal five!). I've returned home to find that I'm missing my family even more now then I did when I first came out to SA. I guess I had all the frill of being in a new country to occupy my thinking the first time. I keep playing back memories of the time I spent with everyone and wishing that I could just have a bit more time, but it can't be and I have to get myself right back on the saddle and life in J'bay.

To that end both Louise and I have returned to work. Louise has been very busy catching up with her work and I've returned to my studies. This last weekend saw me preaching at our Churches evening service which was great though I have to say, I felt quite dry when I arrived at Church. I did have two brothers in the faith pray for me and then the very stepping up into the anointing that comes from God brought everything together and my dryness gave way to joy. Remember, God equips us for everything He calls us to do, He also looks for us to step out in faith, trusting that He will make things happen (I wonder how many people down the centuries can testify that God always comes through, more then the number of stars in space I would imagine).

I've also been doing a whole load of work in the garden since I've arrived home but I'll save that for another post.

To all my family and friends, I love you all, I miss you all and I pray that God will strengthen us as we deal again with the distance between us.

God bless ya.

Talker or a doer!

Am I a talker rather then a doer?

I don't want to let people down by offering much but not coming through.

We are taught to let our yes be yes and our no be no, isn't this to prevent disappointment?

Lord, please keep me from letting people down!