My Induction

Above: Pastor Don on the left, myself and Pastor Roy on the right

On the 27th of July 2008 I was inducted as a student pastor into my home Church, Jeffrey's Bay Baptist Church. It was a great service, one where I had my mum sat their in the congregation (I have to say, I couldn't stop thinking about everyone back in the UK; I so wish everyone could have be their). I've been feeling that God has been calling me into the pastorate for a long time now and at last things are coming together. God really blessed me in the service; not only was I officially inducted but also, Louise and I were together prayed for by so many people. As a couple we recognize that we are both called into this position, I know that without Louise's support it’s unlikely this would have happened. However, I'm also very aware that God calls the shots and brings all things about; Louise and I hope to serve and glorify Him wherever we can. When it came to the moment of prayer, mum joined us, together with Dad, who represented my family here in SA and just so many people from our Church; what love and warmth we both felt.

Wilderness

Wow, what a beautiful place Wilderness is? It’s been really cool to explore more of SA. While mum has been here with us, we got together with Louise’s folks for a little holiday in a place called wilderness which is very close to a town called George in the Western Cape. It’s a place where you have the coast on one side and mountains on the other, the views were amazing.


Our accommodation was right on the seafront and gave us frequent opportunities to see whales, dolphins and all kinds of local birds. To wake up and watch whales while eating breakfast is pretty cool eh?


We filled our week with many activities from visiting a safari to meeting ostriches at an ostrich farm (I even got to sit on an ostrich, poor thing!). The safari gave me a chance to see my first ever white lions and white tigers along with many other fantastic animals. The ostrich farm, and the guided tour enabled us to learn all about ostrich farming including how they incubate the eggs (we all got to stand on a bundle of eggs, man those suckers are strong!); we were even shown how they make feather dusters out of the various different ostrich feathers!

Another day on our holiday was spent up in the mountains; we travelled up on the power van (a single carriage diesel rail van) from George; the views from the mountains were just great. We all had an amazing time away but it didn’t end their, on out travels home we stopped of in Plettenberg Bay and a wild cat rescue centre where I got to stroke a cheater (not forgetting licked and nibbled!!), what an experience!

Splash in more ways then one!

So, Billabong has come to Jeffrey's bay. I took mum to super tubes (one of our beaches) to watch the contest. We enjoyed lunch together watching the dudes riding the waves and doing all kinds of tricks.

The highlight of the day though was the moment when mum and I shared a wave with the surfers. Busy photographing the action we were hit by a big wave that came on shore, much to our horror! I managed to lift myself out of the water rather quickly and only suffered a slightly wet side of my shorts, mum however didn't quite respond as quick and ended up taking an early bath. I'm not sure whether she got wetter as the wave came in or as it went out, but anyway she got a rather wet bum!! It's great to be able to laugh such things away and mum was a great sport and did so. I don't actually think she will ever live this one down!!

Check out those shorts!!

All ended well for us both however when we decided to leave the beach and go for ice cream (anyone who knows mum, knows that ice cream for her has magical healing properties!!).

Birthday Girl!

One year older and wiser!!

Yes, this last weekend was Louise's birthday. We actually spent most of the weekend celebrating which was nice. Saturday Louise and I met up with the folks, my mum included, we had a great lunch together at Potters Place here in Jeffrey's; the food was great, the company was great and we all had a blast!

Sunday, the actual birthday, started with Church then a nice walk on the beach in the mid-day sun. Louise and mum were busy doing the usual, collecting shells, saving washed up fish and putting the world to rights!!

'Will their be a shell left on this beach once mum's finished?'

'Mum and Louise sporting the latest "hipsters" while doing beach aerobics!'

Later we again joined the folks, it was then that Louise got to open what was a great number of gifts; wow, my wife did well this year, COOL. We all eat far to much cake (What ya meant to do on birthdays, eh?) and just chilled out enjoying the amazing view from the folks place. The weather has been glorious over the weekend which just added to the enjoyment, not bad for mid-winter.

'Gran, ya gorgeous!'

'Wow, that was a strong puff, even Gran's blown away!!'

'What's in here then?'

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE!

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!