Dear friends
Well we have been back in South Africa for a month for
Christopher and three weeks for myself and the time has flown by. Christopher
came back a week earlier than me as I stayed on to give Sarah an extra week’s help
and that went well as it was half term so all Samuel’s activities came to a halt.
We had fun doing all sorts of things and Sarah was able to take Samuel swimming
whilst I had a lovely time with Keira.
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| Men's walk |
Meanwhile Christopher got straight back into his things; men’s
golf, bowls, home group and so on. He has had one men’s walk along the beach
followed by breakfast and is planning the next as well as some men’s golf. Once
I arrived the joint things kicked off and we have had meals with friends and
are planning a big braai (barbecue) for next Sunday.
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| More beautiful birdies! |
I have had three speaking events which I have not done for a
long time. The first was talking on Finding
Fulfilment in Retirement which was part of a much bigger Life@Work conference
with three streams; finding work (CV’s, interviews and so on), at work
(Christians in the workplace, dealing with conflict and so on) and planning for
retirement. About 75 people attended the conference and it seemed to go down
very well. As you can imagine finding work and keeping it is an even bigger
deal here than in UK.
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| Langebaan Lagoon |
I then shared at the Carers Support group on when to speak
and when to keep silent which raised a lot of discussion! The best part is praying for these ladies who
are providing 24 hour care for spouses with dementia. Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. This group held once a month is a life line
that keeps them going. Finally I spoke on In
His Presence for a Ladies group. About 20 ladies came, many elderly ones
from the group I used to lead on a Tuesday. The worship was amazing and the
ministry time after the talk was more along the lines of receiving what God was
saying rather than actually praying for people.
Many of these elderly ladies were deeply touched by the Father’s
presence and his love for them.
So now it is time to catch up a bit. I have re-started writing my fourth children’s
book which is very different from the other three. With this writing and the
preparation for the talks my Faithmother blog has suffered rather so now it is time to pick that up again.
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| Zebras - a rare sighting at Cape Point |
Christopher and I have done some very nice things in between
times and enjoyed the stunning scenery, beautiful weather and great South
African hospitality. The best event was
the Noordhoek Community Market which is held in a vineyard every Thursday.
Literally thousands flock there and sit at tables either under the huge
semi-permanent tent or out in the sun or sit on blankets. All around the tent there are a variety of
eateries and a great bar. The view is
outstanding and the sunset spectacular.
That is the good side of South Africa. The other side was a
bus crash this weekend killing 24 people who were coming back home in a bus
that was most likely unroadworthy and driven by a possibly unlicensed driver.
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| Flamingoes |
Church is going quite well and the worship group went away
for a weekend and had a wonderful time.
Home group is always a pleasure as we meet our friends there.
The time here is rushing by but what a great opportunity God
has given us and we feel blessed.
