 |
| Sunday afternoon beach walk |
It is amazing but we are already half way through our 13
week post Christmas sojourn in South Africa. This is the time of year of hot
weather, sea bathing, beach walks but also howling winds and already chilly
evenings and mornings.
Christopher has continued his twice weekly men’s golf and we
both play bowls on Tuesday. It is here that God opened up two quite unexpected
conversations with two other ladies. Both of them shared personal stories with
me without any prompting which led to interesting Godly conversations.
 |
| The view from our host's garden - stunning. |
We were also invited along with two other couples to a braai
at the home of a recent widower from the bowls club. We were all Brits and he
did all the catering himself – not bad considering he is well into his 80’s.
The food was delicious and the conversation interesting. We also took our
neighbours out for a meal which was a first and again an enjoyable evening. All
this in addition to a plethora of breakfasts and dinners with friends.
 |
| Birthday treat - ride a Segway! |
Just recently I had a God encounter at the beach when
walking with a friend. She introduced me to a South African lady sunning
herself on the cat walk who was on holiday. She now lives in Oxford and goes to
St Aldates. We discovered some mutual acquaintances and after an inspiring
conversation, we agreed to all meet up to pray together. This was a fantastic time
of praying for UK and South Africa and in particular for the young people.
We still continue to pray every Saturday morning with a
faithful bunch of people, praying mostly for the church but also for issues
from wider afield. I also pray quite a
bit with Linda, the pastor’s wife.
Just before Christmas the associate pastor left the church,
ministry and his wife. Unfortunately he also took a small but vociferous group
of people with him who believe he has been hard done by. This is not the truth
but this small group of people have been busy stirring up trouble and trying to
get others to join their ‘cause’.
They have not been successful and the church is doing well
and moving forward but the toll on Kevin and Linda and the elders who have
stuck together really well has been heavy and they are exhausted. The worst is
over now but there needs to be a period of refreshing and renewing before moving
into the next phase of church life. So as you can see – much prayer!
I have been running a weekly Bible study for a small group
of ladies and we have been looking at the genealogy of Jesus. It has been
fascinating and eye opening.
 |
| On the beach |
And finally – the best bit of our time here was the first
two weeks when Fiona, Arran and Isabel joined us. We had an amazing time - on
the beach, visiting wine estates, picnics, the Waterfront and generally hanging
out together. It was lovely to get to know Isabel better and play games with
her.
 |
| Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens |
 |
| Beautiful Vergelegen wine estate |
Now we are having a week’s holiday touring round 4 game
parks and coming back along the south coast. I’ll tell you about this next
time.
