A Time of Fire

The walk with God is often not an easy walk.
But God is always faithful - and if we listen to the Christ within, we will realise that God has a purpose and a plan for each one of us - and he deals with us according to our needs.

For us as a family - the last couple of months have been very hard. We have not had any regular source of income - and we have constantly been humbled by the love of those around us - who have often assisted us - even when their own need was great. We have seen such evidence of how Christ's body works and how we share an awesome God.

The lessons of learning to trust in God and not in man have been very hard - and to learn to "abide in Christ" has been very difficult - but also joyful.
We have needed to look beyond bills not being paid - to receiving the blessings that God has in store for us. We have never not wanted to work and earn a living - but God has taken us down a path where we just do not have work - and all our striving has been fruitless - and during this time - all we can do is turn to God.

For our children it has been a hard walk - but as they learn understand God's mercy and his provision - they have learn to be content with little and in fact we have found new ways to be joyful without spending money - and this has been awesome for us all!

Our family is tighter and happier than it has ever been - and we have learnt to know the love of Christ's body in new way.

As some one who has always preferred to serve and to give - learning to receive has been very hard, but a very important lesson.

We give thanks to God every day - and we have learnt to soar like eagles - what a blessing!!

Needs in the Fish Hoek Valley

Michelle and I met with the amazing Floyd McClung last week. (See the links on the left of this blog) Read his incredible work in Kabul and Amsterdam, Living on the Devil's doorstep
We spent a few hours discussing the needs in the Valley, and the wonderful work that All Nation's are doing in the two very poor settlements of Red Hill and Masiphumelele.

We have met with Rev John Thomas of King of King's Baptist Church - and he is a man with a mission to serve the poor and needy in this Valley. He has initiated some fantastic progams, and has some exciting works waiting to be started.

God is calling us all to care - and these two settlements are areas of major need. We must assist people to cope with the enormous poverty, deprivation and the hopelessness they are living with.

Currently we are drafting a proposal, which we are planning to present to the major Christian organisations involved in the Valley. This is for an Emergency Home for "at risk" and abandoned babies and young children who need a temporary place of safety and love. We are also looking to establish a longer term children's home for older children. Our emphasis is that it must be a stable, caring and loving environment where children can at least get a chance to survive away from the abuse and danger's they may have been growing up with.

As usual - funding is always a problem - unless you can attract media attention!

We are currently working with a few at risk children - and there is really no place for them to go! One family in the Valley seems to be shouldering the responsibility for fostering all the unwanted children in this area - where is the heart of our community?

20th November 2008 - Mission?

Michelle and I are on the brink of a brand new chapter in our rather adventurous lives together!

We have felt a strong calling on us since last year, and although the last 10 months at Media Village was a wonderful growing experience - we feel The Lord wants us to devote ourselves to working full time for him.

We are currently unemployed and living on faith and miraculous support. Our vision is to SERVE. And to do this we are looking at using the wonderful skills God has given us through His grace.

We believe that a new and wonderful walk with the Lord stretches out before us and we are excited by the knowledge that the Christ who lives in us will guide us in this new walk.

At the end of October we were blessed with a wonderful gift from dear friends in Christ, which enabled us to travel to Port Elizabeth to attend a conference on The Christ Life, led by Warren Litzman. http://www.christ-life.org
It was a time to be silent with Christ, and to allow Him to lead.

I have come away from this conference with a new understanding of "be-ing" in Christ, and to stop trying to "do" for Christ. We spend so much energy and effort in striving that we loose the wonderful peace and rest which Christ wants for us.

One of the most difficult things to do in the flesh - is to rest in Christ - and yet it is also the most simple thing to do - This has been my revelation and has brought me to an even closer relationship with Christ.

1st April 2008

I am sitting at my desk looking out to the sea off Kalk Bay. It is a beautiful day - when the Cape just smiles on everyone!
It is times like this that one is reminded of the beauty of God's creation.
I have been at Media Village Productions for 2 months now. The work has been hectic and I have been struggling to keep up with variety of new and old issues that need to be dealt with. One thing is certain - I will never be bored here!
This work is one of God's finest Blessings on my life and I hope and trust that with Media Village - we will be able to make a significant impact on many people's lives through our work in media.

The joy of impending summer

I so love the approach of summer! It gets light early and I can resume my wonderful walks on the beach at 5:30 AM. I am so blessed to catch the first light of the day walking with my dogs on the superb Longbeach here at home. It takes me about 8 minutes to get to the sea and some mornings I see a otter family playing on the beach - it is all so inspiring and sets the most wonderful tone to the day!

I have a favourite clump of rocks I walk to and then standing on the edge of the sea I give thanks for the splendour of God's creation. This is where I get time to talk to God and to have a blessed time of silence and communion with the Lord.

Michelle's parents have bought a house in Noordhoek and will be moving in the middle of November. It has been good having them with us, but it will be great to have some more space again - especially for Michelle to school the children.

As summer returns our thoughts are with weekends away - and we are planning a trip to the Cederberg in November - I am looking forward to packing the Cruiser and hitting the open road again. I so love being on the road - and especially in remote locations - far off the beaten track with only my family and nature around.

The Call

Michelle and I attended a wonderful mission's workshop, 2007 CALVARY CHAPEL AFRICA CONFERENCE, organised by Calvary Chapel in Cape Town South Africa. http://www.calvarychapel.co.za/News&Events.htm
At this conference we were blessed through meeting wonderful Christians from Africa and America - and in particular we met with Steve and Nora Braselton, from Calvary Chapel Monterey Bay.
They had just come back from Malawi and are thinking of relocating to Malawi to work with the widows and orphans. Their contact is in Lilongwe, Pastor Joseph D.N. Hara, who works in a very poor community - with major HIV and poverty issues.
We have no idea how God will use us - but we believe that will be God's will not ours. Michelle has many years of community work experience, and worked in the UK for many years as a missionary in Muslim communities.
My experience is diverse - IT, television and film production, business management - and most importantly - a heart to server Jesus.
So we have the call - now we must trust the Lord to wait for Him to lead.

Wednesday 3rd October

It is Wednesday morning, and it is raining yet again in Cape Town!
We have had so much rain - please Lord send the rain to more deserving parts of Africa!

I am struggling to write some reports for Sunrise about our company, which we will use to market our animation and film productions and to raise finance to make movies... I do so want the money to come in so that we can commence production on some of the exciting projects.

Michelle and I have been praying for the Lord to speak to us about our calling to Malawi and we so need to hear Him speak to us so that we can know His plans for us.

Currently, Michelle's parents are staying with us - they are looking for a house to buy, but are finding that prices in Cape Town are so high that they cannot replace the lovely home they left in Sedgefield with something equivalent in the deep South (Fish Hoek, Noordhoek, Kommetjie)
It is so hard to know what to do with one's parents - do we need to take them in and care for them? If we do - then we can never leave here again. They are not destitute, and are capable of looking after themselves - but they do want to be near their grand children.
It's a tough call - and one does not want to neglect your responsibility with those who devoted their lives to raising you. On the other hand we feel called to serve God in Africa - and that means leaving Cape Town.... Oh I do trust that God answers our prayers in this one!

Carpe Diem

This is my first attempt at operating a blog. It will serve as a personal diary, news and views and will largley be personal in form and content.
I welcome comments and feedback and hope that this can become a powerful means of communication in the future.