Finnie, Dean and Paula - South Africa
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Prayer Update March 2005
Hello again! The months seem to be flying by and once again, we have been furiously busy. The heat is really on here in Somerset West with beautiful, hot days in the mid to high 30's. This is lovely, but quite hard to work in, or entertain Joel in! The paddling pool has become a close friend and we are slowly coming to terms with the intense heat. This is also often coupled with extremely strong wind, so it is a very different type of thing for us.
Despite the weather, we have had our fair share of illnesses recently. Joel is still recovering from a nasty bout of tonsillitis. He had very high fever and then reacted badly to his antibiotics, so it was quite a bad time for him. We have also all had bad throats, coughs and colds.
Our big family news is that JOEL IS WALKING!!!! We can hardly believe it. We went to our local shopping mall 2 weeks ago and forgot to take his pushchair. Within 10 minutes, he had pushed aside our hands and just took off. We then couldn't get him back to the car for 40 minutes!! He now just loves to toddle around everywhere and is enjoying his new vantage point. Needless to say he has had quite a few bumps and tumbles, but he and we are extremely relieved. Thank you for your prayers!
Dean also took a very big step this month enrolling to do a part-time MA in Social Behaviour in HIV/AIDS with UNISA. This is a huge undertaking for him and for us as a family, but we feel that now is the right time. What he will learn and have the time to research will be invaluable for his work in Chris Nissen, but will also really open a huge field for him into the future. He had to go to Pretoria for a 2 day induction and was suitably scared and challenged by the amount of and level of work required. We thank God for his acceptance onto the course and now pray that he will be able to find the right amount of time to do the course justice.
Work is going well for Paula. She is enjoying administering the volunteers at church and liaising with potential new ones. She is also helping to set up a new project into local schools for peer education into HIV/AIDS. Her responsibility is purely administrative and training those who are practically doing the work to set admin systems in place. This is certainly challenging! She is also putting together a funding proposal for this project. On top of this she is doing various bits of PA work for Gary, an elder at the church. All this in 2 mornings a week is quite a challenge, so please keep praying for her.
God has really been answering your prayers for Paula's new day cell group for mums and tots. She is averaging 12 women each week and about 10 children under 6. Three quarters of the women are from Chris Nissen and to see the mixing and sharing of lives going on between them and the white Somerset West women is truly thrilling. Today was someone's birthday, so some came with presents and cake; next week we are bringing baby goodies for someone about to have a child and we have also been able to help out practically in terms of giving blankets and money for groceries that were stolen. On top of this, Paula has been teaching on Christian basics and has been really encouraged by the response of all the women. They have been able to share meaningfully, despite language difficulties and pray for some very real situations. Please keep praying for the women, that God would do something special in their midst and that they would be able to demonstrate to the church that true integration can happen in South Africa.
Dean is continuing to enjoy real favour in CNP. He loves his work there and they very much enjoy all that he is able to do. Please pray for Patrick and his family as his wife goes away next week for a much needed break. Pray that the family would not be put under too much strain and that Patrick would receive proper care whilst she is away. Dean's Bible study is going well and is attracting a few more men. Discussion is often very interesting and quite 'sparky', so it is hard to keep a track on what theologies are being expressed. Next week the group is having a social at the beach - they are very much looking forward to that. He had a meeting with some people who hope to start a crèche in CNP. Plans are all very tentative at the moment, and this story has been heard so many times before. Please pray that this time it may actually come to pass.
Joel is doing very well. He enjoys life immensely and we are enjoying keeping up with him and noticing all his little developments. He will be 2 in 2 weeks time and we can hardly believe it. Because we will be away at a church conference we are going to have a birthday party for him in early April at a wonderful play place called Little Impis! He loves his mornings in nursery and we have seen him come on in leaps and bounds. To see him standing singing the goodbye song at the end of the day is really very sweet!!
We have really enjoyed a visit from some friends from the UK in the last few weeks and it reminds us that the work we do here is very much a partnership. Thank you so much for praying. We couldn't be here without your support.
With lots of love from
Dean, Paula & Joel