Finnie, Dean and Paula - South Africa
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Prayer Letter April 2005 (click here for Acrobat pdf version)
“For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations”
Psalm 100:5
New Year…. New Beginnings
With Easter several weeks behind us now we find ourselves very close to having been in Somerset West for 1 year. This hardly seems possible, but looking back, we can give thanks to God for the way He has used us and been there for us through the good and the bad times. Christmas was a very hard time for us. We found ourselves on our own for the whole period and were let down by a number of people on potential invites. In one sense it was a good time for us to
realistically assess where we were and why we were in this situation and it made us resolve all the more to ask God for more friends this year. The hard truth is that the very fact we are here doing the kind of work we do is very challenging for people and it is far easier for them not to get too close! Other friends were legitimately away with family the whole time and we just felt very lonely. Despite this, we did have some lovely times as a family, with Christmas day a real highlight, so thank God for that.
God is on the move!
When life is a bit tough it is often a sign that God is about to do or is doing something very real. This is certainly our testimony in all areas. Paula, for example, has had an excellent first term with her new cell group. She has a solid core of 10 women, 5 from Chris Nissen Park and 5 from Somerset West. She has been amazed at the depth of friendship and love that has grown over the 3 months. The ladies have really reached out to one another and been there in practical and prayerful ways and she has seen real spiritual growth in the group as well. All of this is very encouraging and she is spurring forward for the new term expecting God to do some really great things. Please pray for the women, especially those in CNP, who have very real practical and health related needs. Please also pray for the Somerset West women as they are starting to move out of their comfort zones and are reaching out to their new friends in ways that many of them have never done before.
Going somewhere slowly!
We continue to thank God for the favour He has given us within the community and also with other agencies and NGO’s working within CNP. Dean is steadily building up a good network of contacts with whom he is hoping to work more closely with in the coming months.
Patrick and Eugene - click to enlarge
Sadly illness and death remain constant challenges within the community with many good folk being aflicted with a variety of illnesses. Inevitably within this many illnesses are HIV related. Nomza has recently had a brief spell in hospital to have some fluid drained from her breasts, this was quite uncomfortable for her and will have to be repeated monthly for the forseeable future. Dean took Patrick to the clinic recently and was saddened to learn that the swelling in his arm & leg was unconnected with his diabetes but rather is a symptom of heart disease, so things are looking very serious for him. Dean’s work often seems slow but we are very encouraged by the number of folk from CNP now attending church as a result of his regular input. Thank God for that! The Thursday morning Bible Study is going well with a small core of men now regularly commited to coming.
Dean is now attempting to beaver away at an MA. For those who don’t know he’s doing an MA in sociology and more specifically in: Social Behaviour in HIV/AIDS. The topic is highly pertinent to our work and should benefit the community. Dean is however struggling with obtaining books from the library in Pretoria. Thankfully our church has recently installed ‘broadband’ internet so Dean is able to download copious amounts of stuff from the UN and other bodies actively involved in research.
Cool to be 2!
Our little boy turned 2 in March and his life seems to just get more and more exciting! He has settled in to nursery 3 mornings a week like a dream and this is such a blessing to us. He is clearly a favourite of the ‘grandma’ leader there and this is great, as Joel hadn’t really had regular input from anyone of that age. He loves the activity and being with other children. His social life is huge and we are regularly playing with a gang of his friends! His walking has literally come on in leaps and bounds and he loves to run and climb now too. He is tripping over himself with new vocabulary and we have some fo the funniest conversations. He is just full of life and loves everything he does. He has a huge capacity for fun and is a very loving little boy. We continually give thanks to God for blessing us with this fantastic little boy!
Re-entering the working world
Paula has been finding working again a real challenge. Her job is extremely varied and interesting, but fitting it all in to 2 mornings can be interesting! Her administration of the volunteers is the fun part of the job as she loves the personal contact and troubleshooting. She has also just started to re-enter the whole world of funding proposals for the Peer Education project she is helping to administer. On top of this she is loving leading the cell group and developing deepening relationships with the women. She has started to visit in CNP which can be very challenging. She is beginning to be asked to visit and pray with the dying and the very poor and this is an extreme challenge. Please pray for her too as she has agreed to be on call as a taxi for one of her ladies who is expecting a baby next month. Childbirth was not one of the practical things she learnt at All Nations!! When she isn’t working, Paula is enjoying building up her friendships with other mums and women and regularly goes to the gym to keep up her strength! Her favourite time of the week is Monday morning which is now just for her. Please pray that it remains that way!
In the right place at the right time
This is definitely how we are feeling. It certainly isn’t an easy place to be all the time and we are at times shaky, but ultimately we know that we are where we are meant to be right now. This was confirmed through various prophecies at the recent Southern African leaders conference that we attended in Bloemfontein, so we are encouraged!
Paula, Dean and Joel
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