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We arrived in Cheadle on Saturday afternoon and just had time to settle the boys down before we were off to the Upper Room in Cheadle to speak at an evening meeting which was part of the Stockport ‘Big Deal’. The evening was excellent and despite a slight technical glitch with the laptop and data projector the presentation went well. We had a lot of positive feedback and were encouraged by the response. It was also great to see some old friends such as John & Helen.

Mission Education Update

We've had a busy time giving our powerpoint presentation, having spoken on Saturday evening at St. Mary's Cheadle and again at the 11.15 service on Sunday morning. We were also interviewed in the 9.30 service, so we were really pleased to be in the Lake district for a week after that before speaking at Gee Cross next Sunday.

The Boys have been an absolute credit to us as they cope with so many new and different people almost daily, they've also carried on in their routines brilliantly which makes our lives much easier. We know many of you are praying for Joel & Eli in this respect and we know that God is faithfully answering these prayers.

Below are some photos of our time in then Lakes so far.

Down On The Farm

Joel went to the farm this morning with his Godparents and by the look of it he's had a lot of fun! The reason Joel is frowning in one of the pictures is that he heard another tractor and was waiting to see it.

"Avast Me Hearties"

Joel was at the Weald playgroup this morning and really enjoyed himself there. This is a real blessing for us as it allows us to get some stuff done without having to drag him around with us. Eli remains 'under the weather', we're sure he's got hay fever but will keep an eye on him. Please pray against hay fever as he already has a lactose intolerance and suffers eczema quite badly so he really doesn't need any further allergies.

Photo Update

A quick photographic update as we're too lazy to write too much!

We've also updated Finnie's In Focus so feel free to take a look at that Blog too.

Eli enjoying the garden but getting a bit bunged up as he appears to have hay fever.

Weekend In Wimbledon

Our Mission Education has begun in earnest with the weekend being spent in Wimbledon. We had a great time with Susan and catching up with old friends from Queen's Road Church. We also met up with John & Sophie who served on the Frontier Year Project who were also hosting our friends Nikki & Rian who recently moved to the UK from SA. Joel especially enjoyed seeing Nikki & Rian as he got to play with his friend Sean.

On Saturday afternoon we gatecrashed Catherine's 40th Birthday party (she's Susan's youngest), one of the activities they'd laid on was African drumming which Joel really enjoyed.

Eli's Dedication

On Sunday we had Eli dedicated at St. George's Weald. We decided to have the dedication in the UK rather than SA as family are here and we want them to be involved in Eli's life. The service was excellent and was followed by a massive lunch which several good friends joined us for. Many thanks to Lisa for putting so much effort into a magnificent spread!

Arrived

We arrived safely after a remarkably good flight. Dean has been very critical of BA in the last few years but they almost fully redeemed themselves on this flight. The staff were incredibly helpful and couldn't do enough to help which was really good.

Itinerary In UK

Well here we are an hour before we leave for the airport and I'm still doing emails!

We'll blog again real soon but for now here's a list of the important dates and events whilst we're in the UK:

Fri 9th June Arrive

Sat 10th England v Paraguay

Mountain Bikes & Baboons

Dean went mountain biking again last night with the regular crowd and again had a real blast on the mountains in Sir Lowry's Pass. The sunset is simply stunning up there as the moutains turn a pinky orange and the light through the trees is almost surreal. Once at the limit of where you can cycle to the views looking back over False Bay and Table Mountain are superb!

Last night Dean and the gang met a troop of Baboons out on the tracks and had some fun winding them up, although one has to be very careful and ready to sprint off VERY quickly should the alpha male take umbrage.

Experiencing nature so closely and in such peace is a real privilege and after a few stressful days in Chris Nissen it's great to be able to escape into the mountains, even if it is only far a couple of hours.

Ouma Sophie's Shack

With the onset of winter those who are living in 'informal' accommodation in Chris Nissen Park begin to suffer. You can see from the photos below the reality of life for Ouma Sophie. Life is hard enough without the extra pain and suffering brought on by the cold and rain. Sadly, this is not an isolated case in the community, but at least in this particular case we are able to rejoice as one of our church members has offered a small wendy house to Ouma Sophie so we're hoping to get it sorted out early next week. Praise God!