School Assembly

This morning we had the privilege of speaking at Joel's high school assembly about The Gathering's Soup Kitchen.

Paula put a proposal to the school about them getting involved in our Christmas outreach by providing pizza for everyone at the kitchen and gift boxes for the children that attend.

The school have responded brilliantly and after Paula spoke so well (with the PowerPoint slides) at the assembly this morning, the Student Council are meeting later today to sort out exactly how the students will respond.

Homework Club

Hot on the heels of gaining our NPO registration we've had a great morning meeting with Green Shoots to talk about and plan for our Homework Club starting in the new school year in January. We'll be using their Maths@Home programme which is very exciting.

We're clear on our hardware needs and hope to have this all sorted in the next couple of weeks, we've got our internet connection sorted, so now we need to identify our facilitator, get some training in place and sort a few policy and admin procedures.

In the next few weeks we'll also start identifying which of the kids that come to our weekly Soup Kitchen will be best served by joining the Homework Club and then we'll be ready to rock n' roll in January.

Please do join us in praying for God's provision in every way.

Thank you LORD!

Registered NPO

As of today, The Gathering is a registered NPO (Non Profit Organisation) here in South Africa.

This is a massive answer to prayer, thank you for standing with us in praying for this.

Thank you LORD!

Café Church

When I arrived at The Gathering's premises on Thursday afternoon I was feeling fine, but when we left at 6:45 after our soup kitchen had finished I was limping quite badly on my right leg. I have no idea what happened to my leg or why it started hurting, but it was very painful.

On Friday morning my leg was feeling OK again and I gave it no further thought until the afternoon when the pain was back with a vengeance. The pain was like an electric shock running down my leg but deep inside the leg. That night I couldn't sleep at all, so in the morning Paula took me to see a GP.

NPO Registration

Finally, after months of waiting, frustration and endless emails I've managed to resubmit The Gathering's Not for Profit Organisation (NPO) application.

Our previous application was knocked back but no one at the Department for Social Development thought to tell us why!So, this time we've used their template for our Constitution (so if they knock it back again I'll be apoplectic annoyed). We also have more than the minimum number of required Officers in the organisation, so it's looking hopeful this time.

According to the website the application should take 28 days, yeah right so we wait with baited breath...

Surprise!

My Saturday began like any other regular Saturday, I'd taken Eli to football practice and after that I was expecting to have a nice quiet breakfast with Paula and my boys.  However, Paula's scheming knows no bounds and I was blissfully unaware of just what she had planned!

As Joel & I arrived at Fred & Max I noticed a lot of cars in the car park but just assumed it was a typically busy Saturday, and there's a gym above the coffee shop so that explained things. However as I approached the venue I saw a few balloons through the window and as I entered I was gobsmacked to see so many people. It took a few moments to realise that they were all there for my 50th!

I didn't think I was that gullible but I guess I'll have to work on paying more attention to what's going on around me!

To The Gathering With Love

Whilst on our recent FTM Roadshow Tour in Blighty we asked if a few friends and supporters would mind to speak to our folk back at The Gathering.

This is the result and it was greatly appreciated by all at The Gathering!

Awesome Sunday

What an awesome time in God's presence at The Gathering this morning!

Paula & I had just got back from holiday so we'd asked our friends Flynn & Sally from Word Of Life to minster to The Gathering and we're incredibly grateful for their faithfulness.

We were blessed because they've just returned from a missions trip to Istanbul and we received the overflow of the blessing they had received on their trip.

Happy 50th

I've always had a fear that one day someone is going to realise I shouldn't be where I am doing the things I am, but I also feel that until they catch up with me I might as well carry on and see what I can get away with.

Part of my plan has been to put this meme into action and I think I might just have pulled it off, but don't tell anyone.

Sadly however, I think JM Barrie was right when he said "All children, except one, grow up". So  this is a big year for me as I turn 50 and have been married for 25 years, and if turning 50 isn't proof of growing up then being married for 25 years definitely is.

Still, I'm not going to stop trying to behave as my inner child wants to, but don't tell anyone!

Happy Days

The corruption of our boys is almost complete as Dean's plan for them to have as misspent a youth as his slowly comes to fruition.

We've had some fun evenings and some great meals out but tonight at The Hungry Monk was fantastic.

We're having a great time away and as ever we're having a lot of fun in Greyton, our happy place!

Topsy Turvy Kingdom

I was stood outside The Gathering's premises recently when this rather nice Bentley pulled in to the service station for fuel. Like everyone else, I stood and admired such a beautiful car but then I stood back and watched the bigger picture unfold.

But first, a bit of context...in South Africa it is against the law to serve yourself at a fuel station, you must be served by one of the attendants. It's a nice touch and the attendants normally go beyond their basic duty and clean your windows and offer to check your oil and water, invariably this leads to a nice tip for the attendants.