R.I.P. Grandad

Most of you probably know by now that Dad/Brian/Grandad passed away yesterday morning. It wasn't totally unexpected though we didn't think it would be quite so quick. He was battling leukemia on top of dementia, so in many respects it was a blessing to see an end to his suffering, especially knowing he was a Christian and his place in eternity is assured, but we're still heartbroken by the news.

He was a dearly loved father, father-in-law & grandad and we're very sad at the thought of never seeing him again.

Pray For Zimbabwe

My heart is sore for the beautiful land of Zimbabwe and her people.

When Mugabe was deposed in 2017 and Emmerson Mnangagwa became President there was genuine hope for the future. But sadly, it appears that the old adage about leopards never changing their spots remains true.

Mnangagwa was the person responsible for the Matabeleland massacre (known as Gukurahundi) in '83 & '84 in which thousands of Nbelele people were slaughtered, estimates range between 2000 and 20000 murdered with countless others raped and tortured.

This massacre was orchestrated by ZANU-PF the ruling party of Zim and it was lead by the man who is now president of Zimbabwe.

Swing Seat

I have to confess to the fact that I am really struggling not to write a ranty piece about the ineptitude and inconsistencies of the SA govt and their ham-fisted approach to the coronavirus, but I shall resist and rather talk about our garden...

After neglecting things for far too long I finally got around to some serious pruning and a number of other jobs over the last few days, including moving our dilapidated swing seat from the front garden to the rear.

2 Portions Or Not 2 Portions

This amused me no end this morning as I went into the drawer to get the scales.

I admire Paula's faith in her message, but knowing how the gut on legs that is Joel is around food, I hold out little hope of this message being heeded. 😂

Face Masks

Yesterday was a day of blessing as we finally took delivery of a small consignment of branded face masks for The Gathering and some sweatshirts for Paula & I, all of which was very nice.

Whilst we were blessed with these, we were able to bless the community Neighbourhood Watch with some more boxes of the peanut paste sachets (see our posts: Blessings & Sunset & Blessings).

We know the Neighbourhood Watch will make sure the sachets are distributed to the neediest and it's great to continue working in partnership with them.

I also got to chat with one of the other pastors in the community about what they're doing for church, they're still meeting on Zoom  and it appears that most local churches are continuing to meet online. It's good to know that we're not the only ones not yet gathering in person, though we long to.

Night Shelter Artistry

The video below was put together by the Somerset West Night Shelter team and we think they have done and are doing a fantastic job serving and protecting some of the most vulnerable people during the lockdown and it's worth singing their praises.

We love what they do at the Night Shelter and were thrilled when they opened their Family Shelter, many of The Gathering's Soup Kitchen regulars have been there for the duration of the lockdown and it's comforting to know they are safe and cared for so lovingly there.

Gender Based Violence

I love that on Facebook Paula has posted a black & white photo of herself as part of the current awareness campaign around gender based violence (GBV).

 Here in South Africa the statistics on GBV are truly horrific with many men apparently thinking that using violence against women and especially against their wife/partner is simply a regular form of discipline within their relationships. It beggars belief!

As a man and a husband who has never been violent towards his wife (or any other woman), I really do not understand why some men choose to be violent to the one they're supposed to love above all others.

That Was My Morning, How Was Yours?

This morning was a little bit different as I went in to Cape Town to pick up another 12 boxes of emergency food rations. Thank you My Father's House!

These peanut butter sachets are proving very popular with our homeless Soup Kitchen regulars, so it's good to know that we'll be able to continue to bless them for a while yet.

Each sachet weighs just 100g and they are packed with goodness and calories, providing an adult with all the nutrients they need in a single meal.

Monday Traditions

There's a great line in Over The Hedge (the best cartoon film ever) where Vernon tells RJ that miscommunication is something that families do well. I was reminded of this this afternoon when Paula told me I was doing a boxing session for Joel whilst cooking garlic mushrooms. That wasn't the conversation I had with Joel, but hey, I'm only dad/husband so I know when to do what I'm told. LOL!

Worship Sunday

From time to time at The Gathering we give our gathering over to a Worship Sunday, in which we ask members to choose a song which God is speaking to them through at present and give a short testimony with the song.

This morning we took our Worship Sunday on to WhatsApp for the first time and it worked really well. During the week members sent me a link to their choice of song (which I downloaded) along with an audio message with their testimony of how God is speaking to them.

The thing that always amazes me is how the songs always flow and link together and today was exceptional. I hadn't listened to any of the audio messages ahead of time, and apart from deciding which song should close our Gathering the songs were in random order.

Where Are They?

Since restarting The Gathering's weekly Soup Kitchen just before the nation moved to Level 4 lockdown, our numbers have been noticeably down on their pre-lockdown levels, and whilst we have no definitive evidence as to why this might be, we do have some good ideas as to why this is the case.

One of the clearest reasons is that a number of our regulars have been staying at the local night shelter for the duration of the lockdown and as such simply can't make it to Firgrove and back in time and as such we won't see these guys until this is all over, whenever that is.

We also know that a large group of regulars spread across two makeshift squatter camps are too scared to leave their lodgings after dark for fear of losing everything, so we only see some of these guys at the start of service before it's dark. Sometimes one or two will venture out later but they've had to make a plan to keep things safe whilst they're away.