Living the Resurrection - Easter Egg Hunt

I am reading a book at the moment; 'Living the Resurrection' by Eugene Petersen, the chap who gave us 'The Message' translation of the bible. It is a really good read. One of the things that really rings home is how we have become fragmented more and more as community. Fragmented into little pieces based on our social status, our skin colour, our history, what we watch on TV and how we respond to that. Computers and cars and electronics and medicines all requiring experts, and if you are not an expert at one of these things you are nothing. But Jesus takes 2 fish from a small boy and feeds 5000. He goes on about how Jesus ...takes...gives thanks...breaks...gives back... I am so glad to be a follower of Him. We so often think we are inadequate, basing our judgement on ourself on the needs of this world. What can be less useful to the world than someone who prays? What a wasted past-time. But right now people around the world are praying for a footballer who collapsed on the pitch! Weird huh? Let me be honest, I find prayer quite difficult and odd. I wonder if the little boy who provided the fish prayed a lot?
The courses are coming to an end next week, and on Friday afternoon Café Forever is closing at 2pm as our annual Easter Egg Hunt taking place in St John's park.

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The photography course has been challenging for the students and for myself - I hope they have learned something, I guess at least some of them have a better understanding of what it takes to get a good picture. Every week I set them a specific task and last week was to capture a slow shutter speed image of water. Here's my attempt!
Also in the past week I have had some interesting discussions with visitors - one of whom was interested in the Church's view on homosexuality and said who is the church to speak out about homosexuality, I explained that it was not actually speaking out about it, but people with an agenda to alter law were trying to force the church to change their doctrine. I said that the issue of homosexuality wasn't really any more an issue than adultery, but you don't often find people trying to force the church to allow adultery. With another gentleman I have continued a previous debate IRO accepting personal flaws (effectively sinful nature) and rejecting them; accepting it as a character trait or rejecting it as a character trait. We have to be aware of our ability to sin, but we also must remember that we are children of God and as such that we live in the light of that truth. Without the resurrection I guess we'd all HAVE to accept our sinful nature - and just live with it!

Come and visit, we're nice!

It's been such a long while since I updated this site! We've all been quite busy really! Andrew Dimon, the chef at Café Forever went on vacation to the US to the rockies and had his first skiing experience. While he risked his life on the slopes, the café customers risked their lives with our cooking! Actually I think we did quite well really! I quite enjoyed taking on the role, donning an apron and sampling savouries. I have to admit I have an amazing job, it can be so varied - something which I need. One day I made a chicken and asparagus pie, which  went down rather well, as did the chicken fajitas, which sold out on both days we offered them! It can be a relentless job, very challenging, requiring an organised mind - something which if you know me, I have to work really hard at! AT the end of 2 weeks I was really looking forward to Andrew's return, not only because it is an intense job, but also because I had a lot of administrative duties to carry out (boring stuff like accounts) and designing flyers!

Our latest flyer!

For this school term we are offering 4 adult or adult and child courses at the café in the hopes to get new visitors in, hoping that they will become frequent visitors, since our food is so nice and we are so friendly. In the  morning on Monday, Abimaro runs 'Island Music', an opportunity for parents to get out of their house and make some music in a group with others with their babies. This is probably the second year it's been running and is always full! On Tuesdays I am taking a basic photography course; Wednesdays is a scrap-booking course with Tom's wife Ashley, and Fridays there's a craft class for parents and their toddlers. Taking a photography class is new for me, and I had to quickly asses the abilities of the attendants before the first lesson. On the first day 3 of 6 arrived, 1 of whom went home early! It was a little disconcerting. Then for the 2nd week 4 people came and they were very enthusiastic! I began by telling them I am a very poor teacher and they are going to need some help in understanding what I am about to teach and did they mind if I began with a prayer? They had no problem... It was a great class!
I found it is necessary to remove a lot of the jargon which you learn when studying at university in order to teach people, big words that make you sound important, but don't necessarily help! It is a bit like that in evangelism too, we can become so bogged down with theological concepts and terminology that the people we are hoping to educate cannot understand us because it is all gobbledygook!
Most of these events have a charge in order to guarantee participation and cover some costs. The extra income is very helpful in making the books balance.

The chap who I have spoken of before, the one who had broken shoes, received some new one's as a gift by somebody in our church! He was so surprised and they are REALLY nice, very expensive, very warm boots! What an amazing answer to prayer, what an amazing revelation of love! The same chap, D_ has been battling to hold onto his flat (view past story) has been sober for 4 months now. He still attends church but has not yet come to call himself a Christian, though his words often indicate a serious interest.
There's a gap between middle class Jo'burg boy and Isle of Dogs council tenant, a gap in experiences, a gap in understanding. The differences in experience are notable, but the mercy of God in Jesus is the great leveller. It would be wonderful if those that we are, talking to or in relationship with, understood that we are not 'good people' but that we are all a bunch of failures that are being made right, and that it is not down to hard work, something everyone so often prescribes. Instead they should get to know and embrace the reality that God really loves them.