Getting Back Into the flow

Over the Past few years it seems that we have been using FaceBook (FB) as the major social media platform to stay connected with our family and friends across the globe and the beauty of FB is that the posts do not have to be wordy - seems like we are all staying connected on the run and have so many people to connect with that we can only give a few minutes to reading..  No problem with this, however there does seem to be a place for a more comprehensive post which gives space to share ideas and feelings etc in a bit of detail..

I plan to continue using FB  and include this space to post news and information on a monthly basis.. my hope is that there will be those who will take the time to not only read our blog, but who will also make comments or respond.

The first posting will be done in a few days..

Eric

Been A Long Time..

It's 5:00am and my phone rings, the voice on the other end is familiar but in my sleepy state I'm not sure if I am hearing correctly - the voice tells my that I need to accompany the speaker in order to collect my car ! Yeah right, but I have not ordered a car (or so I think).. Then I remember a conversation with a good friend and the offer of a car was made and I said that would be wonderful.. At any rate later that night my friend arrived and we talked.. A few days later I was on my way to Zimbabwe at the wheel of an Audi A6 Estate.. This is the car offered to me -- I return to Namibia about a week later and then we as a family make the trek home for Christmas and New Year.. One of the highlights for our children was taking off to Creamy Inn for ice cream..

Larnelle had the joy of whitewater rafting on the mighty Zambezi river.. Our little girl is quite a together young lady and certainly adventurous..  My mum joined us for our break away to the Victoria Falls and although she moved a bit slowly we had such a blessed time with her.. Little did we know that this would be our last Christmas with her..

Our journey back to Namibia was lengthy and we had one very exciting experience as we crossed through Botswana between Nata and Maun...  An elephant was walking along the road, towards us and kept us at bay for about 20 mins before walking off into the bush... In all this time of excitement and wonder at this mighty beast just a few metres from us not one of us thought to take pictures or even a video with our cell phones.. What a wasted opportunity.. BUT we made it back to Okahandja..

It's 5:00am On Friday 25th January - the voice on the other end is familiar, it's my brother in Law - he calls to let me know that my mum, who had been in hospital for the past week or so, had just passed away. - By 2:00pm we are on the road and arrive in Zimbabwe on Saturday at about 4pm.. Sadness grips my heart and the heart of my family as we come to terms with the fact that our mum has now passed on from this life.  THe void she leaves in our hearts will always remind us of her and we have her memories and wisdom to last for the rest of our lives..

Time to go for now - more to follow later...

Update

Winter is coming to Namibia and there is a noticeable chill in the early morning air.. Our eldest daughter, Larnelle is away at the moment on a mission outreach to a place called Sesfontein.  From her text messages on day one and two it appeared as though she was really finding it tough to be away from home in a rural setting, in conditions that are fairly rustic - A few words of encouragement and the Holy Spirit doing what only He can do have turned her around and she is now beginning to see God at work and not focus on her discomfort and the difficult conditions.. She'll be home this Friday and has already told me that she has sooooo much to share..

It was Faye's Birthday on the 19th May and we had the joy of spending the weekend at the coast in Swakopmund.  A good friend took care of our three children, our leaders covered the speaking and children's church responsibilities for the weekend which released us to have an enjoyable couple of days of rest and refreshment.  

The weather in Swakop was just perfect - we had warm sunny days and cool evenings.. what more could we ask for.  We did miss the children, especially when we consider the excellent weather..

An additional 'benefit' (for Eric) was having the opportunity to gauge the performance of the car which has recently had some major repairs. The car performed very well and we feel confident that the repair work was done well.

Ministry continues to be both exciting and challenging as we seek to honour God in leading the people of Victory Christian Church.  At the moment we seem to be going through a plateau and are seeking God's wisdom and insight as to how we should respond and continue the process of growth.   

I have been teaching computer basics at the Enongelo Community Centre in the informal settlement of Five Rand.. It has been wonderful to be able to equip the young people with skills that they can use and our joy has been compounded by the news that we have had more than ten computer donated for use at the centre. Three of the donated computers have arrived and another four are on the way.  These computers will greatly accelerate the learning process and will afford us the opportunity of increasing the number of students we can accommodate in the classes..  

Eric has also begun to conduct personality profiling as part of the leadership development training offered to churches, ministries and businesses.  This is an exciting development which will greatly enhance the service we offer the community.

Ciao for now- more news to come in future posts..

Jubilee

It has been quite a while since my last post in September and this is a good time to create another post.. 

The big news of course is that Eric has turned 50 !  It was a joyful day somewhat tinged with the sadness of being away from family and friends - yet we have been so blessed to have made some truly strong friendships here in Namibia.  After a very peaceful morning we took a drive into Windhoek visited the Malls and enjoyed being together as a family - at 6pm we made our way to the Golden Spur where we were joined by Pastor Carven Izaks and his family and Stanley Beukes and his family.    The food was; good the fellowship even better.  Of course Eric was ambushed by the some of the staff of the Spur - they came over to the table, painted his face with chocolate syrup and then proceeded to sing a unique version of Happy Birthday.  Joshua and Sydney were tickled pink as they saw their dad being 'made fun of' in this way..

On Sunday morning there was a special tea at the church for Eric, but before the tea, some of the folk took the time to convey in words how they felt about Eric and expressed their appreciation of him.  It was a very special time and the fellowship after the service was very special and meaningful.

As far as gifts go, this was a really special birthday - Some of the gifts received included:  

> A set of Sony Car radio speakers

> A pair of Asics Running Sneakers

> A Samsung Computer Ntebook

> Pen Set

> A Basketball

The greatest gift of all was Being . LOVED & APPRECIATED!   You cannot put a dollar value on that.

How Cool is That ??

Hi Everybody, this is Johsua Eric Garnie.. I am in Oranjemund with my mum and dad, it's Thursday morning and we are taking a walk about town.. The point of this post is that my folks have spoiled me and bought me some cool sunglasses..Now How Cool is that?  By the way I think I look pretty cool too..  What do you say?

We went to Spar to buy a few things and I was so surprised at the notice in the shop.. This Oranjemund place is quite unique.. Check out the sign they have as you enter Spar..

So what do you think - NO Gemsboks !! It's no joke, the Gemsboks walk around the town like it's their playground, and amazingly everybody leaves them alone and I heard that if you shoot one - you go straight to jail, do not pass GO and definitely do not collect $ 100 !!

As you can see I am having a blast in Oranjemund and will be sad when I have to leave on Monday and go back to Okahandja..  Hope my dad let's me make another post before we leave..

Ha Ha Ha !!

On the Road Again

Last week Friday we travelled to the coastal town of Swakopmund for the weekend.  A very special friend has booked a house in Swakop and made it available to us.  We enjoyed the weekend and had a good time of rest and refreshment..

The House in Swakop.

It was cold on Saturday morning, but this did not keep us from going to the beach for about an hour or so. Of course there was no swimming but once again we simply enjoyed the awesome beauty of the ocean.

Off to Walvis Bay in the afternoon to visit some family.. We spent the afternoon with Andre and Fenella Matulich and the daughter Nadia.  On arrival the first order of business was to repair a leaking tap and then get down to the business of catching up with one another.  The braai was 'off the hook' and the vegetable chillies that Fenella gave us, simply hit the spot.. We were having a really great time and finally decided it was time to travel back to Swakop..

Sunday and the sun emerged to greet us and give us a spectacular day.  Still a bit cool, but really bright and beautiful..  Off to the beach we go and this time the kids played and splashed in the water as we again simply revelled in the majesty and power of God's creation..  We played in the sand and buried the kids legs etc.

Sydney and Joshua on the Dunes - Before the Dive.

Oh by the way I forgot to mention that on the way down to Walvis Bay (Saturday afternoon) we stopped at the side of the road so that the children would climb the dunes. It was good fun (tiring for dad who had to carry Joshua up to the top). After playing at the top for some time, we headed back down and Joshua decided to run after Sydney.  The next moment we witnessed Joshua dive into the sand and when I looked I his face in the sand and his feet up in the air.. I dashed down to pick him up and got him to spit all the sand out of his mouth..  Needless to say, Sydney found this to be very amusing, much to the consternation of her brother who saw nothing amusing with falling face first into the sand..

Now one week later we are on the road again.. I have been invited to preach and teach at the Full Gospel Church in the coastal town of Oranjemund..  The first leg of the trip was from Okahandja to Keetmanshoop.. This has been completed safely and although we are a bit tired we will have a good night's rest at the Pastoral Centre in Keetmanshoop..

Joshua has just fallen asleep and Sydney will be asleep soon - Faye is resting and Larnelle is blow drying her hair..  We are very thankful for the car which God has blessed us with- it ran well and although the air con needs to be repaired, we nonetheless had a pleasant trip -

Faye and Eric..

Tomorrow we head for the diamond town- Oranjemund- and a week of exciting ministry.  It will also give our family a week to spend together in a different town, it's school holidays and so this is almost like a vacation.
God is really good and we treasure these times to serve Him and to be refreshed in Him as we serve.

It's Winter Time

I am sitting in my living room as I make this post.  Sydney and Joshua are playing together, Sydney is the school teacher and Joshua the student..

Last night we took our youth group - THE VICTORY CHAMPS into Windhoek (70kms one way) to be part of a youth fellowship night.  The ministry team - Latreou- performed dance and drama to communicate the message of total commitment to Christ and the youth Pastor brought a message encouraging the young people to come to Christ and to really get to know who they are in Him.

On the way home, Joshua decided he wanted to sit on my lap and drive the Kombi.. I put him on my lap and after about 15 mins I noticed he was silent- yep he had fallen asleep.. We arrived home at about 10:30pm and man was it cold..

Today I will be attending a funeral service for an infant who died after succumbing to a rather virulent viral infection.  The dad and mum are believers and whilst they are strong in the knowledge that their son is in the presence of the Lord their hearts are still broken and their grief very deep.  I have seen how other believers have rallied to their support and it has made me once again see the value and joy of being part of the body of Christ.

Every two or three months I get together with some folk here in Okahandja and host a praise and worship concert.. this afternoon we have a scheduled practice for the next concert on the 10th July..  This time we are hosting the concert in the nearby high density area called Nau Aib..

Each morning as I take the children to school, Sydney and Joshua have a fun time looking at their breath as it condenses in the cold morning air.. Yes it is Winter time and this year it has been much colder than in previous years.. I usually revel in the cold weather, but this year I have had a few days of really feeling the cold and looking forward to summer.. maybe it is also old age ??