family time....

sunday roast with family!

well we have been back in england for nearly two weeks now and although we are still feeling very sad to have left one part of our lives in south africa we have enjoyed some wonderful times with family and friends who are obviously very important to us.

'a traditional english meal' with beth and alex
(curry!)

firstly we were welcomed back by our great friends trefor and mandy who have once again made their home available to us and although we are having to process the fact that we have passed on the batten of the village of hope and the wider work we were involved with via the thembalitsha foundation in grabouw to others their home is a place of peace for us and we are truly thankful for that.

tref and mandy left for a well earned holiday over the first weekend so we had free reign to invite family over for a sunday roast, which was a time for us to catch up with mum's and dad's as well as sisters and brother in laws, josh also joined us which was great.

qpr v arsenal at loftus road with josh

after a few open days of chilling, which included a meal with beth and alex and the feeding of the dogs and horses and a trip to watch the mighty queens park rangers play arsenal at loftus road with josh, we made our way down to bristol to stepped up to the plate of being parents and grandparents to our boys and grandchildren.

birthday skype with uncle arry

football fun with uncle ash

we don't think anyone can really appreciate the sacrifice that we had/have made over the last six full years towards our paternal duties, to be a full follower of Christ we are called to pursue him with our full hearts and sometimes that means forfeiting those duties that the world would hold dear. during the time we have spent in south africa we have had to daily put aside all those thoughts towards our own family as we shared God's love towards those children we were able to provide a home to at the village of hope and or to go beyond ourselves to serve the community in ways which aren't fully understood or seen by others. in a way its the lack of recognition that encourages us to follow God into his calling however it's only when one returns to the 'normality of life' that we see back in england that one fully appreciates all that our family have had to endure during our time serving overseas.

reliving our african adventure with the boys photo book

after a weekend of birthday celebrations, long walks, church services, family meals, playing table football, cuddles with babies, skype meetings with arron, fun in the water with the grandchildren during a balmy spring day and a sickness bug (less said about that the better!) we made our way to spend a couple of nights with our friend and mentor mal calladine who guided us through some of our further planning of our sabbatical which was welcome and we value his wisdom and kind words.

so tomorrow we're off to the united states for the first time, where we will be visiting our american friends who we've made during our time setting up and hosting volunteers at the village of hope, we are praying for a safe flight and simple entry into the USA.