Dear Friends,
A very Happy New Year to you all. We hope you had a wonderful Christmas.
We are currently writing from a very cold Wales!
(link to photos in post below)
Obviously all of Britain has been in the grips of a deep freeze - we hope you are keeping warm!
Our pipes are currently frozen and we have had no water for 4 days. Flushing the toilet involves breaking the ice on our river to fill a bucket! We are brushing our teeth with bottled water and have filled up two 25L jerricans for washing up/cooking. Washing ourselves involves Ffions baby wipes!! So we are now eagerly awaiting the big thaw before we get too stinky!!
We have managed to have some fun in the snow though! (video of Gaynor sledging... with a little help from Dylan - video here)
We had a lovely Christmas with family. Gaynors parents joined us from Merthyr and we were so glad to have Lloyd with us from Tunbridge Wells. The only thing that put a 'dampener' on things was a burst water pipe on Christmas Eve which involved a late night call out to a plumber with an emergency fee of £440. Who charges £250 per hour?!?!?
Last time we wrote we were waiting to hear from the Kent and Sussex hospital regarding Clive's operation. As most of you know, shortly after that Clive was admitted to Carmarthen hospital for a few weeks. After a weekend of pain and vomiting we took him to hospital late one night. A few days later he received an emergency operation to repair what was an obstruction caused by a twisted gut. At the same time his hernia was repaired (saving us a trip to Kent). After 16 days recovery he was finally allowed home and is still in recovery for a few more weeks.
Thank you so much for your prayers during what was a very difficult time for Clive and a tiring one for Gaynor and Menna.
The bat survey is being prepared for submission to the Welsh Assembly for a license to enable us to re-roof (you may remember in our last post that the builder was actually booked in to do this but we then found out that before we even touch the roof for repair we needed this special license from the Assembly!).
Please pray for:
*A favourable response from the Welsh Assembly and similarly from the Environment Agency re: the flood consequence assessment.
*Continued recovery for Clive (up to this point it has been fairly slow)
*And for no more burst pipes during the big thaw
Thank you for your continual support, financially, and in your prayers. It means so much to us.
Please do let us know how you are and anything we can prayer for for you.
Lots of love from us all x
Monday, 11 January 2010
Saturday, 14 November 2009
Friday, 13 November 2009
Autumn at Min Yr Afon
Dear Friends,
Once again our apologies that it has taken so long to write.
Well there's lots that has happened in the last month...
We were very grateful of being able to share back at St. Johns Church in Tunbridge Wells. It was wonderful to catch up with old friends and we miss you all! We would like to say a huge thank you to those of you who made donations to Hiraeth. These have enabled us to get re-roofing booked for next week, and we are looking into new heating systems. We are doing extensive research in this area as it is important that the system we install is efficient, eco-friendly, cost effective etc. but at the same time, with Clive's health needs to be easy to maintain.
We are still waiting to hear from the hospital regarding Clive's next hernia operation.
We also have the flood survey booked for next week (if we haven't sunk by then - look at the weather!!!!!) Please pray for this!
After returning from Tunbridge Wells we were able to visit our good friends, Keith and Ruth Wynne, at John Stott's place - The Hookses. And what a place! It was a welcome day off for us. The views were stunning, we enjoyed a lovely walk along the cliffs and beach. We hope to spend longer there in the future.
Tomorrow Gaynor and Menna are attending a training morning for a local schools outreach program. An interactive 'Jesus' bus is travelling around and sharing the gospel - we will know more after tomorrow!
The house is coming together. We still have so much to do but we're getting there!
We are hugely looking forward to decorating for Christmas. More importantly it will be wonderful to have Lloyd with us.
Luke is visiting with his girlfriend at the end of the month before they travel back to India. He was able to spend a long weekend with us recently, with a friend of his. They managed to do a couple of walks and helped cut logs for the fire.
It has certainly been a month of visitors! And from all four corners of the earth.
Dave and Debbie, from St.Johns, stopped by with the boys for the day. They were immensely helpful! With paint brushes in one hand and axes in the other!
We were joined by a dear, dear friend from Canada who's lovely wife recently passed away. They used to serve with us in Central Asia.
Following this some missionary friends from the Ivory Coast(again ex-PI friends!) came to visit. We haven't seen them in nearly two decades so it was great to catch up!!
Menna was also joined by her friend from Brighton last weekend. We all managed to get up Pen Y Fan (the highest peak in south Wales) and up to Castle Carreg Cennen. He took some lovely photos which we will post a link to, along with some other photos of things mentioned above.
Menna also visited her old work colleagues in Brighton during our trip down south. She got to meet her ex-bosses baby Monty who is just 11 days younger than Ffion.
Gaynors parents also visit us every couple of weeks for a few days. It's a welcome break from the house for them.
So who's next...?
Do come and stay - our 6 person caravan is available for hire and we have two doubles and one single guest bedrooms.
Come Spring we would also be grateful for anyone who can help manually. If you are interested in helping out, please do let us know.
We appreciate your prayers and support, we wouldn't be here without it.
In all the activity and house renovation, we want to keep uppermost in our minds that we want to do it for Jesus and the lovely verse from Psalm 127 v 1 : "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain"
God Bless and Lots of love,
Clive, Gaynor, Menna and Ffion xxxx
Once again our apologies that it has taken so long to write.
Well there's lots that has happened in the last month...
We were very grateful of being able to share back at St. Johns Church in Tunbridge Wells. It was wonderful to catch up with old friends and we miss you all! We would like to say a huge thank you to those of you who made donations to Hiraeth. These have enabled us to get re-roofing booked for next week, and we are looking into new heating systems. We are doing extensive research in this area as it is important that the system we install is efficient, eco-friendly, cost effective etc. but at the same time, with Clive's health needs to be easy to maintain.
We are still waiting to hear from the hospital regarding Clive's next hernia operation.
We also have the flood survey booked for next week (if we haven't sunk by then - look at the weather!!!!!) Please pray for this!
After returning from Tunbridge Wells we were able to visit our good friends, Keith and Ruth Wynne, at John Stott's place - The Hookses. And what a place! It was a welcome day off for us. The views were stunning, we enjoyed a lovely walk along the cliffs and beach. We hope to spend longer there in the future.
Tomorrow Gaynor and Menna are attending a training morning for a local schools outreach program. An interactive 'Jesus' bus is travelling around and sharing the gospel - we will know more after tomorrow!
The house is coming together. We still have so much to do but we're getting there!
We are hugely looking forward to decorating for Christmas. More importantly it will be wonderful to have Lloyd with us.
Luke is visiting with his girlfriend at the end of the month before they travel back to India. He was able to spend a long weekend with us recently, with a friend of his. They managed to do a couple of walks and helped cut logs for the fire.
It has certainly been a month of visitors! And from all four corners of the earth.
Dave and Debbie, from St.Johns, stopped by with the boys for the day. They were immensely helpful! With paint brushes in one hand and axes in the other!
We were joined by a dear, dear friend from Canada who's lovely wife recently passed away. They used to serve with us in Central Asia.
Following this some missionary friends from the Ivory Coast(again ex-PI friends!) came to visit. We haven't seen them in nearly two decades so it was great to catch up!!
Menna was also joined by her friend from Brighton last weekend. We all managed to get up Pen Y Fan (the highest peak in south Wales) and up to Castle Carreg Cennen. He took some lovely photos which we will post a link to, along with some other photos of things mentioned above.
Menna also visited her old work colleagues in Brighton during our trip down south. She got to meet her ex-bosses baby Monty who is just 11 days younger than Ffion.
Gaynors parents also visit us every couple of weeks for a few days. It's a welcome break from the house for them.
So who's next...?
Do come and stay - our 6 person caravan is available for hire and we have two doubles and one single guest bedrooms.
Come Spring we would also be grateful for anyone who can help manually. If you are interested in helping out, please do let us know.
We appreciate your prayers and support, we wouldn't be here without it.
In all the activity and house renovation, we want to keep uppermost in our minds that we want to do it for Jesus and the lovely verse from Psalm 127 v 1 : "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain"
God Bless and Lots of love,
Clive, Gaynor, Menna and Ffion xxxx
Friday, 9 October 2009
Finally...
Dear Friends,
Sorry it has taken so long to get this updated. Unpacking, combined with not having the internet for a couple of weeks has meant a slight delay.
Well, we are here!
The move went well, but was of course very stressful!
The Pickfords lorry parked completely on the little bridge which leads to our house and we thought we would be fishing our boxes out of the river! But there were no problems or delays - a real answer to prayer.
The first couple of days we had friends over to help us paint, unpack and re-assemble flat pack furniture which was a real blessing. Thank you everyone!
We are so happy here!! However, even without the bunkhouse project and endless decorating, day to day living itself is hard work. Clive is out most days chopping wood for our fire - the source of our hot water and central heating.
We have unpacked half our boxes (although there are still approximately 48 boxes of books left to unpack!) And finding a new home for everything is taking some time.
We have nearly finished decorating two guest bedrooms and have already had several visitors, including some old PI friends and family from Australia. We have had to buy a huge annual wall-planner to keep on top of when visitors are coming. Lots of you are very keen - which is lovely as we dearly miss you all!
Church here is very different...
We have joined a small (between 5 and 20 people max.!) fellowship in a nearby town the last few Sundays. It's going to take a lot of getting used to after our large, active experience of church life in Tunbridge Wells! Please pray for Grace Evangelical Church in Llandeilo and guidance for us to know whether or not it is the right place for us to settle.
With regards to the bunkhouse - well, let the paper work commence!
We have had our bat survey (!) done by an old friend. There are bats but they are not going to cause huge problems for us. Another answer to pray.
Next up - the flood survey! Now this we really do need your prayer for, as this could potentially put a stop to all our plans. However, we are recieving excellent advice on the matter and more importantly, trust God.
Looking forward to renewing friendship and fellowship in our Church in Tunbridge Wells next weekend when they are hosting a leaving lunch for us and giving us the oppotunity to share about our plans.
Ffion is delightful as ever! However it looks like she is cutting her first tooth so Menna has had a few disturbed nights and days. In general though she is very contended and happy to sit in her bouncy chair and watch us paint or clean! Menna hugely enjoyed finally being able to do her nursery.
Dylan is loving it! And there is rarely a day he is not in the river!
Right, time for bed. But we won't leave it so long until our next update.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers,
All our Love,
Clive, Gaynor, Menna and Ffion x
Sorry it has taken so long to get this updated. Unpacking, combined with not having the internet for a couple of weeks has meant a slight delay.
Well, we are here!
The move went well, but was of course very stressful!
The Pickfords lorry parked completely on the little bridge which leads to our house and we thought we would be fishing our boxes out of the river! But there were no problems or delays - a real answer to prayer.
The first couple of days we had friends over to help us paint, unpack and re-assemble flat pack furniture which was a real blessing. Thank you everyone!
We are so happy here!! However, even without the bunkhouse project and endless decorating, day to day living itself is hard work. Clive is out most days chopping wood for our fire - the source of our hot water and central heating.
We have unpacked half our boxes (although there are still approximately 48 boxes of books left to unpack!) And finding a new home for everything is taking some time.
We have nearly finished decorating two guest bedrooms and have already had several visitors, including some old PI friends and family from Australia. We have had to buy a huge annual wall-planner to keep on top of when visitors are coming. Lots of you are very keen - which is lovely as we dearly miss you all!
Church here is very different...
We have joined a small (between 5 and 20 people max.!) fellowship in a nearby town the last few Sundays. It's going to take a lot of getting used to after our large, active experience of church life in Tunbridge Wells! Please pray for Grace Evangelical Church in Llandeilo and guidance for us to know whether or not it is the right place for us to settle.
With regards to the bunkhouse - well, let the paper work commence!
We have had our bat survey (!) done by an old friend. There are bats but they are not going to cause huge problems for us. Another answer to pray.
Next up - the flood survey! Now this we really do need your prayer for, as this could potentially put a stop to all our plans. However, we are recieving excellent advice on the matter and more importantly, trust God.
Looking forward to renewing friendship and fellowship in our Church in Tunbridge Wells next weekend when they are hosting a leaving lunch for us and giving us the oppotunity to share about our plans.
Ffion is delightful as ever! However it looks like she is cutting her first tooth so Menna has had a few disturbed nights and days. In general though she is very contended and happy to sit in her bouncy chair and watch us paint or clean! Menna hugely enjoyed finally being able to do her nursery.
Dylan is loving it! And there is rarely a day he is not in the river!
Right, time for bed. But we won't leave it so long until our next update.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers,
All our Love,
Clive, Gaynor, Menna and Ffion x
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
And so it begins...
Well, the boxes are nearly all packed and this Thursday/Friday we will be relocating to Wales.It has been a busy few weeks, and mild panic is setting in during these last couple of days as we prepare everything for the movers to arrive!
We are so excited about the move, but sad to be leaving behind dear friends.
Keep checking for updates of everything that is happening - warts and all! We hope you will enjoy reading about our new adventures.
Please do keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
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