Off to Ascension Island

Graeme and Vincent March left today for a 3 week mission on Ascension Island.  They hope to encourage the few Baptist believers that live there, as well as get a feel for the place spiritually.  We, that are left behind on St Helena have to fill the gap.  The singing at Jamestown is going to have to be accapella.

We held a combined service (i.e. where all 3 Baptist congregations meet together at Jamestown) on Sunday.  It went rather well, with Vilma and her brother taking care of the music, Nick preaching, and Brother Charles leading the communion table.

Before leaving for church, we took a few photos of Hannah.

Here she is practising her yoga.                                                                                                    Oooops.... lost her balance

Just a nice photo of Danny and Hannah, taken one evening at the wharf

62nd birthday

I enjoyed a lovely day.  My white skin is getting more wrinkled by the day - sad, when one has to live amongst Saint folk that all have satin smooth skins.  Even Mama Lizzie, who is 93 has fewer wrinkles than I do.
Graeme took me to The Consulate for a celebration dinner, and my word, was it marvellous! 3 mouth watering courses - but the best was the main course.  SA T-bone steaks covered in a mushroom and pepper sauce.... Just melted in the mouth.

Here I am sitting in front of the Consulate's display of crockery in their dining room.

Hannah's dedication

Just as I was about to start the Sunday school lesson, a tall Black South African man walked in. He is working for Basil Read, and had come to church. He went over to have a chat and some tea at the manse with Arthur while I continued the lesson. His name is Johannes Monaheng - a Sotho man from the Johannesburg area. I had a good chat with him before Graeme came home from his round of preaching. He is a true Christian, and will most probably be on the island until the end of May. Arthur took him home, as he lives quite far from Jamestown, and has no transport.

THEN... as we were having lunch, Graeme and Arthur mentioned the fact that Hannah was going to be dedicated in the evening service. Talk about being the last one to know what is going on in your own family! Anyway, it was a Sunday to remember in many ways. It was Arthur's first Sunday leading a service after his time of discipline had ended. It was also the first time that Graeme had held Hannah. We were given fresh flowers from the Head O'Wain church, so Jamestown had fresh flowers - a bigger arrangement for the adults, and a weeny one for Hannah. (Flowers are not readily available on the island)

Here are some photos of Hannah after her dedication.

Grumpy at being woken up. A profile showing her cute little button nose. Happy and with a dress full of drool.

Church Retreat

The church members were invited to attend a "retreat" on Saturday morning at the Sandy Bay chapel to discuss where we felt the church was "at" and to put forward suggestions regarding the way forward. Although the meeting was not well attended, I was encouraged by the openness and participation of those that did come along. A few good suggestions were made. There was a good spirit of prayer.
Graeme and Vincent leave for Ascension Island in a week's time for a 3 week mission there. We will be rather thin on the ground during this time - the Terry's have gone to the UK for 6 months - so we will be short of a pastor and 3 deacons and 3 musicians during this time.