Monday, January 18, 2016

Staff retreat blessedness

Mike and I (Marie-Eve) had the opportunity to go with our staff to a work retreat for 2 days and spend quality time together to dream, pray and refocus ourselves on this wonderful ministry the Lord has called us to.
Even with a broken toe, I attempted to participate in as many events as possible!








This nail challenged seemed nearly impossible, until we figured it out and gained speed at doing it :)

Jeremy became really intense and wanted to win so bad.


The pool was a relief as the heat was almost unbearable.


I was the saddest at not being able to do this rope challenge, but everyone did so fantastic.




Friday, December 4, 2015

Wedding was had

So here we are, it is DECEMBER.  Which means the wedding of the century has happened.  Phew. God is good!!!!  

Here is a blog update of basically just photos.  This isn't much of a ministry update as we have taken some holidays to celebrate this beautiful moment with our family.  

Raphael ridding his bike at the wedding venue the day before the wedding.

Mom and I played florists & made the floral arrangements for the wedding.
I later on got assigned to do the boutonnieres...  Maman Gaudreau, thanks for passing down your creative juices and ability to work with flowers...  I had no idea I could do this, but seeing you do this so many times I figured "why not?".

Mike and Jeff being put to work
Everyone was so willing to work to make the reception hall look absolutely magical.

And then the wedding day came!!!!!!!!

Vincent visiting the bride and giving her some cuddles while she gets her hair done.
 Who said makeup and hair was serious business???

Getting ready to do Charlene's makeup.  What a privilege!

How could someone possibly make this lady even more beautiful!?! 
BRIDE
My sister in law Joyce has some mad singing talent and loves Jesus with all her heart.  What a beautiful thing to see her sing at the wedding.

Joyce singing


Foot washing like Jesus, beautiful picture of servant heart.

Brother in-law Randy officiating the wedding.

You may now kiss the bride.

DONE deal :))))))))))

Vincent "crashed" at the wedding...  T'was a long HOT day...

Mani super-size-me version, a.k.a. Mr. Mike looking dapper.

This woman!!!!!  I have no words.  She inspires me.

2 young kids in LOVE

Eating some cake :)

The energy, the dancing, it was ELECTRIC.

Most people enjoyed it, except Raph, who thought it was too loud.

Well...  Vincent did too.

Thank you from the couple.
It was a wonderful celebration.  One we will not soon forget.  Getting to spend this time with family was beyond special.

And before they left, we thought we would throw a little Christmas celebration together!!!  The last 2 Christmas we spent here in SA, so it was really nice to have a family Christmas, even though it was a month early!

Joyce setting up the tree

The kids decorating the tree, with little concept of spacing the ornaments or having 2 of
the same beside each other.  Anyone else with me on this issue???  ;)

Vincent adding the angel to the tree!

This boy is EXCITED!

Decorating Christmas cookies.

It doesn't smell like Christmas until you start making and drinking apple cider!

CHEERS

And who doesn't like some hockey on Christmas day?

We didn't quite have enough sticks...  Sorry Grandpa.

Opening presents: LEGO was a big highlight!

We hope you enjoyed those pictures.  Family is everything and we feel so encouraged and fortified for having spent this time with them. Having them leave and go home is beyond heartbreaking.  The kids enjoyed spending time with their cousins so so much, and are already wondering when we will see them again.  We are all trying to figure out how to live in the moment and trusting God has so much for us this coming year here in South Africa.  And that is what makes the sacrifice of family worth it.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Good kind of whirlwind

The last few weeks have also been packed with ministry events, times of teaching and speaking in local Xhosa churches.  There is so much to talk about, and I find myself lacking words to describe the whirlwind we find ourselves in!

Add to that the arrival of our family from Canada, and you've got yourself a beautiful chaos of laughter amidst profound ministry time that we have been having together.  It is so beautiful to share with them what we do here and to get to do it with them!

Boys on their way to go see our their cousins for the first time in AFRICA!
(We found a house walking distance from our place to host Mike's brother (Randy), his wife (Joyce) and 3 kids.  It's been a blessing to have them close by and for the cousins to bound together.)


Getting "new" hockey stick just the right size
Visiting the aquarium
Getting introduced to our Hope Africa staff

More staff, more people to love


Seeing on the map the areas where we drove through or walked through (in the township of Phillipi)

Seeing our hair school at Hope Africa

We had an amazing time walking the street of Phillipi, praying for people but of course I do not have pictures of those moments.  It is hard to describe how powerfully the Holy Spirit is working in and through our family during this time together in Capetown.

Another highlight was visiting Mawande's family in their home in a neighboring township called Mfuleni.  The hospitality we received was like nothing we had experienced before.  How beautiful seeing our 2 families, from completely different countries, background and life, come together for a meal.  That is real church guys!


Mom Fast helping getting the meal ready

The mamas and bride-to-be

Tata (grandpa) and auntie

Real tough Jets' loving boy

Mama and Mawande having a chat

The kids hanging out with the neighbors

Mike, Mawande's uncle & Mawande

Uncle Randy keeping the troops under control

Our beautiful host!

We have also started taking some very early steps to connect some of the white churches and Xhosa churches which is very very rare here, with the goal of building up and equipping the churches.

Who knows what next?!?  We await with such expectation!