CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOD'S RICHEST OF BLESSINGS FOR THE NEW YEAR 2009!

God's Double Blessings!!!!

NEWSLETTER - September, October, November 2008

The arrival of our TWINS
This is a little note to all of you special people in our lives. We write to say a HUGE thank you for all your prayers, emails, gifts and support through the birth of our twin boys, Treyson and Tryston. We had a wonderful time over the arrival of our boys, with family so near by to visit and encourage. We have been so blessed the boys are really good babies. They only cry when they are hungry or tired and we have them in a good routine. They feed every four hours (tan feels a little like a mommy dog with her puppies as she breastfeeds them together at the same time!). They have a good sleep from 10-12am (big brother Troyden sleeps then too – to give mom some “ME” time).
Both of the boys have grown so nicely and are now 3months old! Can’t believe that the time has gone so quickly WOW! They have kept up with each other in growth, Treyson 5.2kg’s ( lbs) and Tryston 5.3kg’s ( lbs), they have doubled on their birth weight. They are happy smiley babies and very similar in looks!! We had to paint Tryston’s baby finger with nail polish so we don’t get them mixed up. We as mom and dad can now tell them apart but most people think they are identical twins! Well all this to say – Tan is home with the boys and they consume most of her time but she is finding time to do her creative thing and enjoying being involved in some ministry at the church. On the whole going anywhere is a HUGE event to move the family that even making it to church on a Sunday morning on time is quite a thing! Tan has a good friend in the church (actually the nurse that helped with the delivery of the boys) who has grown to enjoy the time she gets to spend with all three Wilby boys, so Tan has some company when she needs to get the errands run! We are both very proud parents and counting our blessings of these two special little boys!

FIRST SMILES

Big Brother TROYDEN
Well well well what a sweetie pie we have here!! Troydie just loves his brothers and know that he wishes they were bigger so he could play with them. He is very loving and gentle with them it is too cute to watch how fair he is what he does to one he does to the other!
He is quite the sportsman already with really very good ball skills he is now drop kicking and throwing the ball into the air and hitting with the bat. Still working on the catching but that is coming along nicely. Balls are definitely his fave toy!
The talking is coming along nicely and we have quite a vocab. Over the past 3 months we have added WOW, church, cheese, ass (as yes), no, more and ball. This past week we played under the hose pipe in the garden and now all he can talk about is the “pipe”, “pipe”, “pipe” – so cute! He fully understands and so enjoys company of other kids. Mom is kept quite busy having to watch the twins and still run and kick the ball in the garden. In the last three months we have learned what it is to draw, paint and play with play dough!
He has nick named Tan’s folks as “BABA” and “NEE” and loves it when they come to visit – all the more attention.

He has nick named Mark's folks "PA" and "MA" and so enjoyes playing with them too. On the whole he has managed the addition of his brothers and really is quite protective and proud of them. All this said DAD is definitely his favorite and he finds it real hard to say goodbye to him.

ME AND MY DAD!!!!

ME WITH PUPPY, "DUZI" blanket and "PRESH" (dummy/pasi)

10-12 weeks old ... and so we grow

Ministries at church
Ladies “Basking in the SON”
The ladies had their quarterly meeting this past month and what a fun time. The hall was decorated like a beach with towel, umbrellas, sand, shells and deck chairs etc. 4 ladies shared how they are “Basking in the SON” and were a huge blessing in testimony to all the ladies who came. The afternoon was ended off with a competition between each table – who could make the best sun hat from the materials that were provided what a laugh. Fellowship was great round ice cream and fruit salad!
Youth Ministry
The Youth has had their final meeting for the year and the group has really grown spiritually even the friendships are stronger. We have a core group of about 15 that are regular every week and growing in the Lord. Please continue to pray for this ministry as we seek out God’s plan for new leadership for 2009.
Preaching Gods Word
We are still praising the Lord for Mark’s opportunities in this ministry. Please keep him in your prayers week by week as he studies and prepares to share God’s word with His people. We thank the Lord for growing him as he shares in the pulpit.

Kingdom’s Kids Ministry
This ministry is going great and we are finding it a wonderful time for all of us as a family. Added to the mail ministry to the “new families” and the mom’s bible study that meets twice a month we have decided to get together as families for a meal once a month. This as proved to be a huge blessing to all of us and such an encouragement for us to meet together, not to mention all the fun the kids have playing with each other.
Young Adults Bible Study
Well the study has ended for the year completing their discussions through Philippians. We will be celebrating Christmas together this coming Wednesday. Tan is cooking a “Christmassy” meal. We praise the Lord for His growth in these young peoples lives so many have grown so much this year, many are more involved in other ministries too – Thank you Lord!
@TAP (all things to all people – community center)
We have so enjoyed the use of the new coffee corner for Troydie to run and play – our mum’s bible study meets there so the kids can enjoy the outside.

On a sad note
Mark’s granny – Granny Wilby passed away on September 21st. This was a sad day but we praise the Lord for her life and the special person she was to each of the family members.

HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY
We celebrated out 5th wedding anniversary on Oct 4th and we praise the Lord for His blessings on us. 5years and we are now 5 in the family! We had a little giggle as the two of us were planning on going out for dinner and ended up getting ribs delivered so we could all be together to celebrate!









Christmas plans
We will be in Durban for Christmas eve and Christmas day service. The family will be with us for dinner on Christmas eve. Then we celebrate with Mark’s family on Christmas day in Pietermaritzburg and with Tan’s folks on Christmas day in the evening. Trent will be flying in to town after his Christmas day service. We will spend a few days with Tan’s folks following Christmas day until Trent returns home and then onto Port Edward (beach) with Mark’s family for 3 days break. We have planned to take our leave for the year in the middle of January and going down to Kei Mouth for 10days.








Family news
All our family is doing well and excited for the Christmas celebrations. (Mark’s sisters -) Errol and Tracy arrived last week for 6 weeks holiday with the family in Pietermaritzburg. Craig and Robyn have settled down in Pietermaritzburg and Craig is enjoying working with dad in his business from home. Tan’s family is doing fine mom and dad Eayrs working on their involvement in mission in our state and keeping themselves busy with a lot of traveling. We have had a young girl visit from the states as an intern for 3 months and her visit is going well she will be celebrating with us for Christmas. They are on a prayer road trip right now with a visiting family from the U.K. (Tan’s brother -) Trent is doing well at Florida Baptist in Johannesburg, keeping himself very busy with church life. aLooking forward to our family holiday together.



Prayer Requests
Thank you each and everyone for your special prayers, God is Good all the time.
· Our little family as it has grown from 3 to 5 – for the Lord to help us raise our children to love Him in a special way.
· Continuing to pray for financial support for a suitable vehicle for mission trips
· Christmas plans and travels – that it will be a blessed time for all!
Ministry at Durban North
· Christmas celebrations to be reminded of Christ’s Birth and the reason He came to earth so many years ago.
· Youth Ministry and the need for a leader that Mark can mentor and come alongside of.
· Our involvement in leadership at church and the responsibility that places on us as a family. Help us to lead by example as Christ would have us lead.
PRAISE THE LORD WITH US!!
· Troyden’s easy adjustment to the addition of the Twins! He just loves them!
· For our finances – we have had a challenge to make the ends meet especially with the addition of the new babies and we praise the Lord for special miracles each month. So many people have been a huge blessing to us.
· For the healthy BABIES the Lord has blessed us with – we are so enjoying them!
· For our new home – pray that we can use it for the Lord’s glory in every way, and not to miss the opportunities to share it with others.




All for our Saviour,



Mark, Tanya, Troyden, Treyson and Tryston

7 WEEKS OLD NOW...

We are so enjoyin our boys - thanking the Lord that they have settled into a routine and the Wilby family life goes on...

TROYDIE AND HIS BROTHERS!!

OUTING IN OUR PRAM...

FAMILY FUN - TRYING SO HARD TO GET US ALL TO LOOK AT THE CAMERA AND LOOK OUR BESTEST!!!

6weeks old ... so we grow

Some more pics for you to follow as our boyz grow grow grow. Tan is still breast feeding and the boys are gaining weight well. Troydie is loving his brothers and having so much fun. Life at home is busy busy busy but full of fun fun fun!!!

US JUST 6 WEEKS OLD NOW!!!

Mom and her TWIN BOYZ!!

Can you see we are different!?

Twins first outing at 6 weeks - we did not venture out much!!

Troyden with his "duzi" blanket on his head!

SEE OUR TWINS GROW...

FAMILY OF FIVE...

DAD, MOM, TROYDEN, TREYSON AND TRYSTON (2weeks old)

OUR BOYZ!!!


TREYSON (left) TRYSTON (right)



4 WEEKS OLD (in the nude)

TREYSON (1mth)

Tryston (1mth)

TRYSTON (left) TREYSON (right)

Dad & his TWIN boys!!

PRAISE THE LORD !! HALLELUJAH!!

Our Twin Boys Have Arrived!!

Tan went into hospital on Monday the 8th September 2008 for a planned ceaser. Our Twin boys were born healthy and strong - Thank you Jesus for much answered prayer.



Name: Treyson Mark Wilby

Weight: 2.4kg's (5.29 pounds)

Length: 50cm (19.69 inches)

Time: 10.04am


Meaning of his Name: Sacrifice

Romans 12v1

" Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship."





Name: Tryston Trent Wilby

Weight: 2.6kg's (5.73 pounds)

Length: 52 cm (20.47 inches)

Time: 10.05am


Meaning of his Name: Bold/Valient

Joshua 1v9

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

TREYSON (on the left) & TRYSTON (on the right)

THE FIVE OF US!

We praise the Lord that he has blessed us with this DOUBLE blessing and wanted to share some pictures with you. Troyden (big brother - now 21months old) is so enjoying his brothers. He is gentle, protective and very caring of them both - too cute to watch him with them.

Mommy Tan is breast feeding them together every 3hours and doing well after the opperation. Daddy Mark is there to help with bathing and burping at every feed time. We are enjoying this time together as a newly bigger family - keep us in your prayers as we grow our little boys for God's Kingdom.

BIG BROTHER TROYDEN LOVING ON ONE OF HIS BROTHERS!

MOMMY WITH HER BUNDLES OF JOY

Much love to all of you
God Bless

Mark, Tanya , Troyden, Treyson and Tryston.

ALL THINGS NEW !!!

JUNE, JULY, AUGUST 2008

HORRAY HORRAY!! WE NOW HAVE PROPER BROADBAN INTERNET IN OUR NEW STUDY IN OUR NEW HOME. SO YES WE CAN COMMUNICATE ALL THE MORE OFTEN!!! DROP US A LINE TAN’S AT HOME WITH THE KIDS SHE CAN NOW EMAIL BACK ANYTIME!! YEY CAN’T WAIT TO CATCH UP WITH ALL OF YOU SEND THE NEWS!!

Contact with you…
We have lots to catch up on as we have not had time to set up our “Blog” and get to the computer at the church to keep you all informed, so will try to give you an overview of the last 3months of our busy little lives.
HERE GOES enjoy the read…

SURPRISE BABY SHOWER
Tan was hugely surprised by our church family ladies who threw her a TWINS baby shower where she got 2 of everything. Such a blessing and so spoilt with so many gifts and lots of love. It was a wonderful afternoon full of fun. In these times you are reminded how blessed you are to be part of a church family.



BABY ZINNY ARRIVED!!!
CONGRATULATIONS are due to Mark’s sister and hubby – Errol and Tracy at the arrival of baby Zinny Jack Cronje. He was born on the 7th June and weighed just over 3kg’s (about 7 and a bit pounds?!). We have not met him in person yet but they will be visiting now at the end of August for the birth of our Twins. We can’t wait to meet the little man!

MINISTRIES AT CHURCH
We have been busy busy busy with church ministry and Tan has been slowly letting go of all her involvement over the last three months so that she could rest through the end stages of the pregnancy. God has been so good in blessing us in our work at Durban North Baptist Church.
Family day picnic at the Beach
We had a wonderful day out at the beach, with fellowship and fun in the sun. We braaied (barbecued) and enjoyed God’s creation and family time together as a church body.
Ladies “Soup Sip”
We had a wonderful group of ladies gather to fellowship round God’s word and some delicious soups. Being the middle of winter we all enjoyed the warm time of encouragement together. Tan was very involved in this meeting as it will be her last one for a while with her getting the Twins onto a routine. The young adult girls did a skit on soup making, the little girls from Sunday school sang a happy song item and they had a visiting speaker who shared from God’s word on “ENCOURAGMENT”.
Preaching Gods Word
WOW! God is so good He has giving Mark so many opportunities to share from God’s word in our pulpit and for that we praise Him. Mark has grown in this ministry found it a challenge, blessing and a stretch. It is wonderful to see his freedom to share what the Lord has laid on his heart from His word. Thank you Jesus for this ministry opportunity.
Young Adults Bible Study
Mark has started a study through Philippians and changed the format of the study to allow for smaller group study so that more can participate in discussion. Our group averages 20 and this makes the fellowship really sweet. The group is really enjoying getting into God’s word deeper and deeper.

Elders wives prayer meeting
This is a new little ministry Tan is involved in every two weeks the Elders wives get together to pray for the ladies of our church and this has proved to be a great encouragement not only to the ladies of our church but to the elders wives too. They meet at our home for an hour and share in prayer together.
Youth Ministry
Be in prayer for this ministry as our leading couple has decided to give their involvement a break here as they are expecting a baby. Mark is running with the leadership for this semester and praying around finding a young single guy to come in alongside him to help him with the youth and children’s ministry. Pray that we find God’s person to help support Mark in this way.
Kingdom’s Kids Ministry
This is a new ministry Tan has started, one that cares for new expectant mom’s and dad’s and for the new baby. The ministry is one that cares for the “new” family through care packages in the mail, newsletters with tips and guidelines for raising your children God’s way. The ministry runs from the start of pregnancy to until the baby is 2years of age and is then introduced to Sunday school. Already the moms’ and dad’s have so enjoyed the encouragement!

NEW HOME
Praise the Lord! We managed to find a new house to move to before the twins arrived. It was a huge answer to prayer and big decision that we had to make. We now live a little north of the church about the same distance we lived south. We have the mall across the park from us. Troyden will learn to love the park and the swings as the babies get bigger. It is in a quiet neighborhood and we have frequent visiting monkeys, that have posed to be a little bit of a nuisance.
The house is divided into two with one duplex on the right and one on the left. (Duplex = double story townhouse/simplex) Tan feels safe here with the neighbors on the same property and we share an electric gate for security. The house has 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs and lounge, dinning room, kitchen open plan with a study come spare room and visitors bathroom down stairs. The Lounge has a small sun room adjoined to it that opens onto a safe garden for Troyden to enjoy the outside. We have settled nicely and have much we want to do to make the place more “Homey”. The only unfortunate thing is that we are still renting and would really have loved to buy a place but the cost of property in South Africa is expensive – so we thank the Lord for giving us the space we have to raise our soon to be 3 children, and thank him that we could move before the twins arrived.

PACKING TO MOVE FROM FERNGROVE TO OAKLEIGH AVENUE, LA LUCIA

HELPING WITH THE HANGING OF CURTAINS IN THE NEW HOUSE!

MISSIONS
Opportunities to be involved in sharing Christ on the mission field are becoming more frequent and the need for a suitable vehicle to access these areas with mission teams is becoming a necessity. Please pray with us that God would enable us to raise enough money to purchase such a vehicle that many might hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

Troyden UPDATE
WOW our little baby boy is about to become a BIG BROTHER and we look at him and he is still so little. We have so enjoyed him over the last 3months. He has adjusted so well to all the changes at home. The new house, all the space to run, the stairs up and down and most of all he is now sleeping in his very own BIG BED!! No real words are coming from his little mouth but communication is there and he really knows what he wants. His favorite play mate is DAD and they have lots of fun romping on the carpet, playing ball, playing catches and unpacking the toy box. Hide-and-Seek is most fun behind the curtains and bath time has become SPLASH TIME! He loves animals and the sandpit is a fun place to play. (Something we need to add to our garden)
His favorite food at the moment is yogi-sip (yoghurt drink), but on the whole is eating everything that we are and does well to feed himself a bit messy but he does well. He is sleeping really well – 2hours in the morning which gives mom a little time to catch up on a few things and then right through the night with maybe one wake up to check dad and mom are there. He had his 18mth vaccinations this past month and managed well with them; he has had his first real flu and managed with that too. All round all we can do is praise the Lord for our healthy, happy, helpful little boy. He is such a blessing and so friendly to all!!

Me in moms shooz!!

Day outing to play in the Sand pit!

Our little tourist !

Update on the Pregnancy
PRAISE THE LORD AGAIN AND AGAIN!!!
Well we write this part of our newsletter with gratefulness to our gracious God! Tan has managed to carry the twins all the way to the end and keep her lifestyle as normal as possible. At the moment we are seeing the doctor every week and will do so right up until the ceaser date – 8th September 2008.
The babies both weigh 2.25kg’s each and Tan measures 115cm around her tummy, a little heavier and rounder than with Troyden. On the whole she has had a healthy pregnancy and the doctor is very happy with how she has done. With only 2 weeks to ceaser date we praise the Lord that He has enabled Tan to manage this far and for the babies to be growing and kicking and moving so much. Please keep us in your prayers as the big day comes closer. We are so excited!!

TWO WEEKS TO GO UNTIL WILBY TWINS ARRIVE

FAMILY NEWS

All our family is doing well and excited for the twins to arrive. (Mark’s sisters -) Errol and Tracy arrive on Friday for 3 weeks holiday with mom and dad Wilby. Craig and Robyn have had a couple of changes in the last 3 months and are now moved into a new home in Hilton just outside Pietermaritzburg and Craig will be working for dad Wilby for a while. Tan’s family is fine mom and dad Eayrs working on their involvement in mission in our state and keeping themselves busy with a lot of traveling. (Tan’s brother -) Trent is enjoying the ministry at Florida Baptist in Johannesburg and things are really going well. Still praying for a special helpmeet for him, he will be coming to Durban for the birth of the twins so the whole family will be together to celebrate God’s special gift to us. All the great grandparents and the one great great granny (she turned 97 this last month) are all doing well considering their ages – we praise the Lord for family and the support they are to us.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Thank you each and everyone for your special prayers, God is Good all the time.

• Knowing God’s will and leading in our own lives as we continually seek direction from him.
• Pregnancy – Tan and the twins for the last 2 weeks to go smoothly and most of all for the birth to be easy on all of us. We pray mostly for two healthy babies we can raise for the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Troyden and the adjustment of having other siblings in the house for him to feel included in all the changes that are about to happen.
• Our little family as it grows – for the Lord to help us raise our children to love Him in a special way.
• Financial support for a suitable vehicle for mission trips.

MINISTRY AT DURBAN NORTH

• Marks preaching praise the Lord for his continued growth in this area. Pray much for him as he is preaching through Colossians in the mornings and doing a series of doctrine teachings in the evenings together with the senior pastor
• @TAP ministry and the focus to remain on the Lord Jesus Christ and the sharing of His love through the gospel. For many to be reached through this new ministry at Durban North.
• Youth Ministry and the need for a leader that Mark can mentor and come alongside of.
• Our involvement in leadership at church and the responsibility that places on us as a family. Help us to lead by example as Christ would have us lead.

PRAISE THE LORD WITH US

• For our finances – we have had a challenge to make the ends meet especially with the change to a bigger home and the addition of two new babies the church has really come alongside us and helped us to meet our needs – we praise the Lord for their support in this way.
• For the healthy DOUBLE pregnancy that Tan has been able to enjoy.
• For our new home – pray that we can use it for the Lord’s glory in every way, and not to miss the opportunities to share it with others.
  

Philippians 1v27

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ...

NEWSLETTER - More Double Blessings

APRIL and MAY 2008

God’s Word
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purposes. - Romans 8v28-29

Ministries at church
We started April with a BANG.
The Lion King Holiday Club
Our overall theme was the Lion King and our daily theme was based on the “Lords Prayer” which we also learned as the week’s memory verse. Mark was the Game Ranger and he led the ministry every day to the children. We had 7 leaders all with an animal African name. Each day consisted of a time of worship lead by Nhembe the Elephant, with singing, actions, plays, video clips, memory verse teach (done by Polly the parrot) and the senior pastor was the Game Hunger he visited every day with moral lessons from the bush. Toto the monkey was our mascot and she visited every day with letters for the leaders from the children and replies for the children from the leaders this proved to be a great way to share the gospel with the kids. We had a game time with loads of action, tea and eats and fabric painting. We ended each day with a small group time where the children were taught lessons from Jesus life and had time to do a craft too. We had about 50 kids attend each day and they had a wonderful time. We thank the Lord for the blessings of working with the children in this way. Our week was ended with a Parents evening where we had a time of prize giving and worship for the parents to get an idea of what we had done with the children for the week. In all we can say that the Lord was glorified in it all and as leaders we were greatly blessed.
Preaching Gods Word
Praising the Lord for all the opportunities Mark has been giving to share in this way. I have been able to see him grow in this ministry and we thank the Lord for his provision in this way.
Quick review on all our other ministry involvement
Mark is still leading worship for several morning and evening worship services. Tan has been helping once a month on the guitar but is finding a bit hard to play with her tummy getting in the way.
Young adult’s bible study has grown through the year and they meet every Wednesday evening averaging about 20 each night this has been a huge encouragement to us both.
Sunday school we are helping lead where we can and giving support to our new Sunday School Leader who is doing a great job with the children.
Youth leadership will be a new ministry Mark will be more heavily involved with as our leaders are wanted to take a break for a while. Please pray for special leadership of the Lord in this area as we are wanting to try something fresh and new and ministry to youth has been tough!
New ministry just starting – sewing ministry. Tan has been involved in helping a sewing ministry start where we will be mending new damaged clothes from a factory to give to our pastors in the rural areas of Zululand and Mozambique South Africa.
Another new ministry “All Things To All People” AT TAP. We are doing renovations to our existing hall and facilities that was a play school. The idea is to start a homework center for children to come to in the afternoons to do homework, hang out and been encouraged and ministered too. This project also includes a coffee-shop and play center for little children. Be in prayer for this big project as we hope to grow our children and youth ministry through this project. Hoping to start fresh in the New Year with children of all ages having a Christian environment to “hang-out”!




DOUBLE BLESSING NEWS
Most of you would have heard by now that we are growing our family to number 5. Tan is pregnant with TWINS. Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord. We were so excited to find that we were pregnant again for our second baby and for Troydie to be a big brother then to find a double blessing of TWINS on our 9weeks scan at the doctor. We know that this is a God thing as we have no history in the family of twins and praise the Lord for this privilege to raise two more children for his glory. We ask for special prayers as our needs are great. Mom and babies are grown, Tan is seeing the doctor every month to monitor the progress closely. Her tummy is as big as it was at 6months with Troyden’s pregnancy and she is 5 and half months (23weeks now)! Tan has made some new preggy clothes (bit bigger than last time as we think she will be really big later) and enjoyed planning out her wardrobe. The start of the pregnancy was very hard, Tan was extremely sick with morning sickness all day but has gotten over that hurdle and is just feeling a little more tired that with her previous pregnancy. We are praying that God in his will will make the rest of the pregnancy easy and that Tan will be able to carry the twins to the end. The due date is 22nd September 2008 and she will be having a C-section 2 weeks earlier (around 7th September 2008) all going according to how she carries at the end.
Keep us in your prayers as we prepare for the arrival of our two babies. God’s Biggest Blessing Yet!

TAN at 5 AND HALF MONTHS PREGGY (decided to put on a tight top for you to see how big she really is!)

Family News
Mom and Dad Eayrs have completed their ministry as Pastor of Central Baptist Church in Pietermaritzburg and have taken on a new position partly with the Natal Baptist Association as Mission Developer and Macedonian Ministries (mission organization). They will be overseeing mission in and around our region of the country. Please pray for them as they take this huge step in faith to follow the Lord’s leading into Mission Full Time.

Mom and Dad Wilby are doing well, Dad has made some changes in his home cupboard business which has proved to be less stressful and he is enjoying the work. They are very excited by the time Christmas comes this year they will have 5 grandchildren. Tracy & Errol, Mark’s oldest sister and her husband will have their baby in June please be in prayer for her the baby boy joining their little family.
Robyn & Craig, Mark’s youngest sister and her husband are facing a change in their future ministry – please be in much prayer for them at this time. Their little son Joshua is growing big guns he is 4months younger than Troyden but bigger than him and has just started to walk and become a busy busy little body.
Trent in Johannesburg is doing well, the church is enjoying a study through John Piper’s Desiring Gad series and many lives have been challenged through it. Still praying for someone special for his life to helpmeet him in his ministry. Please pray for him and stress of being a senior pastor, loneliness is a struggle!

UPDATE ON TROYDIE
Running
Well we are well on our way the walking was taking too slow so we now like to speed along as quick as we can. With this we have had some minor boo-boos with falling and bruising the little bod. One of which was a fall into the bath while mommy was leaning over washing her hair. OOPS!
Favorite Games
At the moment Troyden likes to play with DAD. He climbs on him and rides on his back like a cowboy riding a “horsy” and this is so much fun. DAD is his favorite at the moment and we are learning to say good-bye without tears.
Words
We know that when they do come they are all going to come together. Right now he is communicating with his own little monkey like sounds which are too cute – like oo oo ah ah and then thrown in there is dadadad and sometimes it comes out like dad!

Prayer Requests
Thank you each and everyone for your special prayers, God is Good all the time.
· Family needs as listed above, especially for the delivery of Tracy and Errol’s little bundle of joy (June 20th).
· For Tan and the twins, their development and her strength to cope with the pregnancy and Troyden. Pray for this to be a blessed time for all of us as we prepare for their arrival.
Ministry at Durban North
· Youth ministry and the way forward with God’s leading and guiding.
· Ministry in general – to remain focused on the Lord and to be reminded often that this is for His glory and not our own.
· For Tan as she pull out of ministry to focus on caring for the needs of Troyden and the twins to come this has been a hard thing for her as she loves to serve the Lord in many ways. Pray for special patience for her as she redirects her focus for this season in our lives.
NEEDS
· With the soon arrival of the twins we are facing many needs, new housing as our home will become too small too quick and the housing market is very very expensive, a bigger car and all the usual needs facing one when adding a new baby but now in our case two babies – please pray that the Lord will lead and guide us into our future.
· Our finances – the challenge to make the ends meet.
PRAISE THE LORD WITH US!!
· Troyden has been our biggest blessing and we are praising the Lord for his health, able body, strength, personality and development what a miracle! THANK YOU JESUS

NEWSLETTER - EASTER BLESSINGS

January , February and March 2008

Still battling to get proper internet connection – everything is Africa is so slow! Here’s our news up to date!

EASTER BLESSINGS
This is to send you special thoughts and prayers at this very important time of our year. Christ came to earth for the Salvation of us all. Thank you Jesus for the sacrifice you made for us.

Start of the year
We had a huge start to the year with Troyden’s FIRST BIRTHDAY. It was a great time of celebration – we had his friends and their moms around for a party our theme was Noah’s Ark. The party was followed by open house tea for all the church family to stop in wish the little man on his big day. It was so fun because he had just started to walk and was enjoying trying to be on his feet all the time.

Troyden with Jack having fun with the "Arky Cake"

Ministries at church
Ministry got off to a bang and were have been busy busy busy with all that is going on at the church.
Friendly Circle Granny’s Meeting
Tan had the opportunity of speaking at the Granny’s Valentines Day meeting and they had a wonderful time thinking on “Love”-ly things, singing some love songs and learning our Hearts are to be in Christ!
Church Getaway
Mark together with a committee planned the church getaway to a camp site in the foothills of the berg (mountains). 70 church folk joined us at the conference center for a weekend of fellowship, fun and getting back to the basics of our Christian Faith. We had a session on Prayer, one on Personal Devotion Time and Mark lead the one on Church and the importance of it in our lives. Tan helped plan the children’s ministry. We all had a very blessed time together.
Preaching Gods Word
This New Year has more opportunities for Mark to be in the pulpit as our senior pastor has taken on the President position for our Natal’s Baptist Association (our States Association). This position will require him to visit many of our region’s churches and preach for them. At the moment he is preaching through Colossians in the morning services and Jonah in the evening services.
Young Adults Bible Study
Our young adult’s ministry is up and running for the year and our group is loving the study of God’s word each week.
Guitar Lessons
Tan has been teaching on the side some of the young adults from church to play the guitar. Is has been a fun time to fellowship and sing together.
Ladies “Treasures and Gems” meeting
The ladies of the church had their quarterly meeting and the theme was Treasures and Gems we had 4 church members share their own personal testimonies of how God is their treasure. It was a huge blessing and such an encouragements to us all. We had a time of worship and made some gem salvation bracelets together to end of the afternoon.

Friends from the USA
We had the best opportunity to take some time off after the busy festive season and holiday down the coast with Terah, Nicole and Matt – good friends from USA. We made many memories and enjoyed the beach house a few meters from the crashing waves. It was very relaxing and a most enjoyable time was had by all.
We did some fishing – and everyone caught something. We swam in the African ocean which proved to be a huge experience as our waves are stronger and wilder. Some of us got stranded on the sand and boy did we laugh. Shopping and a little pampering at the “All African experience” Spar were also some of the things we added to our holiday time.

HOLIDAY FUN OUTDOORS

UPDATE ON TROYDIE
Walking
Well we are well on our way by the first party the little man was up on his feet and thought he was the greatest been able to walk around on his little feet. TOO CUTE!
Personality
Troyden is developing his little personality. He is outgoing, friends and very smiley. He will go to anyone at church and is quite comfortable to walk about by himself. He is like Tan’s little shadow and goes everywhere with her as she does the grocery shop and runs errands.
Soccer
He has become our little soccer player. He loves to kick a ball and run with it. At the moment it is his most favorite toy.
Counting our Blessings
We are so blessed to have such a content and happy child and true blessing from the Lord!!

March BIRTHDAY time
We took our weekend off over the Easter Weekend and traveled up to visit Trent in Johannesburg. It was lovely to spend the weekend with him. Tan celebrated her 29th Birthday on the Saturday; we went shopping to some of the big malls in Joeys and watched a Rugby game at one of the local schools. Easter Sunday was Trent’s 31st Birthday and he preached to God’s glory we so enjoyed sitting under his teaching as a family. We celebrated our birthdays with a big roast dinner as the weather was a little chilly with winter on its way. It was a lovely weekend of family and fun together. We so miss him living so far from us but praise the Lord we are all together in Africa for this season of our lives. Troyden so enjoys playing with his Uncle T they get along really great. Our Easter had extra blessings of being together as family.

Prayer Requests
Thank you each and everyone for your special prayers, God is Good all the time.
· Knowing God’s will and leading in our own lives as we continually seek direction from him especially in the leadership of ministries.
· Tracy (Mark’s older sister) pregnancy has gone really well and her little boy will be born: due date 20th June.
Ministry at Durban North
· Marks preaching – we are praising the Lord for his continual stretching teaching and guiding. Mark has so grown in this avenue of ministry please continue to pray for him as he ministers in this way one Sunday morning a month and 3 Sunday evenings a month.
· Sunday school involvement we have gotten involved there to over see the ministry to the children and are planning our first holiday bible club for April 2008 – The Lion King.
PRAISE THE LORD WITH US!!
· Praise the Lord for a church family that has welcomed us and made us feel part of their ministry in South Africa, Durban. We also thank the Lord for much space to minister together with the senior pastor and his wife and for their leadership and guiding in our lives, they have allowed us so much opportunity to grow and we thank the Lord for them and all the members at Durban North Baptist Church.
· For our finances – our challenge to make the pennies stretch continues but we continue to praise the Lord for his provision in all things.

FROM GOD’s WORD
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty - Psalm 91v1