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!!
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.
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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.
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!
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.
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!!
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!!
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Me in moms shooz!!
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Day outing to play in the Sand pit!
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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!!
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!!
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TWO WEEKS TO GO UNTIL WILBY TWINS ARRIVE
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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...
