CHARIS IN STELLENBOSCH

NAMROCK...

2007-06-29T10:22:00.001+02:00

WE WILL, WE'LL NAMROCK YOU!!!

I am proud to say that i have now been to Namibia, learnt how to setup and take down my own tent(i now own my own tent), camped in the desert, showered in a portable shower with freezing cold water for 3 days(and managed to wash my hair), used the smelliest long-drop toilets ever, and worn the most amount of clothing i own at one time!!! ;-)

NAMROCK was organised by Claude and Rudi (you guys are stars***) and was designed to be a weekend of worship in the Namibian desert, and that is was! It was also a great way for the churches in Stellenbosch to connect...and the bonds formed will not be easily broken!!

We drove up Thursday night around 23h30 and arrived at the site late morning, setup our tents, got cleaned up...and set-up our sound gear! Our first session was after dinner, and by this time we could imagine why we were told to bring our winter gear! ha! It was so cold there at night i must have looked like a snowgirl with all my layers!!! I could hardly feel my fingers and playing my piano was rather difficult! I'm surprised my fingers didn't stick to the keys!

The next 2 days were very full...planning worship sets, practicing, singing, eating, sleeping, enjoying the beauty of God's creation, being still, sitting round the campfire, meeting new people, and just getting involved in other peoples lives! I ended up spending most of my time with the band members...there were only 4 of us, so it was great to be able to form real, lasting friendships there!

Band members-NAMROCK 2007: Charl, Mark (also from Vineyard), Rochelle and Charis.

Charl (aka papa bear) leads worship at Stellenbosch Gemeente Church and is loads of fun to hang out with! He plays guitar and sings beautifully (check out http://www.charlfolscher.com/) !! His lovely wife couldn't join us, but we will be having our cheese fondue soon!! ;-) YAY!
Rochelle played keys too...(more pads Rochelle!!!)...and it was so great getting to know her a bit better too! She definitely brings joy with her uncontrolable giggles!

Mark played guitar and sang, and i sang and played keys!
The talented Gideon played keys the first night too...while Rochelle was driving up still...amazing bass buddy! ;-)

Naomi and i shared my tent and ended up really bonding and sharing some deep stuff...as well as a lot of sand and many a giant thorn!! She is a wonderful friend and i'm so lucky to have her here in Stellies! (she is from Glasgow is Scotland...and i LOVE the way she says "aRea"...reminds me of Alan Scott! ;-))

We were truly out in the desert...we drove for what seemed like days, on dirt roads, with a LOT of dust...but it was wonderful to get away into nature, to see the stars clearly, and to be far from cellphone signal! We had a generator for the sound equipment, but other than that, we lived the simple life! It was great! Each town we passed looked like a cluster of 10 houses and if we were lucky, a shop and petrol station...but this was a treat! I am still amazed that people actually LIVE there! hehe

We decided to stay a few extra days after NAMROCK and enjoy some of what Namibia has to offer! The first night we stayed at Ai-Ais resort...they have hot springs, so a lovely warm pool welcomed us...so great after 3 days of cold showers! The following day we went to see the Fish River Canyon...one of God's many masterpieces! So vast...and breathtaking! Kinda scary standing on top and looking down! As you can see...it is very dry there...and i'm not sure the Fish River is really a river?! mmm...

We stopped for lunch and i made friends with donkey...isn't she lovely?! So tame! ;-)
Then we headed to the Orange River which is right on the SA border...we got there around dusk and the sun was setting over the beautiful rockface directly opposite our campsite...with just one look, we decided we needed to stay an extra night!

So the next day we slept late, paddled upstream on a little inflatable raft, enjoyed the sunshine, attempted fishing, and ate some amazing food!(braai's are the bomb...and chicken CANNOT be eaten without mrs balls chutney!)

That night we packed everything up..including my tent...and slept under the stars so that we could get up and go in the morning! We left just after 7am and after 7 hours of smooth sailing...and a lot of nutella sandwiches...we found ourselves back in Stellenbosch...with one extemely dirty car!!
VuVu, BuBu and SuSu...on a NAM trip with AVO...long live road trips!!!

Apple...

2007-03-23T09:42:00.002+02:00

I forgot to tell you all...i eventually got my Macbook!!! It's wonderful!! I am loving it! Here are some fun pictures taken with my new apple macbook...

Beach pics...Koelbay...

2007-03-23T09:14:00.000+02:00

So...we seem to always end up at Koelbay when we go to the beach! Here are some good memories...

The beautiful beach...
Rod and i...
The surfer boys...Crazy Benjerminer...

Some more photos...

2007-03-23T08:33:00.000+02:00

Meg and i...
Eeeeek...
Arty pic...
Christiaan visitin...Brett's birthday...
Visiting Ben's farm...

New years...

2007-03-23T08:04:00.000+02:00

We lead worship at the Simply Worship event at the His People at N1 City on New Years eve! It was great...about 2 thousand people...scary...but great...got some fun pics i thought i'd share with you all!

Apologies...

2007-02-09T00:00:00.000+02:00

To my avid blog followers...life has been busy!

My new laptop arrives in 3 days, so hopefully then i'll be able to update this blog on a more regular basis! Right now there is not time at work to do these things! Please forgive me and log on in a week or so to check out what i've been up to!

Just in the meantime...i thought i'd let you know that more of my special friends have left the country...a tribute to Simon and Dylon who have gone back to their homeland of Canada...you guys are wonderfuL and will be missed! I have included a fun photo taken with my NEW CAMERA of our last night...good memories!

Charis, Megs, Simon and Dylon

More news and photos coming soon!

Latest pics...

2006-11-27T13:57:00.000+02:00

So...my parents are away on a little holiday at the moment and so my sister and i decided to have a little braai on Saturday night...it ended up being me and Rod and Amy and her boyfriend, Brenden. It was a lot of fun...and the weather was amazing! Here are some photos...

Memories of my weekend in Yzerfontein

2006-11-27T13:19:00.000+02:00

So...there are some really fun ones here...thought i'd share them with you all! Enjoy!

A lovely view...i really like benches ;-)

Megs on the rocks...

The guys getting ready for a surf!

Rod braaing...

Crazy times...

Relaxation at it's best...me, Megs and Rod

More Koelbay pics...

2006-11-24T14:36:00.000+02:00

The view from our tent!

Surfer boys...

Sunset...

2006-11-24T14:18:00.000+02:00

A beautiful sunset at Koelbay...i was relaxing while the boys went surfing...and got around a million sunset photos...but thought i'd spare you all and just add one! hehe ;-)
Isn't the Cape just AMAZING?!
Oh...the pic was taken from just outside our tent...that's how close we were to the beach! Woo hoo!

A long time coming...

2006-11-23T11:08:00.000+02:00

Hello lovely people!

I have started to get a few emails from disappointed blog readers because i've not been updating my information as much as i should be! Oops! So sorry guys!

So...i went camping in Koelbay 2 weeks ago...just for 1 night...but it was amazing! I went with Rod and Mark...they went to surf and i went to tan...and we all achieved our goals! Our camping site was right on the beach...check out the pic i took from just outside our tent of the beach!

It was so nice just to relax and chat around the fire! Also had a bit of a scare when the guys went for a surf the next morning and i was washing my hair...under a COLD water tap might i add...and i saw 2 baboons coming towards the tent! I ran back and put some of the food into the tent...and then jumped in myself...and watched as they ate our leftovers...and stole our muesli! It was rather scary...and all i could think was...if they lift the packet and eat out of it with their hands...maybe they could also unzip the tent and i wouldn't be so safe anymore! (of course i only thought about this once i was trapped in the tent with them outside!) Then i heard the guys come back...shouting and throwing rocks to try to get them away...i was so relieved! It was a scary moment and i'm glad they came back before the tent was unzipped! hehe

Got some get pictures of the sunset...so will pop in some for the next blog!

Life has become a bit mad at the moment...busy season has started and is in full swing here at the guesthouse and time off is very rare! I did have last weekend off though, and went up the West Coast with a few friends from church...to Yzerfontein! I've never been there before...and it was rather lovely...i might be tempted to go back!! A great time of chilling out and getting some sunshine! Also wrote a song...i wrote the verse in the morning while playing a bit of guitar in my room...then played it for Brett and Megs...and they gave some suggestions and we wrote a pre-chorus and chorus! Then Mark joined us and we fixed up the chorus a bit...and now we are pretty happy with it! It's much more fun writing with others than just having your own ideas! Maybe you'll hear it one day! ;-)

So as you can tell...i'm still passionate about music...singing, writing songs etc...and of course there must always be time made for this...it makes life much more fun!

I'll send some pics soon too...of my time up the West Coast!

Hope you are all doing well and loving life!

xxx C xxx

It's a new day...

2006-10-09T11:16:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone!

Well, as some of you may have known, i took some time off from worship last month and it was great! God's timing is just so perfect! I had some reasons why i thought i should take some time off...but looking back, i've been blown away at how God's ways are so much higher than mine! Sometimes i wonder what His reason is for doing things, not always quite so clear at first...but if we push past the uncertainty, He rewards us for our faith in trusting Him in everything!

So...in a nutshell...the past month has been both testing and exciting! I think the biggest thing for me has been that God has shown me that He has made me ME for a reason...and that my identity is in HIM and not in the fact that i can sing, or play an instrument, or lead a time of singing, or write a song...i do believe those talents were given to me by God...and i intend to keep using them ;-) ...but i feel like my identity is not in those things...it is in the One who created me and gave me those things! So that's quite exciting! Yay for God!

This past Sunday was my first week back leading and it felt different to other times...more real...more clear...less scary...and about me...and more about how BIG God is! I'm trusting the church were able to really connect with God through the songs we sang and that God was pleased by the praises of His people!

Thanks to everyone who took the time out to pray for me during my 'time-out' and those who encouraged me to seek God and learn to hear His voice more clearly! I have the most wonderful friends ever! Yay!

To infinity and beyond!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Charis*

My siblings...

2006-09-27T08:51:00.000+02:00

So...i have been slacking a bit on my blog since we have become rather busy at work...so i thought i'd just say hello and pop in a cool pic i have of my siblings! It's a rather funky one! Myself(25), my sister Amy(24), and my brother Julian(almost 22!).

Made famous...

2006-09-19T11:57:00.000+02:00

So...i got an email from Brett a while back about writing a few lines on worship for the TODAY Magazine...it was basically for worship leaders in different churches to write a little something to go into the October Issue. I wrote a couple of lines and then sent it along...not thinking mine would be chosen among the many others! Then today i find out that mine WAS chosen with a couple of other worship leaders...and so thanks to Brett, i'm going to be in the October Issue of TODAY! I'm rather excited about it...even though i can't remember exactly what i wrote...but i just thought i'd let you all know so that those of you who live in SA can buy it when it comes out...and see what i have to say! he, he! We had to send a photo too, so definitely check it out!!;-)

Canadians in the desert...

2006-09-15T15:37:00.000+02:00

Hello all!

So...today won't be a long blog...but thought i'd add another photo of my 2 Canadian friends, Simon and Dylon! They just came back from a trip to Namibia and sent me this pic! Cool isn't it?!

Spring Sneezes...

2006-09-14T10:53:00.000+02:00

Well what a lovely day it is! I love Spring...always makes me smile...so much closer to Summer...and getting bronzed! he, he! In all honesty though, i am quite sure that Vit D is a happy drug and when it gets into our system we can't help but smile and be happy! The only downside is that hayfever i seem to be getting bugged with...i'm not a fan of sneezing a million times in a row...but then again...there is sunshine!!! (look into the sun Ludwich!)

So...i figured i need to get writing since this blog is not going to fill itself...and i've heard from various sources that pictures are just not enough to get people to come back to your blog...so i'll try write some Charis stuff for you all to read!

Also...i've had a few requests to add more friend photos...so here goes...sorry Brett! Also...check out Brett's blog...he's got some great thoughts! Here is a pic of him and Mark Baker...

This week has been really great...i thought i'd be lonely with a lot of people away on holiday and at conferences and all, but it has been refreshing to say the least! I had dinner with Gail and Kathleen at my place on Monday night and it was so good just to chat and have a bit of a girly night! Kathleen is 6 months pregnant...and Gail has 2 daughters in their 20's, so there was lots of parenting talk...of course...the more i find out now the better i suppose...so it was great fun!

Then i went to movies with Rod on Tuesday night to see 'Lady in the Water'...it's a fairytale story...i really enjoyed it...even though there were some scary parts where some creature called a scrunt came up out of the grass to eat the narf...a bit hard to explain...go see it!(Ay Roddie...i remembered their names!) It was a fun evening...completed by a McDonalds jnr chicken burger or 2!
A pic of Rod...

Work is going well...we are rather busy all of a sudden, so i guess this is the start of the high season we're coming into now! Going to be rather busy i think, but much better than not having any guests!

Hope you are all doing well and loving life! Until next time...

More pics...

2006-09-08T10:41:00.000+02:00

Above: Miss Casey(America-land) & I ; Claire (N.Ireland) & I ; Ludwich & Desiree (Stellenbosch)

Below : Charis, Kirst(Canada at the moment) & Jude(Northern Ireland) ; Michael(Hermanus) & I ; Wendy(Northern Ireland) & I in Brussels ; Rohb(in London)

Friends...

2006-09-08T10:21:00.000+02:00

Above: Angels-Me, Pen(PE) & Misho(Australia) ; Me and Megan(Stellenbosch) ; Christiaan(USA) and I

So...as most of you would agree...different stages of life mean meeting new people, and making new friends...and sometimes losing touch with old friends...the latter not being one of the most exciting things ever! So...this blog is a tribute to all the special people in my life...whether you live on another continent or not...and whether we are in regular contact or not-so-regular contact...i want you guys to know that i have the best memories ever and i would not trade any of them...good times! Angels...you girls are the bomb!

Below: Amanda(USA) & Stef (JHB) ; Me and Pips (Canada/USA) ; Rachel (England) & Grace (Stellenbosch)

A quick overview of me so far...

2006-09-07T15:20:00.000+02:00

Here goes...
I was brought up in Cape Town, along with my brother and sister by our folks and lived in Edgemead until i was finished primary school...then my family moved to Gordons Bay and we lived overlooking the bay for 5 years while i was in high school. After finishing school, we moved to a winefarm between Stellenbosch and Somerset West. I went to Stellenbosch University and studied B Consumer Science(Food) from 2000-2003, then went over to Northern Ireland(Uk) to do an internship with Kathryn Scott...she and her husband Alan pastor the church up there, Causeway Coast Vineyard, and she heads up the whole music ministry...she also wrote the song Hungry(Falling on my knees)...for those of you who still don't quite know who she is!! Anyway, i was living over there during 2004! I also worked at SUBWAY while i was there...yummy!!! I arrived back in South Africa in December and moved into my new flat in Stellenbosch...which i LOVE!!! Then we started a guesthouse at our farm...me running it!

I love singing and have been involved in church bands doing backing vocals since i was in high school. I started leading a band when i was in my 3rd year of studies...for 2 years...then went over and did my internship with Kathryn in 2004. I then learnt how to play the guitar...not very well, but i tried...and then in 2005...when i got back to Stellenbosch, i started playing piano...and i now lead on keys...which is really exciting!! I'm involved in the Vineyard Church in Stellenbosch.

So...that's me in a nutshell...up till now...!!!!!!!