The Gift of a Place to Gather
By Patty Spykstra The mission of the Retreat Centre is to be a place, which seeks to develop authentic love relationships between the Father and His children, inspiring them to live out their Kingdom calling in the world. This December 25 marks the third Christmas here at Oceans Retreat Centre in Fish Hoek, South Africa. […]
The Gift of Hope in the Protea
It was a wonderful graduation celebration the other week at Oceanview Care Center. The children sparkled as they sang, acted out the Christmas story, and as each one proudly received their graduation certificate. The graduation speaker was a local artist who turned shipping containers into a wonderland of beauty, and brings such a sense of […]
The Gift of “Warming Up”
If you have participated in any type of sports or physical activity-even shoveling snow-you know how important it is to stretch your muscles and do a proper warm up. Failing to correctly warm up can lead to muscle damage, which may quickly side line you from the competition or keep you inactive. Our African sisters […]
The Gift of Returning
Although Thanksgiving may not be celebrated in South Africa, Black Friday Sales are certainly advertised everywhere! Yes, December and all the festivities and shopping are already upon us. Yet, I want to take a moment to focus on the free gift Jesus gives us at any time of the year by what He demonstrated when […]
The Thanksgiving Invitation
There is power in a heartfelt thank you! Recently Oceans hosted a group of Wycliffe Bible translators from Madagascar. They were some of the most gracious people I have ever met. Their English was limited, but one phrase they knew very well was “thank you!” Greeting them each morning in the dining room I would […]
Anointed to Love
The sun had set in Fish Hoek and Patty and I were just finishing dinner when there was a knock on our flat door. It was Sunny, a 14-year-old young lady, who resides on the Retreat Centre campus with her mom Thobeka-who is part of the Oceans Team. Sunny asked if we had time to […]
