Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
This morning is the first time that we get oriented to where
we are in Franschhoek, West Cape….about 45 minutes from Cape Town. We are with Vivien and Cathy Botha’s
home. But, it’s more!
First, Vivien and Cathy stayed with us in our home in the
Cincinnati area when they came or the Pastors’ Development Program (PDP) last November. Along with Brennan and Michala Hilgen who
serve now in Lilongwe, Malawi they spent almost two weeks with us and we had a
great time getting to know one another, learning and training for pastoral
ministry. When we planned this trip to
Africa, we made sure that Cape Town was a sure destination. And, it is.
Here we are!
Vivien is the United Church of God elder responsible for the
care of the congregation here in Cape Town which has an attendance typically in
the high 30’s and 40’s. It has grown
since my last visit here in January 2013 when I conducted a Kingdom of God
seminar and there were only a handful, maybe 4-6 people that comprised the
congregation then. Now, it’s come
alive.
Roy Demont is the pastor who
comes from Durban once a month, but Vivien is the elder on the ground.
Vivien and Cathy have operated a jewelry (spelled “jewellery”
here) business called Penchant. They had
a shop in the touristy town of Franschhoek that attracts visitors from around
the world, mostly from the United Kingdom, continental Europe, Russia etc.
They design their own jewelry. They have since sold the storefront Penchant
store, but still do an online business called “Tuesday Jewellery.” They specialize
in jewelry that has personal meaning.
Even “Tuesday” has special meaning as it was a day that was significant
in Cathy’s life and death encounter with her health.
You can see some of their creations at
Their description of Cathy’s life with cystic fibrosis is
described on their website and I’ll post it here as it more accurately reveals
a moving story.
Jewelry for Everybody's
Story.
Hi there, I'm Cathy and my husband and business partner is
Vivien (and yes we know its usually a girls name!).
We live in the beautiful
wine and tourist region of Cape Town, South Africa. I was born with Cystic
Fibrosis - an inherited lung disease. By my reckoning I hoped to live to 44
years of age - I somehow settled on that number as my 'expiry date'. So
naturally we wanted to make the most of our time together. However, shortly
after getting married Viv was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour. We managed to
weather that incredible shock and after surgery and radiation we emphatically
decided that we would give up the rat-race and spend as much time together as
we both had left. As a result we founded our first and much loved jewelry
business- we opened a shop and a manufacturing workshop, designed the jewellery
collections, sold 1000's of our own designs to tourists around the world
(including Richard Branson). But in 2016 we finally decided to call it a day
and sold everything. Realistically I was very ill and didn't have much longer
to live. However quite unexpectedly and miraculously I received a bilateral
lung transplant at the age of 43 years of age, so you can imagine our
overwhelming gratitude and appreciation for the extra time we've been given.
After absorbing the magnitude of this miracle (only approx. 12 people receive
lung transplants per year in South Africa), we immediately started channeling
our passion for jewelry into designing collections that express the sentiments
that 'Everybody has a story'! And TUESDAY Jewelry was born. We are all defined
by the life events that have formed our values and influenced (are influencing)
us to become the people we are. TUESDAY jewelry seeks to acknowledge our
significant life events, our celebrations and our tragedies, our scars, our
victories, our joys. However big or small they may be. Viv and I are both
passionate lovers of nature, flowers and the beauty that surrounds us, and we
really appreciate the extra time we have to enjoy it. We seek to translate that
beauty into something lasting, beautiful, endearing and encouraging. I hope we
have a 'memory marker' for you, to help cherish and treasure the moments that
define us all. And if we don't, please ask us to design something special to
reflect your story!
We recently traveled to
Chicago to visit my long time friend (see Chief Cheerleader) and were so
excited to open a business and officially introduce Tuesday Jewelry to the
United States.
Thank you so much for reading this and we hope you love our jewelry and that you might share your own story with us.
Thank you so much for reading this and we hope you love our jewelry and that you might share your own story with us.
With love from Cape
Town and Chicago,
Cathy and Viv
P.S. Why Tuesday?
Cathy and Viv
P.S. Why Tuesday?
Because it can be just another day, and you have other plans for it. And in the middle of a busy life, on a Tuesday, you have lists to work through and things to do and deadlines to meet and places to go and people to see and phonecalls to make. Then unexpectedly, in the middle of it all, at 2:25pm, there’s that phonecall that you get - that thing that happens - that makes all of it evaporate into insignificance and changes you forever. Good or bad, for worse or for better, devastating or life saving, something happens that redefines everything about you. The life you were in the thick of is immediately, dramatically and forever changed. A reminder that tomorrow is promised to no-one and sometimes granted to some who thought it would never come. For us it was a phonecall on a Tuesday afternoon to say lungs had become available for a double transplant to replace the lungs that wouldn’t last another year. Leave immediately, we operate tomorrow morning. This is the jewellery that celebrates the joy and commemorates the tragic that comes on any day at any time. That last day of your life as you knew it.
Tuesday.
Here's contact information
To finds them online go to
Etsy.com and search
for “TuesdayJewellery”
Now a little about the Bed and Breakfast that they operate
on their home property. It is called “Daisy
Place” They put us in this place which is part of their family home. It’s very nice and has gotten great reviews
(still have to do ours!). You can see
this place listed where you can book it at these locations.
Immediately on Friday morning, we were able to see the
beauty of this area! Franschhoek is
surrounded by mountains, beautiful mountains.
It is in the middle of some of the greatest wine country in the world.
We spent the morning talking and just getting oriented and
deciding what to do.
Vivien’s mother
Barbara came up from Cape Town and spent time with her. Her late husband Stan
Botha was the elder before here, but he died in 2010. Barbara produces a newsletter of South
African church news that we appreciate getting every month in email.
As we all know in the news, Cape Town is experiences a
critical water shortage. The people here
take it in stride and are careful about water use. No watering of gardens is allowed. A 50 liter per day/per person limit of water
use is “imposed.” It’s hard to regulate,
but people are compliant for the greater good.
Bev and I found ourselves watching every drop that we used.
With Vivien’s mother Barbara we went to the Bon Bon café for
coffee. It’s just so nice to sit outside
and enjoy the environment.
From here Barbara went home and we took off for the
We went into Franschhoek to see things. It is a charming place with lots of tourist
shops catering to such. It has a French
feel to it, but no French is spoken. The
beauty of this place is the scenery, nature and the vineyards.
We discussed the possibility of Franschhoek as a place to
hold the Feast of Tabernacles It would
actually be ideal for visitors. It is a
very conducive place for such an event. Restaurants
and places to see abound. There are
places to meet
We stopped for a later a mid-afternoon lunch at a nursery and
that was enjoyable.
Then we headed for the nearby mountains….literally minutes
away. I wanted to do some walking and
hiking. We’ve been sitting and eating
too much!
We hiked some and I found this to be very refreshing and invigorating.
It was getting on towards sunset and the Sabbath and we
headed back for the Botha’s home.
We were not that hungry after a big lunch and just hung
around their place, snacked and talked.
These are some of my favorite things to do.
Tomorrow’s a big day.
Today was a really wonderful day with wonderful people and wonderful
scenery!
gayle_hoefker
2018-04-24
I love the photos of the unusual flowers and plants. This area is beautiful!
karin halvorson
2018-04-30
Cathy is a living miracle. I'm younger than she is and when I think of CF patients I think of people who die before finishing school. and then to get not 1 but 2 lungs transplanted is yet another miracle. God is amazingly good.