• Four stood next to their wives asking them to join them in the business and committing to be more involved at home.
• Four committed to serving the underprivileged (and several were already doing so).
• Four shared that they have much greater focus & direction after the venture.
• Three received incredible financial provision over the course of the venture.
• Two expanded their purpose to reach the nations.
• Two shared their stories of convergence.
• One business even received a new name!

The night ended on a great high note when Isaac Manogaram of Sitara Music played a video he had created as a thank you to the rēp team. What a blessing!

Tonight was a wonderful end to an incredible venture. I am so thankful to each consultant and each client for their dedication, work & love for the Lord. I am confident that, with God’s help, we’re several steps closer to transforming the city of Chennai.

Regardless of what we had going on during the day, we all took the evening off to enjoy a dinner together. It was a great time among the traveling consultants. We each shared what we were thankful for (family, the Lord, and rēp / the trip for most of us). Then, Chucks opened a can of worms about appetizing topics such as nude photography and eunuchs. Rebecca’s reaction was absolutely priceless – we all laughed so hard our stomachs and faces hurt.

Anyway, since I bet you’re wondering what Thanksgiving Dinner in Chennai entails, here you go.

• Team Menu: Chicken (cut like turkey), stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie & ice cream. Location: Sparky’s American Diner. Place settings – napkins & silverware.

• George’s Menu: anti-diarrheal, antacid, Pepcid AC, Mylanta, bread and water. Location: room 513 bathroom. Place settings – 4 rolls of toilet paper & a bed.

Oh – the joys of India. Thankfully, George was fully recovered and back to the Indian diet tonight.

During our end-of-the-day meeting two consultants shared wonderful “marketplace miracles” that had happened in their clients’ businesses. It was a blessing to hear about how the Lord is working. We spent time sharing prayer requests for our clients and then praying about those requests as well as others.

This has been an amazing adventure! We have a fabulous group of consultants who now feel like family. Kim has done a great job leading the entire venture…she is organized, an excellent presenter, patient and caring. It is a joy to serve the Lord with this team. I have learned a great deal about the Lord, about myself, about my business, about serving with rep, and about India and its people.

-Katy

The highlight of the evening came when after dinner, their huge black lab, Rambo, was allowed to join everyone and came in wagging his extremely strong tail very vigorously; I know because I got a few good whacks from his tail! Anyway, it was time to leave and we decided to say a blessing over each other and to my surprise Rambo quieted down, went behind the sofa and stood stock still. Apparently he understands the importance of the family blessing time and does that every single time they pray! Almost like clockwork, once prayer was over, he came out to socialize again. It was the funniest thing to watch.

My client also runs a home for abandoned babies and I met the three kids they currently have in their care. Looking at them I wondered how anyone could close themselves off from such vibrant lives! Apparently in some villages here, there are still a lot of beliefs practiced that either attach negativity to a girl child, or prevalent ignorance that allows a village witch doctor to convince a child’s family that he will bring bad luck to the family and therefore should be killed at birth! Thank God for people who can rescue these kids and give them a life! Looking at their little faces, I can’t help rooting for them and praying that they have a long and fulfilling life.

For the intercession leadership, Seelok and Ophelia, it was a day to catch their breath and to let the other intercessors practice all they had been taught.

Sybil, a key intercessor, played a major role in prayers for the day. She started with early prayer sessions with some of the clients and then visited several clients’ factories and offices later in the day.

Brett was woken up as early as 2.30am by a dream and in typical fashion produced a 4 page document that was used as part of a venture health check later on in the day. He, Lyn and Kim also got to visit Jairaj’s house. Jairaj is a key local rēp figure who is an amazing networker with inexhaustible energy.

Lyn was exhausted by the auto-rickshaw ride that had to go through narrow city back roads to get to his house and declared that there was no better way to get a true feel for Chennai.

Davey took the opportunity to get some shopping done and came back with quite a few “lungi”s; a traditional south Indian version of a trouser that is more of a loincloth!

We all met up for dinner and our mid-venture health check in Teju and Jenna’s room. Jenna had arranged for our first non-Indian meal of the trip; it was provided by a local American restaurant called Sparky’s… Sparky’s chef’s motto is “never trust a skinny chef”

The meal was a welcome change and a blessing particularly for some American consultants that are not so fond of spicy food.

Brett talked about key points that the consultants needed to focus on and we ended the evening with some prayer and sharing humorous events from the week.

- John

Time sure goes by fast.  We’re at the half way point and what a week it has been.  The process of repurposing the leader has begun.  Today was especially encouraging because we were reminded of positional truths in Christ and we also went through a time of affirmation for one another.  For one client, the affirmation came at just the right time as they were struggling with some of the strategies and the time of affirmation helped them to realign with the Spirit. 

I was privileged to have been able to go on a venture just a few weeks before.  Although each venture and client is different, what’s consistent is the fingerprint of God on the lives of those that love Him.  Their passion for God and desire to be obedient is contagious.  I am blessed by each client and I’m excited about next week as God continues to accomplish His purposes in them.

One consistent theme of Rep ventures is abundance of great food.  In South Africa we went to many bries and I was stuffed with boerwerst and biltong. Here in India we have had many buffets with all sorts of curry and naan.  What a blessing to get to know each country through its food, although next week I’m praying for Godly wisdom in self control.

We ended the week at a private club that one of the consultants has a membership to.  It was a nice time of fellowship as clients and consultants brought their families and we got a chance to meet their families that we’ve heard so much about.  It was a great way to end the week

- George

The second unstructured day had its share of surprises, events and fun. Virendra surprised us all by joining us today. Few clients along with their consultants attended the ‘Prayer and Visioning’ sessions with our Intercessory team where they are challenged to seek and enlarge their God given vision. I just happened to speak with one of the clients who attended this and he said that he was thoroughly blessed by this session and that it had touched not only his business but also the personal sphere of his life. He had to set right many things with God before moving on to his business. This is really thrilling as we are beginning to see God repurpose the person first before repurposing his business. Changes have to start from inside out.

A few consultants had the privilege of visiting their clients’ businesses. We got a few photographs from TIL (Trust in the Lord) Spices and heard about what a great business the clients have. They also made sure the consultants had some fun by taking them on a sightseeing trip to the Marina Beach (purportedly the 2^nd longest beach in the world).
TIL Spices

-Jemima

Brett, Lyn and Davey had the opportunity to go to a special meeting of police and government leaders. Brett did a presentation on Lemon Leadership. The Lord’s activity was clear, from the direction that He gave to Natchi regarding who to contact and how to present the idea, to the details of the day. Brett gave a wonderful presentation and the program was accepted very positively! There were doors opened and the Lord will lead in what will happen in the future.

During the evening a dinner was held for alumni consultants and clients. There were about 40 people in attendance. It was amazing to meet these wonderful people and hear stories of how their businesses had been changed due to their participation in a prior venture! The Indian people are very warm and caring. Their love of the Lord is so clear and strong. It is a blessing to be able to be a part of this venture and working with an incredible team!

- Katy

Kim Wilson’s amazing leadership skills managed IST (Indian Stretchable Time) impeccably, doing the time zone some justice and redeeming the acronym’s intended meaning. I have never experienced this many hours in an Indian day.

Other highlights include one client realizing his purpose within his company, US consultant Jemima discovering our Indian consultant, Vijay, is college friends with her husband JP (who unfortunately could not make it), and Sparky’s YWAM Diner chef, Tom, spending most of our dinner harassing us with bad jokes… Never trust a skinny chef.

Our client and consultant pairings have been implemented smoothly, with no other news to report at this time. I expect God to reveal the divine appointments over the next two weeks…

Jenna