“Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God…” - Ruth 1:16

Well what can I say about today?

The devotional was excellent and truly a blessing.

I found the day a little slow I think there was a little bit of fatigue from the Alumni dinner and then perhaps there was that sense of things coming to an end. Generally challenging as you try to work with the client on pertinent issues that they need to look at for their scorecards.

There’s a strong sense of fellowship and friends that will be with us for life.

The feedback is that this has been very professionally facilitated and timing has been spot on.

As we prepare for the client feedback on Thursday, there is a great sense of expectation, as we all look forward to testimonies of how God has enabled us to re-purpose businesses. Lina, you are an amazing partner, your spiritual insight is humbling, you made the venture special.

The chocolate cake at lunch was just delicious.

God is good!

Millie (SA)

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We finished all the Ps today. What a good day!

It’s so sweet isn’t it when God sometimes takes you to a place where He knows that it would just be your favorite destination?

Well, one of common icebreaker questions at our small group in California is “If money was not a constraint, what would you rather be doing?” I remember answering “I’d love to run a beautiful coffee shop where women can find a place of solitude and be refreshed.”

God is a father of good gifts, so He gave me one to unwrap in Joburg. When I arrived at my client’s coffee shop, I was in awe. The ambiance of the place was serene, warm and elegant. It’s where women can gather and be blessed. It’s where we want to take our mothers and chat with them about our lives. It’s where we want to take our girlfriends and share our laughter. It’s where we want to take our daughters to unwind and be rejuvenated. I can’t do justice in describing the “Place” that Minnellis has.

And God has entrusted this to my client, Noreen. I admire her heart that seeks after the Lord. She desires to honor God in every area of her business. Praise God!

My co-consultant, Millie, has just been a huge blessing. Millie, your transparency has made the discussions fun and full of love.

Girl, You Know It is True!

Lina (Minnellis) Tjong

“As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision.” - Daniel 9:23

With the equip venture in its final week, the equip team is really forming strong relationships with clients, consultants, family, and friends alike.

On Monday we had our visioning day and God was so great, really creating miracles, opening doors, and giving consultants and clients wisdom and understanding. God’s presence was really felt and experienced during the venture, consultations and even during our fun events, it was just awesome to experience the love and caring felt by all.

Herman Heunis (client) had his marketplace miracle in the first week. As his business is recovering from a huge financial setback, God just showed his mercy and grace as Herman received an order that hugely increased his turnover!

Herman (client) with his consultant, Christo Botes (SA)

Monday evening we had our equip banquet, and a great evening was had by all, consultants and clients alike. The vision of equip was shared, as well as the name change, and some great speakers shared with us what God put on their hearts. The food was excellent, and everybody had a wonderful evening at our first Gauteng Banquet!

New friendships being formed at the banquet: Zelda Botes (Prospective SA consultant), Teju (US consultant), Mariette Atkinson (Friend, SA), and Dena (US consultant).

As we are in the final week of our venture, we in Gauteng really experience that every client had a divine appointment to be here, clients and consultants were so amazingly matched, it could only have been led by the Spirit of God, and the presence of God is manifesting itself in a loving and caring atmosphere, merging consultants and clients into caring friendships.

Blessings,

Christo Botes (SA)

“He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” - 2 Corinthians 5:15

Today, we loaded onto a tour bus and headed to the launching place of Nelson Mandela. Both the US and South African consultants were delighted to play the role of tourist for the afternoon on an excursion through neighborhoods in Soweto, a prominent black community and the birthplace of black empowerment in South Africa. After visiting the Hector Pieterson Museum, dedicated to the students who died during the 1976 riots in Soweto, we went to lunch at Wandie’s. What a spread of meat! There were nine dishes of various parts of beef, chicken, and lamb. Jenna even had South African-style tripe. Our US consultant, Teju, being a native of Nigeria, was able to describe some of the African grains used in the vegetarian dishes. For dessert we watched David consume an unwarranted amount ice cream. Many of us are becoming concerned with his daily ice cream intake. David hasn’t let this affect his productivity, however, as he continues to serve like the man-machine that he is.

After lunch, we herded into our big happy bus and went on our happy way until the bus’s battery died. Thank goodness for all the strong men aboard as they were able to push the bus to a high enough speed to get the engine started again. Off we drove to the home of Gogo, or Grandma, as Phillip Shapiro affectionately calls her. Phillip heads a ministry that works closely with Gogo’s neighborhood and its many impoverished children. Her front yard has a large trampoline upon which several of the neighborhood children were jumping when we arrived. And what beautiful children! One of the children, Wendy, befriended Jenna and practiced her English. Jenna placed a decorative comb in Wendy’s hair to remind her of how beautiful she is. Many of the children in Gogo’s neighborhood are in need of proper education and even proper food much of the time. The ministry helps to provide in this regard and also implements basic sanitary needs such as outhouses.

It was such a blessing to see God’s heart for the people of Soweto through servants like Phillip and Gogo. Today was a heartbreaking yet hope-filled experience for all the consultants.

Remembering Soweto,

Jenna

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” - 1 Peter 2:2

On Saturday, the equip team of South African and US consultants came together to visit, share, and get to know each other better. Jokes were shared, Barend taught Jenna some Afrikaans words, Alex skilfully prepared the meat, and Gerrit transferred “the shirt”.

A nice time was had by all as relationships were cemented in brotherly love and respect.

Alex, the Braai Meister, is preparing the meat at the barbeque (braai in Afrikaans).

Meanwhile, we’d like to welcome Enyi, equip’s first baby during Venture, courtesy of proud parent of Chucks and Toyin Ugoihe in “General Hospital” at Pretoria!

Blessings,

Christo Botes (SA)

P.S. Here’re the highlights of the first week:

• Monday: Elite Eight for 1^st week
• Gauteng Team Leaders (Barend, Gerrit, and Eric) decided to go for 8Ps in the first week (incredible)!
• Tuesday: Dinner with Chuck and Toyin
• Lina and David had good “prayer” discussion over dinner with Chuck (the lead intercessor) and Toyin.
• Wednesday: Show Me the Money!
• Cristo’s client landed a 2-years contract worth 3.6M Rand!
• Thursday: Meet the Presidents
• Dena attended a state dinner at the Presidential Guest House in honor of the Singaporean Presidents visit.

• Friday: “Good Will” Hunting in the (meat) market
• At the consulting session, we learned that 80% of Jo-berg residents are pre-believers. Hence, Princess Jenna came to rescue in the marketplace for the lost souls, that is, the Crazy (for Jenna) Eight. Hmmm… does “catch of the day” have the potential for a soulmate? Too bad Teju passed the “ugly shirt” (aka anointed attire) to Gerrit, she’d be a great “hit” with the guys!

“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” - Psalm 55:22

God is doing mighty works and it is evident in miracles that we are experiencing with Teju’s clients.

Teju’s co-consultant is Stephan who actually has a day job as a consultant :) and their clients are Mwanzi Support Services (Mwanzi is the highest point on Mt. Kilimanjaro). They primarily provide contract catering and cleaning services and fulfill every procurement service requirement in-between. It’s been great to see the changes begin to happen in their thinking processes around their business and its reason for being and to actually have the entire team (there are 6 directors and all are attending the venture) begin to come on board with forming a single vision they can all subscribe to.

Yet, Mwanzi have had two directors fighting each other over the past eight months to the point that there were court cases against each other. Obviously this had affected the company but more sadly their families as they used to be very close friends.

We met with the intercessors for prayer as a group on Tuesday and by 8 am on Wednesday the two had decided to put the past behind them, reconcile, and move on!

Teju asked each of them what had happened to prompt the decision now and was told that each had been unable to sleep the night before and had been bothered by the conviction that the issue needed to be resolved. They both attributed the change to the principles they were taught at rep and the prayer as a team the day before.

Anyway, we’re excited to see what the outcome of the venture will be for Mwanzi and can’t wait to follow up with them to hear about all the cool stuff God does in their business as a result of their being re-purposed.

Meanwhile, David’s clients also experienced a financial miracle at the right time! They needed enough income to provide salaries for the team for April (especially with them being out of the office for almost two weeks!) and a client who had owed them money for a long time paid up this week!

It’s been cool meeting all the new people; co-consultants and clients. There has been such a push for cohesion between the local and US-based consulting teams and it’s great to see things already coming together and consultant pairs appear to have been divinely inspired! :)

Please continue to pray that each client experience business breakthrough and personal reconciliation to bring transformation to their societies and spheres of Influence.

We serve a truly awesome God!

Teju Adejani