Final thoughts from Brett

Every time we finish a Venture I get asked, "What was different about this one?" This Venture to Gauteng had some key attributes which I hope will become the norm for future endeavors:

• There was a strong group of intercessors headed by Jenny McMillan who prayed for months before the Venture, and kept the boiler room stoked and on fire for the whole Consultation. Apart from praying every day throughout the sessions, the intercessors visited clients with us, participated in visioning sessions, and won many battles in prayer. They gave regular confirmation that the topics we were tackling with clients were the ones God was leading them to pray through. This should happen on every Venture.
• We gained a greater understanding of the foundations of the city, and how, in the language of Isaiah, we are to raise up the old foundations, and re-lay new stones. This was fairly intense, but our perception is that the business strategies developed by clients were key in countering greed, division and competition, which are some of the historic roots of Johannesburg.
• The equip Venture was set in the context of city-wide transformation initiatives, and we had opportunities to connect directly with leaders of such initiatives. The local equip leadership team had sought out those who constitute the “city elders” and received their blessing and support, and opened doors for us to speak into their situation.
• We began sessions on “repurposing the leader” early in the Venture. A group of roving consultants had good strategic input to the clients, starting from the first unstructured day.
• We continued the practice of identifying giants, and targeting business strategies at these societal ills that oppose God’s work.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

It was nice to have the option to sleep in this morning and hang out around the breakfast table before rushing off for the day. Many of us enjoyed a last breakfast with Jonathan before he left for his week-long safari near Kruger National Park (first team member to leave and break up our little community).

It took us several hours to organize a game plan for our last day together (mobilizing a group is always tough, but especially at the end of a long week). We finally settled on a "crocodile ramble" … not sure the literal translation to American English, but I’d describe it as a tour where the journey is the destination. We found our way to Nwenga Village, which has 5-6 small craft/artisian shops surrounding the Nwenga Glass Works (beautiful glass objects made from recycled products). The best part was that the village had a lovely park area in the center with some play equipment for kids and tables/benches for adults. We spent a couple hours eating, talking, enjoying fresh air and sun and playing with the kids … was so nice and relaxing.

In the evening, we went to Moyo for a nice dinner with African drumming and dancing. It was a fun environment to share memories and a "last supper" together.

Hard to believe that we’ll all be going our separate ways tomorrow—some flying off for vacations in Cape Town or a safari near Kruger, and the rest flying back home. We’re all feeling the bitter-sweet of saying goodbye … sad to leave new friendships and all that God has stirred up here in Gauteng, but happy to return to family, homes, own cell phones and cars, etc.

Thank you for sharing in this venture with us! Please continue to pray for the 11 business owners who will be embarking on the next phase of this Equip venture (e.g., living out their purpose as business ministers and stewards for God’s kingdom) and city of Gauteng.

- Colleen Atherton

Friday, March 17, 2006

Today represented the last day of the venture and the day when the clients present what God has done over the last two weeks. This is also the highlight as people share and reveal what God has done and we pray for and commission them to go forth with God’s blessing and authority. Highlights are below.

Siya Phambili - Vuvo Vuvo’s printing business burned down last September at the same time she first heard about Equip. Through the consultation she learned that this business is not her passion, but that she desires to be a mentor. She has gone from creating documents to creating entrepreneurs and will use the printing business to allow others to learn how to build and run a business. To create entrepreneurs who love the Lord and are willing to serve others.

Simply Tissue - Bruce & Estelle Bruce shared how the first day of Equip was like going back to school, overwhelming and intimidating. God had written things on his heart, but he didn’t know how they fit in and how to implement them. Equip helped him put feet to God’s desires and to figure out how to incorporate them in his business so it can be more than tissue sales, but an extension of God’s love and healing to his employees, customers, and suppliers. God told Bruce his business is to be an extension of salvation to people in despair. Very quickly he realized how big the vision is and that he didn’t have the ability to do this. God’s response was, "Exactly!" It will take God to repurpose Simply Tissue. Bruce strongly challenged others that, "The greatest loss would be to leave here and not be changed. God has given each one of us so much, it would be a shame if we didn’t implement any of it."

Seabelo Garrun (Pty) LTD - Freddie Seabelo Garrun provides short-term insurance. As we referred to it, if you want insurance for Mad Cow Disease, Freddie’s your man. Freddie initially found it a challenge to not be distracted by his business and remain engaged, an act of faith to trust that God will cover the business and that the consultation will be worth it. God proved faithful. Despite not being in the office, God provided 2/3’s of his monthly earnings in the 2 weeks of Equip. Freddie’s partners are Jewish and he was very close to terminating these partnerships because of this. God made it clear that these partnerships are God’s desire for Freddie to share who He is and His love. "As a result of Equip, Seabelo will become a media of salvation to the lost. Insuring today, Assuring Eternity"

Dorothy Van’t Riet (DVR) Design and Decor Consultants - Dorothy & Bernard Dorothy and Bernard desire for DVR to "Become the top Kingdom Interior Design Business, creating inspired spaces to the glory of God." God taught them that He is speaking and what we say can have an impact and can bring life. The point isn’t the challenge, but to see why and what God is doing with it. Their home and business is in a 99-year-old house built by one of the Randlords, the original diamond mine owners in Johannesburg. There has been a lot of hurt and injustice in South Africa’s mining history. Dorothy and Bernard are dedicated to using this house to repurpose it for God so that it becomes a place of healing to wash away a history of hurt. Dorothy has an amazing personality and leadership. The process has taught her that she needs to honor and respect those around her, in particular her husband, whom she publicly thanked for what a large role he plays in her life and the business.

Active Chemicals - David and Lynda David and Lynda started out pursuing the security of corporate world. David described their testimony as a history of God. With hesitancy they confronted the risk of starting their own company. God blessed them significantly and the business took off. Then things turned and became very difficult and rocky. Then things became rockier. But through this, God was faithful, proving that the survival of their business is beyond their own abilities. Then things became the rockiest. Equip brought a lot of insight for them. God is faithful, but they also need to be faithful. David learned that he can’t be random and reactive, but that the business needs to have a plan and he needs to be consistent and committed to carrying this plan out.

Institue for Christian Leadership Development - Rachael Olusegun God desired for Rachael to be involved with Equip for three reasons: her personal life, the Institute, and the seed for business He has planned in her heart. "The vision of the Institute is to raise the standard of leadership in society through the application of Biblical ethics in government, business & education." Rachael realized the importance of the Institute partnering with churches and other Christian organizations. She also realized that they have been too focused on program development and that real change will come from the relationships between the leaders and with their participants. The time ended in a very moving way as people representing churches, sectors of society, and nations went up on stage to receive Rachael, the Institute, and Christ into their areas.

Maltitz Marionettes - Alida Part of Alida and her husband Jaap’s historic mansion has been converted to a 60-person auditorium for elaborate puppet shows that illuminate stories in the Bible and Kingdom principles. The Equip venture enabled Alida to articulate her purpose, "Inspire people to want to know God through the performing arts." Alida also wants to change the name from Maltitz Marionettes to Untangled Marionettes to show how this process has given her purpose and what Christ can do for people’s lives. Alida is truly a woman with a loving and gracious heart.

Kempbisa - Hennie, Pedrie, Kobus, Johan, Lesley Kempbisa is a non-government organization with the purpose for Kempton Park and Tembisa to facilitate God’s unity and for Him to transform their community. These men got up and spoke with passion about how God will use them to impact their communities. Then these men began to apply what God had laid in their hearts by blowing a Shofar to commission the Equip businesses and by praying for them. It was a powerful time.

CSI - Gary & Tim CSI provides large vats and acid-resistent materials for the mining industry. God has told them there is much more. That these two men are to be fathers and mentors to their employees, and that they need to remove divisions and create social upliftment. These men came to the Equip venture with a humility and openness to the consultants and God’s analysis and direction. God was faithful to that openness. During the on-site session, one of CSI’s staff accepted Christ.

Style in Sight - Colin, Graham & Bernhard of Style in Sight, an optics chain, indicated that they have previously attended a lot of training, but that Equip has set a new standard for them. Before Equip, the business was running profitably with a good partnership between the owners, but they lacked impact for the Kingdom. These men realized that eyes are the windows to the soul and that they need to do more. Their slogan has gone from, "See Well, Look Good" to "See Well, Look Good, Feel Great". To do this, they need to care for their customers. "For lack of vision my people perish."

Diphororo - Del In the past, Diphororo had provided consulting and recruiting services. Due to a traumatic divorce and struggles in life, the business died. God used Equip to birth a new purpose and business for Del. Diphororo will become an organization to bring spiritual reconciliation to women and assist them live out their God-given purpose. Diphororo will help women discover the abilities that God has created in them and develop these into marketable skills in the business environment. God has blessed Del with an amazing singing voice and she shared this gift so everyone could experience God’s presence.

One of the assignments from the past week was for the men to write a love letter to their wives to communicate their value and how much they appreciate them. Just before tea, Pedri, one of the client’s from Kempbisa, took Lyn’s assignment to a new level. From the stage he confessed his love for his girlfriend Adele. This was more then just a letter from his heart, but an actual public proposal for marraige…she said Yes.

We spent the evening discussing the venture. It has been an amazing and intense two weeks. God has been very faithful and each consultant communicated just how much He has done. God truly is great and sovereign.

- Chris

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Our final unstructured day with the clients. We were all finalizing our deliverables to the clients, and many were also busy helping clients with their presentation for our final day on Friday. Some of the US and Malay consultants took in "Constitution Hill", a museum of the history of South Africa. We are all thankful for the wonders of our God and the deliverance of His people the past two weeks.

During a visioning time, we witnessed a tremendous deliverance from deep hurt and unforgiveness in one of our clients. Seelok Ophelia, Joyce and I, and Jeff, witnessed a powerful move of God that set this client free that will now release her into her destiny. Praise the Lord! We had a wonderful dinner with Flip Pretorius and his wife Marie providing an incredible lamb curry meal. Jorrie and Thea the owners of the Oaklands B&B were the hosts. It was great to meet new friends and we also had a few of the South African team join us. The American and Malay team cannot express enough, our love, and appreciation, for Jorrie and Thea Fourie, our hosts at the B&B here. They and their staff have become like family. They have taken great care of us. We will miss them, but many of us know we will see them again, because of where God may call us and because they are family. Joyce and I look forward to hosting them in their first trip to the USA sometime later this year or early next year.

Tomorrow will be an emotional day, as we culminate with the testimonies of life that the Lord has infused in our clients, their families, and their businesses. We have witnessed several new conversions to life in Jesus with many more to come. It is such an honor to paricipate in eternal transformations in peoples lives to the glory of our God. Christ has poured forth through "Equip", and it is great to be part of this team.

- Robert Ricciardelli

Wednesday, March 15 2006

Productive day! It started as usual, with Robert sparking up a conversation with a woman who wondered in for breakfast and in addition received an encouraging story about truth. During the day we went through the final two P’s: people and process.

In the morning we focused on the ideas that we can do more together than we can on our own and that our sphere of influence is typically much bigger than we realize. Lyn reminded us that recognition and encouragement are important parts of working with people.

Colleen organized group photos during lunch… fun pics to come!

In the afternoon we discussed that our business processes need to be run through a filter of questions that make sure each process is consistent with the Word of God as well as our values and that they are consistent with our purpose.

Tiia, Ophelia, Lyn and I made a quick run to Woolworth’s to being a healthy dinner back to everyone so that we could spend the evening together as a team, working and wrapping up our scorecards and deliverables before the clients’ presentations on Friday. It was a great time of working and sharing together. I personally received great encouragement and inspiration from a powerful conversation with Abi. We wrapped up just before midnight… sweet dreams!

- Holly

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Tuesday was an unstructured day, and we began with our client visioning session. Nissi and I met Brett, Lyn, Brenda and our clients at Bless You Books, their Christian bookstore/coffee shop. Many wonderful ideas were generated for the bookstore. In fact, we got so involved in it that we had to schedule a second session to discuss the optometric outlets.

Later in the afternoon Joyce and I drove to the store, and I managed to scrape the rental car against a barrier outside the B&B gate. My first car mishap in 20 years. Thankfully nobody was hurt. I think my pride is more wounded than the car. I told the team they could have fun with it from tomorrow onwards, but for the evening I reserved the right to have absolutely no sense of humour whatsoever on the subject. Lower lip subject to wobbling without notice.

In the evening we were treated to a divinely decadent soiree at Dorothy and Bernard’s beautiful home, situated high on a hill overlooking the city. It was a sparkling occasion, from the ladies’ beautiful outfits to the elegant table settings. The cuisine was Lebanese, the music (incredible!) provided by Daniel Peterson, the testimonies provided by the audience, and Dorothy gave us a history of the house and her family. Brett introduced the traveling consulting team, and Chris did his usual Afrikaans song and dance routine, which included reassuring us that he is still a manly man (we’re glad to hear it, Chris). All in all, it was a lovely evening, worth losing a little sleep over.

Love and yawns from Joburg,

- Tiia

Sunday, March 12, 2006

This past week has been beautiful blur of new relationships, insights and South African exposures. It’s hard to believe that we’re at the half-way mark for our consultation.  Today was Sunday and most of us attended Grace Bible Church in Soweto with Jabu, one of our South African consultants. We were surprised to find a dynamic and relatively affluent church of approximately 5,000 people. After parking our car, we joined a group of people that gather in the parking lot before each service to pray for the church and the city. We did our best to sing along and keep rhythm with the worship, which was sung in several different African languages throughout the service. Approximately 15 people went forward to dedicate their lives to Christ after the service. We were encouraged to learn from Jabu that they set each person up with a mentor, help them to explore their spiritual gifting and then help them plug into an appropriate ministry team within the church. 

In another part of the city, Jonathan was preaching at a Dutch Reform Church of approximately 200 people. The church has a racially mixed congregation with an intent on bringing economic, social and racial reconciliation to the community. They are ministering to a nearby township were 60% of the 1 million residents have AIDS. This gives you a glimpse into the diversity and complexity that threads people and communities in Johannesburg together. It was wonderful to see these churches reflecting the same faith and passion for societal transformation that our clients had demonstrated during our consultation work. Clearly God is at work in South Africa, and using committed Christians to bring hope, reconciliaton and "beauty from ashes" in their communities.

The afternoon was spent with a short tour of Nelson Mandela’s original township home and Hector Pieterson memorial, and then shopping at a large, open-air market. The market had an overwhelming assortment of merchandise, including animal skins, wooden masks and carved animals, batik linens and artwork, silver and pewter silverware, beaded sandles and all kinds of jewelry and more. We had great fun exploring and trying our hand at negotiating prices in Rands.

We wrapped up with the day with Brett sharing about Equip at Rosebank Union Church’s evening service (the church his grandfather pastored years ago). Then enjoyed take-out Thai dinner while doing a team debrief back at the Bed & Breakfast. Whew, another long but memorable day in South Africa! Thank you for your prayers and for sharing in this venture with us. Blessings on behalf of the team

- Colleen

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Saturday was a somewhat relaxing day. We had the morning to ourselves to catch up on personal items (me - reading and sending emails), as well as really organize thoughts around all that happened during the week - a pretty busy one for us all. Robert and Joyce hosted a few pastors of Nigerian decent who have a charter for community transformation and are interested in understanding how to do this for the business side of community. Robert will be speaking at their church this weekend and I’m excited as to how God will use him there and the future connections that will result for Equip in Gauteng.

We spent the evening at Lesedi Village - a venue that re-enacts tribal life in South Africa. We experienced past life among 5 of the local Black African tribes scattered about Southern Africa. There was a dinner of somewhat indigenous meals with tribal dancing afterwards. While there, I met a group of African Americans from my hometown (Washington DC Metro-Area) who were part of a sort of travel club. God must have known that I needed to feel some elements of home, as I’ve been feeling like an island again. Imagine going half way around the world meeting the kinds of people you’ve grown up with all your life. It helped to remind me how small this world really is. Meanwhile, our very own Robert engaged in a reenactment of tribal war (as part of the show) with someone from Singapore. He won (but of course) and then began dancing in jubilation, similar to what the tribal dancers were performing minutes earlier. I am beginning to think he’s definitely gotten in touch with his "inner-brotha" while visiting here. This was possibly the third time I’ve seen him "get his groove on" this week.

- Nicole Dickens

Friday, March 10, 2006

Friday brought to closure our first week of training. Although most people seemed drained from the intense week, they pushed through. I don’t know if I have ever been around such a diverse group that is so humble and eager to be used by God. The training started with clients sharing their experiences from the week and the prayer and visioning times the day before. It was a very encouraging time as clients shared insights and breakthroughs into how God desires to use them and their businesses. Positioning and Partnering were the topics. Positioning is one of my favorite topics. The realization that God is all powerful and that by accepting Christ we are associated with Him and share in that authority has changed my perspective on life and how I approach many situations. 

After the training we drove to Johan Steenkamp’s house for a braai (barbecue). The 1.5 hour drive to Pretoria gave us an opportunity to enjoy both the countryside and Gauteng traffic, both were impressive. Johan and his wife Ansa have an amazing, custom-built home. The house blends into the earth with a rooftop garden and ladders that lead to classroom lofts and prayer rooms. The South African consultants joined us with their spouses and children so it was an opportunity to meet their families and fellowship. The highlight was when Johan’s four children gave us a concert, two on violins and two on cellos. The evening ended with everyone singing worship songs with Ansa on the piano and the stringed instruments in accompaniment. It was a blessed time.

- Chris Stanley

Thursday, March 9, 2006

Today was our second unstructured day. God never ceases to amaze me, and today was amazing. We started the day with Tim, one of my two clients of CSI, a manufacturing company. He picked me up from the B&B and had to make a stop at a friend, Gavin, to give him De-Tox medication. We had been praying for Gavin with the clients since Monday as he had fallen into heroine addiction after being free for 14 months when he had received Christ. It was a pleasant interruption to our day as we were able to speak life into Gavin. He was filled with condemnation and we were able to walk him through repentance and the ability to begin anew, his life in Jesus. He received all that the Lord had for him and with new vision and hope for a bright future. We believe he will never slip again, or let his guard down again, as he relies daily upon his Saviour. Please lift him up as he moves into a one month treatment program.

We then rejoiced as we headed to the factory. We arrived with my teammates from South Africa, Jessica and Jacques, and engaged with our other client, Gary. Our agenda for the day was to begin to look at the key people in the company and their roles, and then meet with Jonathan and Seelok later in the day to discuss the furthering of vision for CSI. God began to show Gary that he had given a lead position to a new employee and had kept a loyal, experienced, God-fearing employee of 15 years from advancement. The Holy Spirit moved in a mighty way as Gary repented for putting a ceiling on the employee that was the best suited for advancement and would begin the process of mentoring this man into his destiny for the company, and for the calling God has for him that has no ceiling.

As we finished our prayer for the client, I felt that Gary then needed to embrace Tim and impart a father’s blessing upon him. Gary sensed the Lord had told him that very thing. Earlier, Gary had mentioned that I was teaching him to hug, and that previously, he had a real struggle hugging other men. I did not give him much of a chance as the first day I met him, I drew him into me and gave him a bear hug, and have proceeded to do that several times a day since. Gary then proceeded to embrace Tim and impart to him a prayer from a father to a son. God is repurposing our clients in a way that is miraculous. Every day seems to build as God releases His understanding to all of us. We are all being repurposed to His ways, both clients and consultants. He is bonding us in relationships that are only eternal. We continue to be humbled by a God who never ceases to see His children grow into His glory and His purposes, to impact the nations for Christ.

- Robert Ricciardelli

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

We made it through our second day of training. Consultants and clients alike seemed to be showing signs of weariness, though the Lord was gracious to sustain us and we all pushed through. The intercessors were kept busy as they discerned heaviness over the room.

After a recap of Purpose in the morning we moved on to covered Product and Presence; the second and third of the 10 Ps. Brett also took us through a deeper understanding of what repurposing involves, discussing some of the various ways the Lord repurposes us (Revelation, Relocation, Multiplication, Replication, Persecution, Scope Expansion, Imagination, and Signs and Wonders), then asking for us to discuss at our table, the ways God has used to repurpose us each personally. We were also prompted to ask the Lord to remind us of a time when He may have given us an idea for business in the past that we had forgotten or dismissed as not the voice of God.

Overall, during our end of day debrief, there was an agreement that the clients seemed more receptive and that much healing and deliverance took place during the day. In addition, we were grateful to our intercessors diligence (we wouldn’t attempt any of this without them!), the client “match-up session”, Dave’s parable, Holly’s story, Johan’s impromptu, and Lyn’s closure for the day in Deuteronomy,

We ended the day by some of the US team attending our host church’s “Soup Kitchen” and enjoying an African time of praise and worship.

It was a very long day, but the Lord was faithful to see us through another day of serving Him.

- Joyce Ricciardelli

Tuesday, March 7, 2006

What an amazing day! We started with a morning devotional and then all separated into our South African/American consulting teams and went out to our client sites to better understand their businesses. My partner Charmaine is soft spoken with incredible spiritual insight; a real inspiration to me. She and I met our client, Alida, at her theater where she and her team perform for the community.

Alida is one of South Africa’s foremost puppeteers. After completing her BMus degree at Rhodes University, she worked under John Write in London and toured with the Salzburg Marionette company. She has frequently performed at arts festivals nationally and internationally and throughout the years, her puppets have been seen on TV many times.

She has been in the business for over 40 years and still uses the original wooden nativity puppets she carved by hand in 1967. Today she performs in her own theatre situated in a beautiful old mansion. There she also lectures and teaches in the art of puppetry. She has recently made a DVD of her Christmas nativity show and story of Jonah and the whale.

Alida has been very involved in the arts in Johannesburg. She is probably one of the first people in South Africa to understand that she can be a minister in business and the purpose of her business has always been to inspire people to want to know the Lord through performing arts.

Charmaine and I were completely inspired by Alida’s passion for her work as well as her vision of winning hearts for Christ. After our tour of her theatre and workshop, we sat down and discussed how Alida could expand her business so that she leaves a legacy that doesn’t end with her. We completed our first 10-P scorecard and all went and had dinner with Charmaine’s family where we were able to learn more about each other and build a relationship that will last well after my three week venture in this remarkable city of Johannesburg.

When I returned to our lovely B&B, I found that the other consultants had similarly exhaustive but inspiring days.

- Holly

Monday, March 6, 2006

We are underway! We have a wonderful and varied cast of clients and consultants, and I am excited to see what mysterious but wonderful plans God has in store for us and the Gauteng region. We started with consultant introductions. I am paired with Nissi, a powerful man of prayer and perception, and fortunately we have complementary personalities and skill sets. Our clients form a partnership, and own several businesses, including a chain of optometric outlets.

We covered Purpose, the first of the 10 Ps, and had some challenging and interesting teaching around that from Brett.

Jessica shared a dream she had in February, where she saw Johannesburg and how the city had been founded on greed, competition and division by people hoping to exploit it’s natural resources. She talked about God’s plans to redeem this place, and how we are here as part of His amazing plans.

Lyn closed out the3 first day with a discussion and exercise on the 10 F’s. As this is my 2nd venture, I was interested to see how I’ve made progress in the area of faith (although from a very low base!)

After a final consultant debrief, we dragged our weary bodies back to the B&B for dinner and fellowship. Here ends the first day – may God continue to move within and around us.

Blessings,

- Tiia

Sunday, March 5, 2006

The USA consultant team, led by our tour local guide, Wayne, took us to an ‘informal settlement’ in Zevenfontein to attend Liberty Church set up in the middle of this poor community. The church facilities were basic; however, the presence of God and the people’s love for Him were evident. We were warned to be careful with our wallets and cameras. This turned out to be an unjustifiable fear.

We had a wonderful time of worship, and also had the chance to join them in dance before the Lord. Each visitor had the privilege to greet and address the local congregation of some 100 people of all ages. At the end of the service we interacted with the local people and took pictures with their children. It was an opportunity to make a real connection at the ground level and was an eye-opening experience for the consultants.

In the afternoon, the USA team met up with the South African team for a time of fellowship and getting to know each other. We appreciated the hospitality of Barend & Susan, who had over 35 people in their house for dinner. Barend, Jonathan, Brett and Willem took turns explaining the process, roles, timing and deliverables of the venture. The matching of consultants and clients was also announced.

The highlight of the afternoon was the time when visiting and hosting consultants gathered in groups of 4-5 people and prayed for each other, for clients, for the businesses, for the city of Johannesburg and the Province of Gauteng. This brought unity in Christ; we were truly engaged as a team from then on, and the Lord’s work through the venture team truly began! The glory of God was seen in the unity and the stronghold of the enemy over the city began to erode.

The day ended at 8:00PM for a good night’s rest before Day 1 of venture.

- Ophelia Ting

Saturday, March 4, 2006

The day began at 7:30am when Lyn, accompanied by Ophelia, Brenda and Susan, went to speak at a women’s breakfast meeting at a local church hall. Lyn spoke on “Integrating Home & Workplace”; it was hosted by “Every Woman” a fellowship which promotes empowerment amongst women of South Africa. These women were impressive - there were over 100 of them with diverse cultural and business background. There was a sense of the high potential among them for great things in future. An equip venture for women came across the mind of several people.

At the breakfast meeting, Ophelia who came from KL with insufficient warm clothing for the chilly Joburg weather had an unexpected encounter with provision. When landing at the Joburg airport early morning the day before, the temperature was 17deg C (or 63deg F). Seelok said to her may be someone would lend him a jacket. Then at this breakfast meeting, a South African lady by the name of Mimmie came up to her, took off her jacket and gave it to Ophelia who happily received grace, something she is learning to do more & more.

Earlier, during devotion time, there was great sharing around two questions – “how did you get here?” & “what are you expecting?” Everyone had a turn to share their heart with full video clips taken of answers given by Tiia, Colleen, Nicole, Chris, Ophelia & See; in time, we may get to see the clips of Holly! Appreciate you, Holly. In fact, I appreciate all the personal stories. Thanks everyone. We also discovered, thanks to Colleen, the difference between transparency and vulnerability. Here goes – “Transparency is for you to let others know what they don’t yet know about you; vulnerability is for others to let you know what you don’t yet know about you”

The highlight of the day was the visit to the Lion Park of Joburg. After morning devotion, twelve people set out in three cars driven by Brett, Chris and Jonathan. On the way, we stopped by Woolworth to buy food for outdoor lunch - sandwiches, salads, fruits and the inevitable biltong (the South African version of beef jerky).

Lunch time in the Lion Park was a great time of fellowship and bonding. After sandwiches, we started the tour on foot with visit to the lion cubs; everyone had a turn with stroking the cubs and having pictures taken. The best time was had by Tiia who had a fantastic video clip of her playing with 2 even 3 cubs biting at her ankle, knees all at once! The star of the day – a white male lion walking pass Chris’ car. Colleen had the best shot by far!

There was high drama in the second leg of the tour by car when an attack was mounted by three lionesses on the car that Jonathan was driving. We couldn’t tell what made Jonathan more prone – there were two lionesses trying to get a grip of the front of the car, with several teeth marks left on the metal bonnet near the grille. Paw marks were left by the third on the rear bumper!

Now it is time for me to go to bed!

- Seelok Ting 11:16pm