It’s day 4 on the venture and the team is getting used to the early morning schedule. Everyone piles in for morning devotions lead by Sharon and gets treated to another example of Beloftobos hospitality. In addition to eggs, tomatoes, boerewors and all the fresh baked country bread, yogurt, muesli, we were treated to steel cut oats with fresh squeezed warmed milk and Gaansbaai Huening. Otherwise known as absolutely delicious honey from straight off the farms of one of the Rep clients.
Everything changes pace today, and the flow of topics get into a lot of the fun, fuzzy stuff. Two more P’s were up - the first being Partnering. Another one of the infamous Brett questions got a good laugh, asking how many men in the room had lost money because they ignored their partner’s- their wive’s - advice. A good number of sheepish hands went into the air as we learned more about foundational details to choosing and building good partnerships. Then everyone got to brainstorm Place, the next P, and the power of inviting God’s presence into a physical space.
Our own HOTTIE staff member Linh Ly lead us through an exercise in appreciation and there quite a few moist eyes in the room as clients and consultants had a chance to speak encouragement and affirming words to one another. Brett moved onto Convergence topics where a hot debate arose with Andre about the different seasons of life. “Seasons? I only know of four - Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter."
My favorite part was LEMON Leadership, as clients got to see their first and second lemon slices. Our group had quite a few Networkers, including our hosts Andries and Coia, who were Networker-Luminary, and Luminary-Networker respectively. We hope this wonderful couple has a great team of Managers and Organizers to support this vast farm!
By end of day, we finished up a bunch of score cards, had consumed multiple quantities of coffee - some hand-roasted on the grounds. 9 cups is the record so far by Brett but we think he’s sneaking in a secret stash in the morning. Apple tarts, homemade cheesecake, fresh salad from the garden in addition to rustic chicken pot pie and beef stroganoff were just some of the delectable treats we stuffed down during the day.
Visioning and prayer sessions began tonight- I’ll leave details behind so the other teams can discover this amazing process themselves. All I can say is, whatever you think you are coming in for at a Venture, be prepared to have your whole life Re-Purposed, in a big, big way!