by Nancy Lai

Today we started the mid-market and Kayamandhi consultations. The 26 of us have been split into two groups: Stacie, Claudia, Jennifer Campbell and kids Nathan, Rachael, David, and Lauren, and Barb went into Kayamandhi. The rest of us greeted our clients around 8:30 am and got going with Impact Assessments (before lunch) and Purpose, the first P (after lunch).

In the mid-market group, I have been paired with Ronel von Tonder, an Afrikaans woman who owns a company that provides human resources services to public (i.e. municipalities) and private organizations. She’s really neat and I felt that we connected very well. I was excited that she was a woman entrepreneur and is really seeking to use her business to serve God. Other clients include a 107 year old-bag production company (paper and plastic), a fruit exporter, a web applications shop, a property developer, and others. Each client got to introduce her/his company while sharing the results of the Impact Assessment - a "spiderweb" that shows where the gaps are between the importance and performance of each of the 10 drivers of impact (affectionally known as the Ps). S&C Agency gave a particularly touching account that he’d always wanted his business to serve God but had felt recently that he was drowning and didn’t know what to do with his business. We also reviewed what God’s 10-P profile is and how everything that He is doing on earth can be put on the framework with which we look at businesses.

Two clients were not able to make it today because of crises in their companies. While we’re praying that God is able to make a way for them to join us tomorrow, Molly was temporarily paired with Elsa (SA Consultant) and the fruit exporter client today and it seemed like a good team. Ryan was the other client-less consultant for today but was able to assist in other ways.

We wrapped up around 4:30 pm. My client mentioned that this was one of very few times that she has actually prayed in English. Other groups also finished in prayer. Scorecards were introduced. Many clients walked away having had a very positive impression thus far and a sense of a lot of good stuff to noodle over.

The Kayamandhi team started its day around 10 am.  Apparently the building they were in was so cold they will be bringing their room heaters with them tomorrow! About 13 different business/ideas were represented, with 8 of them returning from the April 2004 venture, including the cabinet maker, the bead maker, and the caterer. We’re learning that our Western processes of linear progression don’t necessarily apply to a Xhosa people who have been disenfranchised and disemployed for so long. There are matters of motivation, culture, perceptions that need to be pressed through. The team has much hope though for the increasing wisdom they are gaining on how to minister to this community.

Prayer Requests:

1) For God to remove the obstacles that will be distracting clients over the next two weeks (scheduling conflicts, crises, etc.). For many of them the equip session comes at a critical juncture in their businesses and so Satan is doing his best to destroy this. We want the two missing clients to be able to make it tomorrow, too but do trust that

2) For listening, hearing hearts in tune with God. Some of us have impressions of some issues that God may want to be bringing up for our clients but we need confirmation and/or God to reveal that to the clients. We want to be speaking out God’s ideas, and not our own good ideas.

3) For the Kayamandhi team’s efforts to be faith-building and motivating. For God to increase our wisdom of what it takes to minister in this community.

by Larry Allhands

Today was a very busy and productive day. The morning started with a workout and short run before the bad weather rolled in. When the clouds moved in, Paul (The owner of the B&B) stated, "A nasty personality was coming over the mountains. I love the way the Africans talk in colorful metaphors.

After breakfast, we went to Kayamandi (the village we have been working in). We were met by the team leaders there and discussed the plans for our work along with cultural issues. The main point we focused on was that many transient missionary teams do more harm than good by showing up, handing out blankets and Bibles, and having people accept Christ without affecting change in the culture to help Christians adjust to the change Christ brings into their life. Of course, we believe that we may have the answer in equip with our long-term consistent approach, but as we said today, it will take a long time and we will continue to learn every day.

This afternoon we met with the South African business consultants and after a bit of team building were given our assignments. My company will be a computer training and IT startup company. I am excited about this challenge.

This evening, we had a quick dinner, and then I worked on the wireless network and fixed 6 or 7 laptops for the team (I hate desktop support!) Well, at least everyone’s computers are done, for now anyway.

I am one of the designated drivers for the team and yesterday I accidentally hit a curb when pulling over. I lost a hubcap and feel bad about this, as they are all new cars. It is quite difficult, getting used to driving on the wrong side. The most difficult thing is judging how far over you are from the left curb while driving from the right seat.

The weather outside is very stormy and cold – much like winter in San Francisco. I will wrap up to stay warm tonight.

by Barbara McCandless

This is my first trip to South Africa, and I am thoroughly enthralled with this country! The Cape Town area is breathtakingly beautiful. There are, of course, many reminders of the legacy of aparteid. And yet there also seems to be a sense of optimism about the future. I’m excited to be here - each day brings new discoveries.

I am part of a team of three Americans and four South Africans serving a group of clients in the township of Kayamandi. We are working with a dozen men and women who currently have or intend to start small businesses. We are using a simplified version of the "10-P" methodology being used by our colleages working with mid-market companies. At times we struggle with language difficulties - two of our clients do not know English, and our SA friends tell us our American accent is hard to understand (what accent??!). Nevertheless, we have had two sessions now with good participation. I am deeply touched by our spiritual connection with these lovely folks as they contemplate how their businesses can glorify God and uplift their community.

As part of today’s work, each entrepreneur wrote a brief purpose statement for his/her business. I’d like to share a few of them in their words:

Victor (remind me to tell you about this pillar of the community): "To render quality service by hiring (renting out) tents, chairs, pots, and gas stoves, with the intention of serving the community and the Lord." Note: These items are needed by families in Kayamandi for family events, such as weddings, and sadly, all too frequently for funerals.

Margaret: "To create a warm place that is a welcoming home, to create jobs for others, and to share God’s love." Note: Margaret currently runs a simple catering business (again, often providing food for funeral gatherings) and wants to convert her modest home into a B & B geared toward foreign students.

Teboho: "To meet a community need and create some jobs for other people, and share skills so God is glorified." Note: Teboho is a trained carpenter who cannot find work in his field. Although he has a few simple hand tools, and a relative who has offered the use of his garage as a workshop area, he lacks a set of power tools.

by Molly Rihn

Today (Wed) was an unstructured day - our first day off from the regular teaching schedule. This was an opportunity for the consultants to meet with their clients in their business place. Many of the consultants were picked up early in the day by their clients and spent the entire day walking through their business place, meeting their staff, and reviewing their processes. We were tasked with understanding more about their marketing and sales plans. It was very valuable to physically experience the business.

Because of the flexible schedule, most people got a chance to catch up on their scorecards, catch up with each other over lunch, or even catch up on sleep with a nap! This was also the day that some of us discovered Woolworth’s. Woolworth’s in South Africa is a high end grocery store very similar to Whole Foods. Yes, it’s owned by the same parent company as the Woolworth’s in the US, but definitely a different kind of store. We’re lucky enough to have one within walking distance of our hotel. They have amazing produce which keeps our fruit hungry team members happy. They also have yummy pasta salads, rotisserie chicken and cookies! We will definitely spend a lot of time (and money) in this store.

Prayer requests include:

• Continued opportunity to fellowship and get to know each other on the team
• Insight into our client’s business
• Rest and health for our team
• Abundant blessings on our clients whle they are away from their businesses
  

by Nicole Dickens

Today was a full day. We went through two Ps and had two incredible speakers - Michael Cassidy (Africa’s Billy Graham) and Michael Louis (there’s nothing like him or his family in the US really). The former gave us challenges as to the 7 Giants that South Africa (and frankly many other nations) have to face in this new Promised Land: Racial Reconciliation, Aids, Economic disparities were among the few that come to mind. What touched me most about his comments was how he so eloquently put forth a truth about one issue both our nations have in common and that’s the one around racial reconciliation. He said that most White North Americans and White Africans cannot understand the depth of pain that African Americans and Black Africans still feel as a result of the past. He eluded to the fact that the past is not the past if the hurt is still present - a breath of fresh air for me to hear from someone else. It was particularly encouraging to hear him not skirt around the issue (the big elephant standing in the middle of the room) and to watch the courage it took for him to say that truth. Kingdom-bound, he is.

Our second speaker was Michael Louis, 3rd generation businessman heading up a family and business 90 years old. There were a couple of points he raised that had the major impact on me. The first was the need to understand what season you are in spiritually and live it to the full - no matter what it is (desert or Canaan). Additional encouragement for me not to desire to skip any steps because God’s ministering in our lives is what gets us ready for His purposes. His final comments about fearing to work with your family was particularly convicting - he made the point that is says very little about you when you feel you can’t work with them. He did, however, cautioned that they must be spiritually ready for such a partnership. It re-opened some old doors I thought I closed long ago about a family-run business. Looks like - yet again - God is turning some long held notions of mine on its head again. Can’t wait to see what paradigm shifting is up for me next :). BRING IT ON, LORD!