I am back in the US now, passing through Washington DC to spend some time with Fay before going back to California. No doubt my team mates will fill in the blanks of Thursday through Saturday, so I will simply add some closing observations on this Venture. This was my 11th Venture, and the second to Gauteng… this apart from numerous pre-trips. Every Venture seems to have a theme or pattern. Some of the things that struck me about Gauteng:

• The way the clients came in at the last minute, yet they were all hand-picked. Each had an appointment with God, and they were there.
• There was a distinct blurring of the lines between “consultant” and “client” and “intercessor” and “team leaders” — three consultants came back as clients. Past clients were there as consultants. Team leaders were consulting. Intercessors were clients. etc.
• There was lots of potential synergy between the clients — many of them could work with and learn from each other going forward.
• We had a surprise appointment in Alexandra, a community that has enormous issues and opportunities. Randy Leuning led a team to put together a model for a practical business incubator around the construction industry. Jackie Loatle presented on the last day, and there is potential for an effective Community Track in Alex.
• There were what you could call the “normal miracles” that took place: lives were radically transformed by the truth of the gospel of the kingdom and the love and service of the team; property deals came through miraculously; funding was released to some clients; marriages were strengthened as more than one person discovered that their spouse was their best business partner; etc. etc.

My profound thanks to the team for all they did to make this an important Venture. What a joy it is to stand on the last day and witness the deep transformation in the lives of leaders that we know will reverberate through their businesses, their households and beyond.

Brett Johnson

Given that today we had a flexible schedule (“unstructured day”) I ended up taking extra time getting ready in the morning which then translated into my roommate Kasia not having any hot water left.  Oops!  She forgave me graciously as last week the roles were reversed…  Over breakfast I had the misfortune of having a bug land on my shirt as I was talking to my parents on Skype.  Those that know me know that I’m paranoid of bugs.  The team came to my rescue and chased the bug away; afterwards the B&B lady commented in her Africans accent that she thought a tiger had attacked me. :)

The only set appointment for the day was our visioning meeting with Brett Johnson scheduled for 2:00 PM.  Since we had done so well on yesterday’s Ps, my client Ann and I decided to give ourselves a work-free morning.  She picked me up at 8:00 AM and we headed to the Nelson Mandela square for (half) a day of relaxing and shopping.  Nelson Mandela Square is near a big shopping center called Sadton City Mall.  The statue itself is massive, 6 meters tall and 2.3 meters wide (elbow to elbow).  The shopping experience was fun, relaxing and I managed to spend all my budget!  :).  Rory, my counterpart South African consultant joined us at the B&B, and following lunch we went in for our visioning session with Brett.  The visioning session brought in much needed clarity around Positioning and Profit strategies.  We continued working on the scorecard for some time until we were satisfied with the progress for the day and Ann was ready to go home.

Tomorrow I’m speaking on The Wedding Banquet parable (Mt 22:1-14) as it relates to PLACE.  Only a few days left to our venture now…  I know I will miss this place, the people, the experience.  It’s so awesome to see the gifting God has placed in each of us and how these giftings are used for His glory.

Blessings,
Elisabeta

We’re now over halfway through the consultation!  The day began with a devotional from Clint on the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25.  We were reminded of our responsibility to make good use of the talents which our Master has entrusted to us.  Brett also gave Dena coaching on the “South African” way of eating with a fork and knife.

In today’s training session, we covered three of the 10-P’s:  Profit, Planning and Partnering.  The Partnering section included a touching video on Team Hoyt (www.teamhoyt.com), a father/son team who have competed together in hundreds of marathon events since around 1980.  What makes the story compelling is that Rick, the son, cannot walk or talk, and so his father Dick pushes and pulls him through all of the marathon events.  There were many aspects of Partnering which the clients observed in the video.  For one client, seeing the father push the son down the road helped the client gain a new understanding of his role as a “Junior Partner” with God, the true Owner of his business.

At the end of the day, we got a “sneak preview” of Place, one of the 10-P’s which we will cover in depth on Wednesday.  A former equip client discussed the importance of Place in any business, and she talked how about the equip consultation helped her discover God’s Kingdom purpose for herself and for her interior design company.  She encouraged the current clients to persevere through the end of the consultation, as the benefits are well worth the effort.

Points for prayer:

• For God’s leading as each client continues to work on strategies for bringing his or her company more in alignment with God’s will.
• For some health issues which are impacting the leader of the South African team and his family
• For two sets of meetings which the clients and consultants will be having tomorrow (Tuesday).  There will be Visioning meetings (where each client seeks to discern God’s long-term vision for his or her organization), as well as prayer meetings with our wonderful Intercessors.

More things you should know if you come to South Africa:

• “Pack up” = To stop working, break down.  Example:  “His dishwasher packed up.”
• “Diarise” = To put something in one’s calendar.  This is a very efficient term, so I think I will try to introduce it in the States.
• “Strong” = “Well” or “physically healthy.”  How this term might be used:  Just theoretically, let’s say someone on the team (we’ll call him Tom) was a little under the weather last Wednesday the 13th.  On the 14th (and on subsequent days), some of the South Africans might say to him, “Are you strong, Tom?”  But this is totally theoretical.

God bless,
Tom Sweet

I awoke to a bright light and BOOMING thunder.  It was 6 am and my first introduction to a full-out African thunderstorm. Being a Seattle native, I have been exposed to wind and rain and would have to say that the African version is just as awe-inspiring.

The team went to “His People” Church this morning.  It would be equivalent to a neighborhood church in an America - with an African twist.  It was family Sunday so entire families were worshipping and praying together. Worship was intoxicating – the children’s pastor and kids led the songs (complete with hand motions and dance moves) and the entire congregation joined in.  The head pastor is American.  It was odd to hear an American accent, especially from the pulpit!  It was nice - I could relax a bit and not have to work as hard to understand what was being said!

This afternoon the team had options.  Several went to the Alexandra Township to work on a project while the rest went to experience an open-air African market.  I, on the other hand, took a well needed nap!

This evening we had dinner at a South African’s home.  Brenda led us through the Jewish Sabbath ceremony; a time of prayer, reflection and rest.  It was a great way to ready ourselves for the week ahead.  The food was good too – I am becoming partial to the way fish is prepared here…and Mom, they had broccoli salad!  Gran would be proud!

Tomorrow starts our final week of the venture and we are covering three “P’s”.  Pray for us as we grapple to hear from God and deliver to our clients what they need.  Thank you for your support!

Dena

The first week has been both thrilling and exhausting. Never a dull moment and never a space on the schedule. Today was a day where we split a bit as a group. I was invited to speak at a breakfast in Benoni, and Clint traveled with me there. It was great to see so many of the people Joyce and I met in March. there were past consultants and past clients, and it was so good to see them.
 
I did my best to speak towards changing paradigms and moving beyond the hurts of life. It was well received, but I saw some men go cross-eyed when I mentioned that the Lord has and will ordain women to lead businesses, churches, and nations. It was a hit for the ladies for sure, as many of them have been pressed down or silenced in their past, in their homes and their churches. It is time for the Kingdom where Spirit led people areneither Greek nor Jew, male nor female, slave nor free man. Afterwards, Clint and I had time to fellowship and minister to others. We left about 12:30PM to catch up with the others at the Apartheid Museum.
 
We were blessed to have Karabo, a consultant with Equip, be our driver and tour
guide for the tour through the museum. She also had little Karabo, who is a daughter that her mother and her had recently sdopted. The museum was incredible with raw footage snd such. I had heard so much, but seen very little until the museum, conscerning Apartheid and all the pain, suffered by so many.
 

We then went to have authentic African food at a place called Moyos. It was a real treat.They had servers in African wears and also a live band that played incredible music from many parts of Africa. We were able to dine with consultant Dave Porter and his wife Sarah, Jessica Pillay, a client.in this venture after partnering with me on the last venture in March here. We also had Karabo, another SA consultant join us. And finally we had Brenda de Charmoy join with us.She is also a former consultant, now a client. 
 

We had great food and  we also went as a group onto the dance floor and tried to keep up with th Africans. We sure were a site to see, but we had so much fun. We will go to church with Brenda in the morning. Thanks for supporting us in prayer.
 
Robert Ricciardelli