August 2007

Anathoth is the headquarters of Africa Upper Room Ministries. On five acres of land near Johannesburg, South Africa, it takes its name from the Jeremiah passage in which land at Anathoth is purchased as a sign of hope for the future. Anathoth is, for Upper Room Ministries, a sign of hope for the future of Africa. This newsletter from staff-person Roland Rink brings news from this important ministry.

"MISSIONS"

"By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world." [From "A Service of Word and Table -- I and II." The United Methodist Hymnal 1989.]

The word "mission" is variously defined as a body of persons sent to a foreign country to conduct negotiations; organization in a district for conversion of the people; person's vocation or divinely appointed work in life.

These definitions are apparent in the people who have visited Anathoth this past month; local people and visitors from abroad who have come and conducted negotiations; people who are called to a mission in the Eikenhof district that local inhabitants might be introduced to the love, life and teachings of Jesus; who, without exception, have all displayed a real and genuine sense of "divine appointment" or calling to the mission field. Amongst the visitors to Anathoth and the mission minded people we have been blessed to interact with over the last few months have been:

• Pastors Kobus Adams and Lucky Hlongo from the Immanuel Mission in the Eikenhof area who sense that their church is called to offer home-based care and support for local Eikenhof HIV/AIDS-affected and infected people.
• Rev Jeremy Basset, Executive Director of the Oklahoma United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (VIM) unit. Jeremy leads VIM teams to South Africa on a regular basis and we are particularly excited at the holistic programs his teams have evolved and developed as a result of their experience working in Africa. Not only do they bring construction teams to an area, but they also simultaneously offer a variety of meaningful community-based programs such as grief recovery; home-based care; skills development; and care of disabled people. All of these parallel programs concentrate on "training the trainers in the local community," empowering the local community on a long term, sustainable basis. We are particularly excited that our mission partners and resident local mission team (Come Back Mission) should have the opportunity to work alongside the incoming Oklahoma VIM teams. We pray that the development of Anathoth can at long last proceed utilizing the skills and resources of a diversely talented group of people for the uplifting of the Eikenhof community and the proclamation of the gospel of Christ to love one another. If you would like to be in communication with Jeremy, you can contact him via his email at jbasset@okumc.org or log onto their website at http://www.okumc.org/vim/ok.asp
• Lyn van Rooyen at CABSA. The latest Upper Room spiritual resource, Prayers for Encouragement, has won widespread acceptance in many parts of Africa. One of the HIV/AIDS mission resource organizations we have distributed the booklet to is CABSA. As 80% of South Africans profess to be Christian, Christian churches and faith communities provide a powerful channel for the implementation of HIV and AIDS strategies. An essential part of the service CABSA provides is the Christian AIDS Resource and Information Service (CARIS) through which those in the field have access to reliable information on different aspects of HIV and AIDS and the Christian response. CARIS provides information in a main resource centre in Randburg, through a network of local resource centres that are being developed, and through an internet-based "virtual" resource centre which includes a variety of comprehensive and accessible databases. If you need more information visit the website at: http://www.cabsa.co.za or contact Lyn van Rooyen at info@cabsa.co.za
• Another community-based mission with which we have had recent contact is Phakamisa. Based in Pinetown Kwa Zulu Natal, this mission unit serves a community in a 50km/30 mile radius of Pinetown and is definitely worth a visit if ever you are in the Pinetown area. You may even want to purchase beaded ornaments for your Christmas tree from this extremely vibrant mission outreach organization. Visit their website at http://www.phakamisa.org or contact Glenda Howieson the coordinator at Phakamisa: glendah@phakamisa.org
• The group of young people who meet at Anathoth each Saturday afternoon, under the leadership of Minnie Pienaar, continues to grow steadily. Ikhaya have formed a strong choir and are often to be found touring the churches of the area on Sundays giving concerts and thereby raising funds. AURM continues to support this mission initiative and we are hopeful that we will see the active involvement of this group in the work at Anathoth. Perhaps some day the choir will travel to the city of Nashville (the home of The Upper Room) and astound the musicians there with their stunning, untutored six-part harmonies. If you wish to communicate with this group, email them at the AURM address: urmafrica@worldonline.co.za
• "Come Back Mission" continues to offer much needed services and resources to the poor and destitute in Soweto and Eldorado Park. The Eldorado Park community are benefiting from the endeavors of Cheryl Pillay and her team of motivated leaders. The establishment of a skills development centre at Anathoth remains their first priority. One of the special ministries that CBM offers visitors is the opportunity to live with marginalized families in the area. The youth group from Belmont United Methodist Church (Nashville, TN) spent a marvelous two days with the community and received insights and firsthand knowledge of the challenges facing many people in South Africa. Substance abuse remains a high priority item for the CBM team. You can communicate directly with Cheryl at this email address: cherz@webmail.co.za. I am sure that Cheryl will be delighted to hear from you.
• Dorcas Aid is an ecumenical mission agency that continues to offer Prayers for Encouragement to the people they encounter on their travels and at their retail outlet in Florida (South Africa). The store continues to grow and funds generated are used in many different aspects of mission. Many customers to the outlet are benefiting from the provision of affordable clothing and furniture. Wendy Lubbee can be contacted to collect donations of clothing and furniture at wlubbee@absamail.co.za
• On a much lighter note, but whilst on the subject of missions, if you have ten minutes spare you might like to track the progress of satellites and astronauts on outer space missions. Try logging onto http://www.n2yo.com. The God we serve takes on even BIGGER proportions when one views the universe and beyond that is all part of God's creation. Perhaps the sudden interest in satellites is because we at Anathoth are currently investigating the possibilities of highspeed internet access via satellite. We have reached a stage where we simply cannot continue with the sporadic, low speed communications network service currently offered in the area.

By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, one with each other and one in ministry to all the world. [From "A Service of Word and Table -- I and II." The United Methodist Hymnal 1989.]

We go forward,
Roland Rink