February 2005

Warm greetings to each of you during this Lenten season from Anathoth, South Africa. As you may know, Anathoth is the office facility which forms the base from which the work of Africa Upper Room Ministries (AURM) is initiated throughout Africa.

February has been a very busy month for us, and we have so much to be thankful for. We have launched into exciting new projects that we hope will help us, in part, fulfill our calling. The original calling we speak of still remains consistent and clear: That every person in Africa be afforded the opportunity to spend time with God each day.

The results of our first foray into the world of Christian publishing have been successful beyond our dreams. The latest Lenten book by Peter Storey, Listening at Golgotha has been widely distributed throughout Southern Africa to a broad base of ecumenical Christian readers, both clergy and lay. In fact, we've needed to urgently reorder the book from our offices in the USA to supply the demand for the book! The miracle of this is that our offices were without telephone or fax services from mid-November 2004 until the first week in January 2005, yet the sales continued unabated. Our gratitude and thanks to all those clients and friends who exercised their gifts of patience whilst trying to communicate with us during this difficult period.

We hope to bring you news of confirmation of an exciting collaboration with the Guide Dog Association of South Africa in the next edition. We have made a proposal to sponsor reflective material casings with The Upper Room logo printed on the harness that will afford the dogs and users greater safety at night and in poor light conditions. We see these marvelous animals as "moving billboards", as well as being "Faithful Friends," something that The Upper Room daily devotional guide has been for 70 years! The title of the campaign will be "Faithful Friend."

The March/April edition of The Upper Room daily devotional guide marks the 70th anniversary of the magazine that began back in 1935. A group of women, in the middle of the Great Depression, in San Antonio Texas, decided that their families needed spiritual food as well as physical nourishment. Out of their desire to provide that spiritual resource, The Upper Room daily devotional guide was born. Just like the mustard seed, the growth of the magazine has been breath-taking, with a current distribution of over 2 million copies being distributed to over 100 countries around the globe every two months. It is a real living example of the benefit of listening to God; leaping in faith; leaving it to God; and then watching and celebrating what God accomplishes. We are simply the hands and feet that enables this work to be accomplished.

Another reason for growing excitement at Anathoth is the "Christian Book Festival Day" that should take place in May this year. The Upper Room, Discipleship Resources and the United Methodist Publishing House have graciously agreed to send their remainder books to us on a regular basis at no cost. This means that AURM is going to be able to invite clergy of all denominations to the Anathoth property to select Christian books for their own use at no cost whatsoever! All we will ask is a small donation to help AURM defray the costs of shipping the books to South Africa. For far too long, African clergy been disadvantaged by punishing financial exchange rates, low stipends, and deliberate high retail pricing strategies that make good quality Christian literature virtually beyond their reach. We hope that this project will allow "the feeders to be fed" on a consistent basis. At present we're installing shelving around the walls of the Conference Centre in readiness for these much needed resources.

Whilst we have become very excited by all the pregnant potential of the year ahead, perhaps the most important event in February was the traditional annual recommitment of ourselves to the work of God by means of the Covenant Service. It really did feel like a renewal of our own personal marriage vows with our loving Father God.

Father John Wesley truly did leave us all a gift of amazing depth in the Covenant words we use. May we take seriously the vows, and remember the words throughout the year:

I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will,
Rank me with whom you will;
Put me to doing,
Put me to suffering;
Let me be employed for you
Or laid aside for you,
Exalted for you
Or brought low for you;
Let me be full,
Let me be empty,
Let me have all things,
Let me have nothing;
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
You are mine and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

Peace is my Sister.

We go forward during this Lenten season of testing,
Roland Rink