January 2006 Report

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.

"RELATIONSHIPS"

Warm greetings to all of you at the start of 2006!

As I was thinking about a theme for this edition, the subject of relationships came to the fore. All of life, especially the Christian life, is irrevocably and intimately linked to relationships.

In considering the goals and action plans for the next 12 months of Africa Upper Room Ministries (AURM), I was again confounded by the amazing potential and power that resides within our relationships. We have BIG goals and BIG visions for our work during 2006. The simple fact is that we will not succeed in any of our work if we are not in right relationships.

Firstly, and most importantly, we need to be in an honest, faithful, obedient listening relationship with the God who loves us and continues to provide all of our needs. Without this discernment we will surely flounder and be troubled by diffused focus.

We also need to continue to nurture the wonderful relationships that have blossomed with each of you as fellow travelers and disciples of Jesus. We respect and honour your points of view and often use them in relation to our work.

Finally, because of our relationship with God in Christ and with each other, we become vitally empowered to see the world through the eyes of Christ. We are able to offer our perspective through the filter of the mind of Christ. We are able to offer compassion (our energy and action) to the world by taking on the heart of Christ.

As the Spiritual Formation Bible so aptly puts it: "Relationships are built with conversations, time spent together, common interests and goals, and a common faith -- one word, one action, one gesture at a time. Each of us builds relationships on a daily basis."

This year, together in relationship, we hope and pray that:

• We can expand our readership and distribution of all five African editions of The Upper Room daily devotional guide, exceeding 150,000 copies. We hope that those recipients will be open to purchase the magazine or to give a donation to enable us to print the next edition.
• We can begin to actively proceed with plans to build meaningful, self-sustainable mission projects that will benefit the residents and community around the Anathoth property.
• Together we can expand the number of vernacular language radio editions of the daily devotional guide to reach more people in Africa. We have received ongoing requests for Swahili, Sesotho, Setswana and isiXhosa language editions. (By the way, February 1st saw the very first MW broadcast of the radio edition of the devotional in Africa -- in the isiZulu language. At 3 minutes to 7 each evening, we have the possibility of reaching almost 9 million Zulu-speaking people in KwaZulu Natal)!
• AURM will become a meaningful player in the distribution of good quality spiritual resources in Africa. In our Discipleship Resources and Upper Room Book catalogues we have a treasure of wonderful books. AURM must make every effort to get these resources, at the lowest possible price, into the hands of Africans wherever they may be.

Our vision and calling as Africa Upper Room Ministries remains crystal clear: We want to afford every African the opportunity to spend time with God each day.

Please feel free to communicate with us at any time with regards any insights you might have.

Please remember that we are all reliant on bidirectional communications to enhance any of our relationships. So it is with us.

We go forward into 2006 together!
Roland Rink