June 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.

It has again been a very busy month for AURM staff at Anathoth.

The Cape Town Book Fair was the chief culprit for our heightened busyness. The event proved to be well worth our time, effort and financial outlay. Hereunder a list of some of the gifts God gave us at the Book Fair:

• Perhaps one of the greatest advances for us was the serendipitous meeting we had with the Tape Aids for the Blind Organization at the Fair. As soon as we can, AURM will be supplying this non-profit organization with CDs containing 365 Daily Devotions in both the French and Zulu languages. These CDs were originally meant for the use of Christian radio stations, but we have found a willing partner in Tape Aids who will transcribe the CDs onto their lending library cassettes at their own cost. It is amazing to think that those who generously sponsored the radio editions and translations have now also been instrumental in affording people with little or no sight the opportunity to spend time with God each day via these taped recordings. The tapes are sent out fortnightly and then returned by the user to the lending library for those not blessed with the gift of eyesight. There is a possibility that Tape Aids will approach some of our South African authors to read and record their books published by The Upper Room.
• Another milestone that was reached was the printing of 10,000 copies of the very first AURM mail order book catalogue. We have long dreamt of making our book resources available to a wider audience, and the distribution of the 2006-7 catalogue is a bold step in that direction. It's going to be exciting to see how quickly our post office mailbox starts filling up. Our sincere thanks to Rev. Mark Stephenson and his team at Salty Print for their incredible effort to get the catalogue printed in time for the Book Fair. The entire project took 7 days from start to finish. Mark and his team of people really ensured that everything went smoothly. Frankly, I doubt whether we would have succeeded without their presence and know-how in the Cape Town arena. Thank you Salty!
• It is exciting to report that AURM will receive a donation of R25,000 towards the costs of printing the mail order catalogue. These South African donors wish to remain anonymous.
• Thanks to the Fair the opportunity exists for two of our Upper Room South African authors to have their books translated into local South African languages by New Africa Books.
• All in all the Book Fair was worth the effort. We spoke, ate and drank books. It was a great teambuilding vehicle for all concerned with AURM. It was meaningful from a Christian witness perspective as there were very few Christian book publishers at the event.
• We now have no less than seven Africa Upper Room Libraries waiting for their first books from us. The response has been heartening. We even have a library situated on a farm that specializes in the rehabilitation of drug and alcohol dependant people. Elaine Richardson is to be commended for her tireless efforts in getting this project off the ground.
• We are delighted to welcome the Stotler family back to South Africa. We trust that their mission trip to Mozambique and SA with the mission building team from Peachtree City, Atlanta, Georgia will again be meaningful.
• Zanele seems to be getting stronger, healthier and more cheerful each day. It is indeed good to see her making such progress again after the bout with TB. We will be watching her carefully during these extremely cold days that we're currently experiencing on the Highveld.
• Our CD discs containing a full one-year edition of La Chambre Haute (the French Upper Room Daily Devotional Guide) is soon to be received from the SA Church of the Nazarene recording unit. We'll be distributing these throughout Africa and into Europe for use on French-speaking radio stations during and after the World Methodist Council event in Seoul, South Korea. (The GBOD will have a table at the Seoul event, so if you do happen to be at this global gathering of the Wesleyan family, please make an effort to visit with us). Our thanks to our French editor, Mrs. Winifred Montgomery for the many hours spent behind the microphone patiently recording the material for use on radio.

I received a transcript of Cape Town mayor Helen Zilla's address when she opened the Book Fair. Her words are well worth repeating:

"In a world saturated by electronic media, nothing replaces a book; which you can refer to over and over again.

"No medium gives as many people a voice as writing.

"In a continent and a country where many do not possess the economic power to have their voices heard, books provide a way of reaching others.

"They provide a way for people to reach out and understand one another.

"So the Book Fair should remind us that we are living in a place of many voices, of many views, of many individuals.

"International Literary Scholar, Harold Bloom, once wrote that literature at its best is 'the cultural art of memory.'

"I believe that it is up to our authors to write our memory as a society, in all its diversity and complexity.

"Because history never tells the whole story about a place and its people.

"Often it does not even tell the right story, especially when it is used in the service of power.

"And, of course, from a woman's point of view, history is far too often 'his story.'

"So we should take the time to listen to the many voices of our writers, with all their contradictions and their complex emotions.

"The stories of struggles in Rwanda, Mozambique and Zimbabwe carry many valuable lessons for us today. We ignore these stories at our peril.

"On the other hand, the narratives of Madiba, of Chinua Achebe, of Athol Fugard remind us that we have the power to work together and make this a better place."

(Cape Town Book Fair -- Saturday 17th June 2006)

May the Son in your heart be your smile.

We go forward
Roland Rink