April 2009

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.

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From a very early age, I have loved model train-sets! When the opportunity arises, I still stand enchanted for hours watching the trains operating on the layouts that the owners have created.

These layouts seem to be as perfectly to scale and lifelike as possible. The painstaking attention to detail of their creators is amazing, even a little scary. They seem to be an attempt to freeze frame time or even preserve the past in an impossible way. The owner/operator of the layout is always in total control. (In my experience, this invariably seems to be the almost exclusive domain of men as I've yet to come across an adult woman playing with her dollhouse, dolls and all the furniture inside it).

The truth is that these model train layouts do not display reality in any way. There are no financial meltdowns. No discovery or evidence of dolomite shows in the model layout. No leaves fall from the trees; the lawnmower never breaks down; the geyser never bursts flooding the house; and the stove in the kitchen never burns out. Illness and disease are non-existent and the people in the model community are always gainfully employed, live at peace with one another and are all healthy.

Thankfully Anathoth is far more dynamic than a model. It is the exact antithesis of a "model railway" layout. We embrace the reality of life today in South Africa. We live and work at Anathoth which is situated in an area of dolomite. We deal with burst geysers, burnt out stoves and a local community that is without work and suffering on a daily basis from a variety of life-threatening illnesses. Much to our discomfort, we sense that in reality we are not in control, and that our Loving God has a definite layout in mind -- something which we have yet to discover and build according to God'd specifications. We seek God's guidance and vision for what we are to build, maintain, and sustain.

One senses that many people who visit us at the property also begin to have dreams and visions of their model layout for Anathoth and that part of our challenge is to try to accommodate these within the context and reality of life for the community in Eikenhof.

It's interesting to note too that the neighbors may have widely differing perspectives of what their vision is for the eventual layout of Anathoth. This was made abundantly clear when the local community attended the meeting around the rezoning of the Anathoth property. They really do want to freeze frame time! By and large, they were opposed to any development of the property at all. Our plans for our layout simply did not correspond with their mental layout. (Since then, the local council has approved the rezoning and developments put forward, and have dismissed any objections by the neighbors).

We continue to invite you to visit us; to dream your layout and to share that vision with us. We know that we are not in control, rather we are tools in the hands of the great Modeler and Craftsman, and we are willing to be shaped and made into that which God intends. We know that our feeblest attempts will be honored and multiplied in ways that we can simply not imagine. We are a work in progress.

We are looking for prayer groups, especially those geographically situated in the UK, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific Rim. Because you are 6-16 hours ahead of the USA you will be able to assist the Living Prayer Centre in Nashville share the load of more than 30,000 prayer requests we receive each month. If you are a part of a local church prayer group and would like to join with us and become a link in a global prayer chain, please contact me by email at rrink@aurm.co.za.

Easter 2009 and the Passion loom large on the immediate horizon of the Christian calendar. We as Christians find within ourselves a growing compassion with Christ as each Lenten day disappears. By it's derivation, compassion means "suffering with." So, as befits the season, we discover more compassion within us for Christ, we too must also be open in our prayer to difficulty and struggle, if this is what the Lord sends us despite our best efforts. Perhaps we begin to realize that we are recipients of the grace of compassion when we notice a change in our attitude towards the suffering members of Christ in the community around us. We become more compassionate.

This Easter, join with us at Anathoth as we once again discover the profound significance that Gethsemane is the key to the whole of the Lord's passion. "Thy will be done." The loving acceptance of God's hidden model layout and plan of death and resurrection for each of our lives and for Anathoth.

We long for, and look forward with great anticipation to once again proclaim, along with Mary and all the saints, "He is Risen!"

We go forward
Roland Rink