The Pan-African Vineyard Leaders’ Conference 2009 took place from September 14th to 18th at CYARA Conference centre at Hekpoort, near Magaliesberg. For the first time in several years we moved the conference there to make access easier and less costly for delegates from the other nations who would attend. We wondered how the move would affect attendance, and also set about asking for sponsorship to help us cover the costs and keep the conference affordable for as many as possible to attend. We needn’t have worried! Pre-conference sign up was the biggest ever, from the highest number of nations (22) ever, and our sponsorship goals were reached to make it very affordable indeed. I want to thank them again, from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of all who attended. Materials, transport costs for leaders, registration subsidies, books and even the final night’s dinner were paid for by these wonderful people who are gifts of God to us.

God is a Man o’ War. He fights on three fronts: To defend His people, to promote His Purpose, and to uphold His Honour. In this time of warfare, I felt He wanted to speak a Word of reassurance to His leaders.

I want to write short memos like this one each month, instead of the larger “Windscreen and Mirror” newsletter we’ve been sending over the past few years. Please feel free to dialogue with me about anything they say, and the invitation still stands for you to send us any news items to be shouted from the Vineyard’s rooftop. Which reminds me:

ANRI IS BACK!

Dear Everyone

It’s been a while since you heard from me in this format – sorry for the mental absence. Late last year I was practising keeping my head down so as to reach the end of 2008; then we had a late holiday; then the year had started without us, so I had to run to catch it; then PAVLN leadership conference had to be arranged; then my mother broke her hip and I cancelled going to Dar es Salaam to see her through the crisis; and so now, here I am, I can do no other, so help me God (that was Luther’s quote, Brett!)

The people are still among the nicest, friendliest, most warmly hospitable in the world. I sometimes think this, their greatest strength, is also their greatest weakness, for it is perhaps the reason why they have put up with tyranny for so long, until now it is probably too late to resist…

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WARNING - some graphic images!

Thank you to those who prayed for The PAVLN (Pan African Vineyard Leaders Network) meeting held in Ndola, Zambia, last week. It is no exaggeration to say it was a breakthrough moment in the life of the African Vineyard. The leadership of this “new” version of our AVC has taken shape, consisting of representatives from SA (Trevor Nthlola), Namibia (Carl Schmidt), Zimbabwe (Sue Marland), Zambia (Damas Kamfwa), Malawi (Mervyn Umi Gama), Tanzania (Peter Msigwa), Nigeria (Eunice Enokwa, who could not attend this time) and Cameroon (Peter Clever); plus the three “partnership leaders” from SA: John Fischer, Dave Pedersen and Alexander Venter (who could not attend this time). We also had a guest, Noah Gitau from Kenya, in attendance.

I was reminded recently of the joke where a guy who hated flying was offered a free ‘wish’ by the Lord. He asked for a bridge from California to Hawaii. God said: “That is very hard. Just think of the disruption to shipping, the concrete and steel it would consume, the ugly scar on the environment… choose another wish, please.” So the guy said: “OK, Lord, here’s one: I would like to understand how my wife ‘ticks’, how to make her really happy – you know – what women really want!” And the Lord said: “You want that bridge to be 4 lanes or 6?” Now that’s a bizarre joke to begin a Christmas letter with, you may say! But work with me here… it reminded me that God is not Santa, or a Genie granting our every wish, and prayer is not using ‘Aladdin’s Lamp’. God has a plan for us, but plan in turn is part of a greater one, which involves the interlocking of many other plans, with the ultimate purpose of making us all like Jesus, giving us understanding of His nature, perfecting us in wisdom, to the point where we “ask aright”. Remember that someone else might be waiting for you to respond to God’s dealings, so that they can in turn be set free, or grow, or become what Jesus called them to become!