A national meeting of 65 elders from elders councils around the country took place in Stellenbosch on Saturday November 30 to seek and share Kingdom solutions for the nation.
The gathering was the culmination of more than two years of networking by Tata Mkangeli Matomela, Jacques Malan and other like-minded leaders aimed at connecting servant leaders from around South Africa.
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Following road trips around the country by Matomela and Malan earlier this year, elders councils were established in various centres with a vision to help establish healthy, sustainable communities which implement values and principles based on the Word of God.
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The Stellenbosch meeting focused on building relationships on a national level in order to combine efforts and strategise practical next steps towards creating Kingdom solutions for SA.
Elders with expertise in different fields shared solutions-driven information and participated in Q&A sessions. Detailed notes were taken on all sessions and a comprehensive working document was created to record next steps.
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Topics covered in sessions included:
• The Constitution: How citizens can be made aware of their consituitonal rights and responsibilities, why it is important for citizens to understand the Constitution and their role in this important legislation.
• Changes in the Electoral Act: Anticipated opportunities for members of the community to stand for office as independents and be the voice of their communities; the role of Christians and the Church in this process; identifying potential candidates called by God; and equipping candidates who are able to combine politics and Kingdom principles.
• Land reform: A progress report was presented which highlighted hopeful developments in some of the 52 agricultural districts in SA and the belief that with mature, righteous people in leadership roles the land question can be resolved at district level without state ownership.
• School of governance: An initiative aimed at delivering world-class, biblically-based, practical courses to equip servant leaders in all spheres.
• Communication platform: A small group was formed to develop an effective platform to share projects and programmes to maximise access to existing solutions and to avoid wasteful duplication of resources.
• Body of Christ awakening: 2019 saw the Body of Christ beginning to wake up from its slumber and God’s people realising their responsibility to come together to find solutions. Patience and unity in the process, and the importance of a community-based financing model to drive the reformation vehicle were emphasised.
Other topics discussed included the role of elders councils in serving communities with solutions to problems and challenges, evangelising communities, mobilising faith communities to identify national leaders and hold them accountable, and the need for all members of the Body of Christ to play a part in transforming the nation.
A follow-up meeting is planned for March 2020.
Good to see this initiative emerging from the church. Too often churches remain silent on issues of civic importance that impact Christian life.
‘Government’ does not only refer to the state or civil government, that is merely one of several spheres of government in our lives. The church is another sphere of government.
Thank God for Leaders that have a united vision to make a different.
continue with the good work.
Abundant blessings,
Dave Gilburt.