Reports from the Field

By God’s grace, we have had some tremendous mission trips and outreaches to the Congo, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. We had the joy of seeing people brought to conviction of sin, souls saved and lives transformed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Tonnes of Bibles, Christian books, teacher training manuals, evangelistic tracts, Gospel booklets, audio visual materials, CDs, DVDs, and other vital resources for evangelism and discipleship, were distributed as far afield as Angola and Zimbabwe, the Congo and Nigeria.

CONGO

Bad times are good for spiritual work. Despite the upsurge of fighting in Congo's North Kivu Province, Johan, Charl and John conducted extensive mission trips throughout this vast central African state ministering as far afield as Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Kisangane.

ZIMBABWE

The continually deteriorating catastrophe in Zimbabwe continued to preoccupy much of our mission's time and energy. There has been a complete breakdown in all social services in Marxist Zimbabwe. Pervasive power failures, even in the capital city, can last for a month or more. Some schools report that they haven't had any plumbing or electricity in five years. There have been outbreaks of Cholera and Anthrax. Zimbabwe has over 85% unemployment and astronomical inflation. Shops are empty and fuel is in short supply. Plumbing and electricity are rare. Over half of the population has fled the country.

As the Marxist ZANU dictatorship of Robert Mugabe has so spectacularly failed to meet basic needs, the Church is now able to step in and redeem many of the failed institutions. Frontline Fellowship was able to prevent the closure of one of the provincial hospitals by the end of last year, by delivering a vast supply of medicines and food. Without having to build a mission hospital, we have effectively redeemed a government hospital, and turned it into a mission hospital.

One of our greatest priorities has been to identify key Christian teachers, pastors and evangelists, who are making a difference in Zimbabwe. These strategic individuals we support with the resources they need to keep going and to make them more effective. With the disastrous economic collapse, all too many pastors and teachers have already left the country. By enabling key Christians to stay in the country, we are helping them to lay solid foundations for rebuilding Zimbabwe on Biblical principles - once the Marxist dictatorship has been removed.

By God's grace, lives are being saves, many people converted, even those from Communist backgrounds. Through our Biblical Worldview Seminars and Biblical Principles for Africa book, we are seeking to train the present opposition, who will inevitably become the next government in this long-suffering country.

SUDAN

The battle for the soul of Africa continues to intensify with the Muslim government in Sudan making preparations to restart their Jihad against the Christian South. The National Islamic Front government are openly stating that, now with a president friendly to Islam in the White House, there is no danger of America interfering in their holy war against Christians in the South. Many are expecting the uneasy peace that has prevailed in Sudan, since the toppling of the radical Taliban regime in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, to end soon. The National Islamic Front government of Sudan suspended their bombing of Christian villages, schools, hospitals and churches in the South and promised to withdraw all their troops from the South. This has never been done. The National Islamic Front government continues to maintain a heavy military presence in the South and there are serious concerns that they are preparing for a new Jihad against the Christians.

Frontline Fellowship began working in Sudan in 1995. Dr. Peter Hammond personally led 27 missions into the country, delivering and distributing over 300,000 Bibles and Christian books in 21 languages in 14 different regions in Sudan. Frontline Fellowship had the privilege of training over 700 school teachers, providing them with thousands of Christian textbooks and many thousands of Bibles for the over 100 schools established in Southern Sudan. Frontline Fellowship also had the privilege of training the first 70 chaplains for the SPLA (Sudanese People's Liberation Army) resistance in the South, and training the first 50 paramedics for the SPLA Medical Corps. Now with the threat of a renewed Islamic Jihad against the Christians in Southern Sudan, Frontline Fellowship is preparing for new initiatives to help the Christians in Southern Sudan.

BIBLES FOR AFRICA

By God's grace, we are expecting a ten tonne container of Bibles and Christian books to arrive next week. Numerous mission trips are being prepared, new books are being prepared for publication, tonnes of Gospel booklets in over 60 different languages have been stockpiled in preparation for the upcoming outreaches. Please pray for our ongoing missions of mercy and for our leadership training projects to empower local leaders to fulfil the Great Commission in Africa.