THE MARATHON MISSION

Mission duration: February 2004 - April 2004

By God’s grace, we have carried out another field trip involving over 9,800 miles of driving by road, and 6 flights, spanning a total of 8 countries. This long journey brought us through Zimbabwe, where our vehicle was completely searched at a roadblock. But by God’s miraculous grace, the food that we were carrying was not discovered and we were able to deliver it successfully to those in need.

In Zambia, we had the privilege to minister in various schools and churches. We also distributed over 30,000 World Missionary Press Gospel booklets and entrusted 6 complete sets of the Gospel Recordings tape players, Bible Media tapes, flipcharts, and backpacks to trained evangelists. One of our primary objectives in Zambia was to assist our Bible College there in getting ready for the new school year. I was also able to visit various community primary schools to assess their needs for future support. In Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, we had our vehicle broken into by thieves. By divine providence, I caught the thieves in the act and chased them down. Since the thieves were not able to run fast enough with our bags, they dropped them and fled. One of these bags contained my laptop computer. Upon returning to the vehicle, I noticed my co-worker’s laptop missing. We filed a police report, and the witnesses that saw the theft take place, assisted the police in tracking down the thieves and recovering the laptop.

In Malawi we conducted a Biblical Worldview Seminar with about 50 church and community leaders. An elderly headman in the area said, “This was the best seminar that I’ve ever attended”. The need for leadership training in Malawi is great as the Church faces a very rapid and threatening expansion of Islam.

During our stay in Kenya, we had opportunities to minister as we made preparations for our flights into Sudan. I became sick with malaria again. This was the 7th time now that I’ve contracted malaria, but I was blessed with a speedy recovery. Our flights were delayed and rearranged due to a dust storm that grounded a number of flights in Sudan because of no visibility.

The Lord was gracious to us in making the way possible for us to fly into Sudan. We had the privilege of delivering a much-needed 2700 Bibles, both in the Equatoria and the Nuba Mountain regions.

We had the opportunity to train 15 primary school teachers in a Teacher Training Seminar on principles of Christian education. Also delivered to them were 25 complete sets of Christian Textbooks for primary schools. This went to schools throughout several different regions. Six Nuba Evangelists were trained in, and equipped with the Gospel Recording hand crank tape players. These players come in a set complete with audio tapes, flip charts, and a solar panel in a rainproof backpack to carry them in. For every 5 Gospel Recording players that we take into the field, approximately 100 presentations are given each month. In the previous 6 months, over 500 families had been presented with the Gospel message through these VCD kits that we distributed on a previous trip. We also had the privilege of returning the repaired Jesus Film 16mm Projector kit to the Nuba Mountains. The projector had broken after the film had been shown to over 29,000 people by one of our Nuba co-workers there. We are trusting God for great things now that it is back in use.

Once we completed our long trip back to South Africa, we conducted a Summit Youth Leadership Training Course in the Natal region. These, primarily Indian, youth experienced a great amount of life change and learned many new things as God had used us to impact their lives. The spicy curry served during meal times was great too.

We are incredibly grateful for God’s great provision of supply and success, as well as the amazing protection we experienced on this long and dangerous mission.

Timothy Keller

Field Director

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