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In
fact the church in Africa has grown so fast that Operation
World reports that 100 Million Christians in Africa do not
even possess a copy of the Bible.
The
challenge to the Christian Church as Africa moves towards
becoming a continent where Christians are the majority is
the urgent need for literature and leadership training.
Africa
is being well evangelized, but very inadequately discipled.
Most of the pastors throughout Africa have no formal Bible
college training. Most of the pastors have no library at
all. Some pastors have only two or three books, many do
not even own a full Bible.
The
vision of Frontline Fellowship is to work for Reformation
in Africa by producing, providing and distributing suitable
literature, leadership training and love in action. Ministering
to body, mind and spirit. Comprehensively fulfilling the
Great Commission to make disciples of all nations, teaching
obedience to all things the Lord has commanded.
This
has involved a wide range of ministries including delivering
and distributing over 240 000 Bibles and Christian books
in 21 languages – just to Sudan; providing thousands
of Christian textbooks for teachers, and libraries for pastors;
conducting teacher training seminars, evangelism workshops,
pastoral training, agricultural and relief work, delivering
tons of medicines and medical equipment, training medics,
chaplains, evangelists, teachers and pastors, and helping
to establish Bible colleges and Christian schools.
By
God’s grace, in the last few months, Frontline Fellowship
has passed some major milestones in each of these vital
ministries.
Traditionally
missions have seen the school, the hospital and the church
as the three pillars of missions: the school to minister
to the mind, the hospital to minister to the body, and the
church to minister to the soul.
Bibles
for the Unreached
When I was a delegate at the Global Consultation On World
Evangelism, a variety of unreached peoples groups were being
parceled out to the various missions executives. Because
we ministered in the Nuba Mountains, I was given the Krongo.
On a subsequent mission to the Nuba, I discovered that the
Krongo, who were listed as an unreached peoples group, were
not only well evangelised, but the vast majority were Bible
believing Christians organised in evangelical churches!
| Forty
years after they were translated, Krongo New Testaments
are delivered to the Nuba Mountains. |
 |
The
Krongo believers explained to me that back in the 1950’s
Australian missionaries from Sudan United Mission (SUM)
had worked in the Nuba Mountains and planted the Gospel
seed. In 1962 they were all expelled from the country by
the Muslim military dictatorship which had taken over in
a violent revolution in 1958. The Churches were strong and
vibrant, but they had no Bibles, hymnbooks or Christian
literature in their language.
 |
Evangelists
receive the Krongo New Tesatments. |
By
God’s grace, on my next trip into the Nuba Mountains,
I was able to deliver hymnbooks, cathecisms and Sunday school
materials, which the original SUM missionaries had translated
into Krongo. With much excitement, the five Krongo pastors
and evangelists, who were attending our Training Seminar,
opened up the boxes, and immediately began to sing from
the Krongo hymn book. One of them said later “You have
made a thousand tongues to sing!” It was deeply humbling
to see the fulfillment of the earnest prayers of faithful
missionaries from four decades ago.
On
a recent mission trip to the Nuba Mountains, Tim was able
to deliver New Testaments in the Krongo language. Along
with over 1000 Bibles, New Testaments, hymn books and catechisms
in the Nuba languages, Tim was also able to deliver audio
visual equipment and train evangelists, including from the
Krongo, in these evangelistic and teaching materials. Some
of the pastors walked seven hours, one way, to attend the
evangelism workshops.
On
a recent ministry trip to Australia, I met Christians connected
with the old Sudan United Mission. They were most excited
over the news of our ministry into the Nuba Mountains, as
retired friends of theirs had been involved in the Bible
translation projects there. I was given a copy of a book
“God’s Will for the Mountains”, by Ellen
Crocker. This gave a whole new background to the difficult
and often dangerous missionary work we had been undertaking
into the Nuba Mountains.
The
Coming Storm
The SUM missionaries described work in the Nuba Mountains
50 years ago: “The formless road was mostly potholes
and slippery mud … malaria could hit like a ton of
bricks, tossing the victim into a sea of pain, of searing
heat and shivering cold, for days and sometimes weeks. Survival
was not to be taken for granted. The disease also had serious
complications, especially the dreaded Blackwater fever …
there were reports of violent riots … the Southerners
had not forgotten that their future partners in government
had traded in black slaves not that long ago. They did not
trust the Arabs. The Northerners … didn’t just
want a unified Sudan. They also wanted a uniformly Islamic
nation. … If the SUM had only a few years left in Sudan,
how should they invest those remaining years? Three areas
stood out … first, all leadership responsibilities
in the Nuba churches must be transferred to the local Christians
… secondly, local leaders … must be given a thorough
grounding in Scripture, so that they in turn could continue
to teach and sheperd others … thirdly, the greatest
need was for every Christian to have access to the Word
of God. This meant that the translation of the New Testament
– and preferably more – must be completed in each
of the five languages used on the Nuba Mountain mission
field. Bible translation and literacy work … were now
given top priority.”
Unfortunately,
however, at this time of greatest need, due to staff shortages,
the Bible school at Shwai was forced to close in 1956. “After
patience - stretching negotiations with the government and
seemingly endless amounts of red tape, a Bible seminary
for pastors and evangelists recommenced on the same site
in 1959.”
The
Bible translation work was “slow, painstaking work
… time for mission work was in short supply. In the
mid 50’s the political atmosphere in Sudan was tense
and … dangerously turbulent with wide spread strikes
and uprisings … political upheavals.”
I
also learned from these missionaries that the first ordained
Nuba minister, Pastor Samwiil Jangul, had received his theological
training at the Bishop Gwynne College at Mundri in Southern
Sudan. The very Bible college which Frontline Fellowship
is helping to restore.
From
the memoirs of the SUM missionaries I learnt of their ongoing
trouble in gaining entry visas to Sudan and permits to “enter
the closed district of the Nuba Mountains … one after
another of the SUM people received eviction notices in the
years 1959 – 1962 …”
The
Islamic government then withdrew permission for Missionary
Aviation Fellowship (MAF) to use the three airstrips in
the Nuba Mountains. “As a result nearly all travel
had to be done on the roads that alternated between dangerously
bad and quite impassable for a large part of the year.”
They reported needing extraordinary tenacity as they were
forced to work “against a slow and inefficient bureaucracy.”
“The
Sudanese government’s first target was the mission
schools. Everything from little bush schools to large secondary
colleges run by a variety of expatriate missions became
government schools at the stroke of a pen in 1958. Next
came the mission dispensaries or clinics. The mission dispensary
… was then ordered to close … the existence of
the Bible School at Shwai was questioned. As the Sudanese
government was now running all schools, what right had this
school to train pastors and evangelists? Friday then replaced
Sunday as Sudan’s day of rest. A military regime seized
power in May 1958 and declared martial law … frustrations
of that kind were the rule rather than the exception …”
I
had to smile and frequently shake my head in amazement as
I read these reports from missionaries to the Nuba Mountains
nearly 50 years ago. Some things, such as the slow and inefficient
bureaucracy, transportation complications, prohibition of
flights, government interference, political instability,
fevers and malaria, seemed to have little changed. On the
other hand, the missionaries did have access to a telephone
“a mere 24 kilometers away and it frequently worked!”
Will
They Stand?
An interesting conversation was recorded with the British
ambassador. “What will happen after you leave? Do you
have churches out there? Will the Christians stand for their
faith? Do they have any guts?” The Ambassador questioned
Australian missionary William Lunn. (This conversation is
recorded in Malcolm Forsberg’s book “Last Days
on the Nile”.) William responded with vigour: “I
have no fear for the church, they are organized … the
Christians are strong … they will stand.”
Indeed,
recent history has borne out the faith of these dedicated
missionaries. The Nuba Christians have shown themselves
strong. They have stood firm. An island of Christianity
in an ocean of Islam. The Nuba Christians have endured some
of the very worst persecution. The vast majority of villages
in the Nuba mountains have been burned down. Most of the
churches have been destroyed. Most of their crops have been
destroyed. Much of their livestock have been looted. Even
wells have been poisoned. Hundreds of Christian men have
been crucified in the Nuba Mountains. The National Islamic
Front government of Sudan has declared Jihad against the
Nuba and have conducted a scorched earth campaign against
the Nuba Mountains.
Yet, even in the face of this relentless cruelty and vicious
persecution, the Christians in the Nuba Mountains have multiplied,
winning their neigbours and even some of their enemies to
Christ.
The
last days of the SUM missionaries in the Nuba Mountains
were turbulent. Police officers, guns in hand, ransacked
the missionaries’ homes, searching for radio transmitters,
confiscating property, and “leaving a dreadful mess
behind”. The years of “the heat and stress were
taking their toll.”
Helen
Bond and Peg Astbury worked on the Otoro New Testament at
Kauda. Keith and Betty Black completed the Moro New Testament
and Leah Jenkins worked on the Heiban translation. In their
race to complete the Bible translations before the Muslim
Government evicted them, the translation work was constantly
interrupted by tearful Nubans coming to say farewell.
New
laws were passed “which seemed extremely repressive
of any Christian activity”. Government orders came
through that all missionary buildings had to be “completely
emptied” and the keys handed over to policemen. None
of the mission property was allowed to be handed over to
the local churches “because no such body as the church
exists”, according to the Muslim Government. Neither
would the authorities allow money from the SUM account or
the missionary’s private account to be taken out of
the country.
The
final chapter of the book reports that there were “about
200 baptized believers on the SUM field” when they
reluctantly had to leave. Now there are over one and a half
million!
“Those
who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes
forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing shall doubtless come
again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”
Psalm 126: 5-6
Teamwork
We are greatly indebted to these faithful missionary pioneers
who ploughed the hard ground, planted the Gospel seed and
watered it with many tears, sacrifices and prayers. The
vibrant and dynamic Christian churches in the Nuba Mountains
today can praise God for faithful men and women who laboured
to ensure that they had the Word of God faithfully translated
into their own languages. It is our great privilege in Frontline
Fellowship to have delivered many of these New Testaments,
hymn books, Sunday school materials and catechisms in Otoro,
Heiban, Moro, Krongo and Kwalib. All of these were translated
by the SUM missionaries before they were expelled from the
country in 1962. However, with the violent persecution and
scorched earth campaign directed against the Nuba, in recent
years, soon no copies remained in the Nuba.
Behind
Enemy Lines
Tim and I have walked across the Nuba Mountains delivering
thousands of Bibles and New Testaments, hymn books, catechisms
and school books, showing the Jesus film and God’s
Story in Arabic, to tens of thousands of Nubans, training
pastors and evangelists, and equipping them with Gospel
Recordings Messengers and God’s Story audio visual
equipment.
Scorpions,
malaria and sunstroke have been occupational hazards while
ministering in the Nuba Mountains. On one trip a poisonous
little scorpion stung me on my left arm. In no time at all
my arm became inflamed and began to feel somewhat paralyzed.
We were so far from any possible medical care, and had absolutely
no medicines to counteract the effect of the scorpion’s
poison. We prayed. And, by God’s grace, within the
day, my arm began to heal up.
Killing
scorpions before going to bed became somewhat routine. Tim
still has the record. He managed to kill 7 scorpions around
his sleeping bag in one night. The question is how he managed
to sleep after that!
Just
before Thanksgiving, Tim was about to fly into the Nuba
Mountains. As he saw a flock of turkeys, he began to think
of the Thanksgiving holiday feasts that would be served
at home, in America. “I want roasted turkey” was
Tim’s desire. However, as Tim later wrote: “Little
did I know that I was the turkey to be roasted!”
“The
Nuba Mountains have always been one of the most hostile
areas to work within Sudan ... the place is completely surrounded
by Government of Sudan forces … flying there is always
done at the risk of being shot down. Clearly the Lord was
with me as the aircraft arrived safely after a rough landing
on a crooked runway. On the far end of the airstrip were
the remains of a crashed plane, indicating that not everyone
was as blessed as us.
“Although
the landing was good, this mission trip started off on the
wrong foot. The people I’d radioed to meet me at the
airstrip didn’t arrive. After the pilot helped me offload
the Bibles and other Christian books he was quickly on his
way. So I remained alone in the middle of the Nuba Mountains
in 115°F heat with a ton of Bibles and no one to meet
me. So I waited …” Temperatures soared. Tim developed
sunstroke. He started vomiting and had severe dysentery.
He lost so much fluid that he became very weakened.
By
God’s grace, Tim managed to walk to a Joint Military
Commission (JMC) compound where he was able to receive medical
care. The military doctor that examined him reported that
had he remained in the sun even a few minutes longer, he
would have had convulsions, become comatose and died. Tim
received intensive care for two days, lapsing into and out
of consciousness and often vomiting. By God’s grace,
he regained sufficient strength by the Sunday to begin literature
distribution and the training of evangelists.
To
distribute the remainder of his cargo, Tim had to get across
a 65km plain controlled by the Arabs. He began looking around
for some camels to hire to transport the Bibles across the
desert. Then, by God’s grace, he was offered a flight
in the Joint Military Commission helicopter! He managed
to get half a ton of Bibles onto the Soviet Mi 8 Helicopter
(without them realizing what they were transporting!).
Tim
then had a serious shock when they landed in the middle
of a Government of Sudan garrison! He knew that if the Arab
soldiers realized that he was a Christian missionary and
found out what he was transporting, his head would “literally
have been in a basket!” However, by God’s grace,
Tim and his Scriptural contraband remained undetected and
the JMC helicopter continued on its flight landing him and
his precious cargo not too far from the churches he had
come to visit. As Tim reported after this trip: “Somebody
must have been praying – or I wouldn’t be alive
now!”
One
Nuba evangelist, who had been entrusted with our 16mm Jesus
film equipment, reported having screened the Jesus film
in Arabic to over 29000 people before the machine broke
down. The 16mm projector has now been repaired for the next
Nuba film evangelism marathon.
| For
most Nubans the first film they’ve ever seen was
the Jesus film based on the Gospel of Luke. |
 |
On
a subsequent mission trip to the Nuba Mountains, Tim managed
to conduct a Muslim Evangelism Workshop and train evangelists
in new God’s Story audio visual equipment. Heavy rains
and other complications delayed Tim’s exit from the
Nuba Mountains. But even this delay was used by the Lord
for good as it led to him meeting the Governor of the Nuba
Mountains.
At
one point he was stranded at an airstrip for two days. On
another occasion, after being stranded for some time, Tim
sought to hitchhike a lift on a UN aircraft, but when they
discovered that he was a Christian missionary, they refused
to give him a lift out. The UN, in our experience, is UNfriendly,
UNcooperative, UNreasonable and UNregenerate.
On
returning, Tim learned that there had been three aircraft
crashes in the area in the previous three months. He also
reported that the educational needs were great. In the one
region where he ministered there were only five primary
schools. There were also only about 2 textbooks available
per school. The Lord willing, we are planning to deliver
sufficient Christian textbooks and stationery to equip these
and many other schools in the Nuba Mountains.
When
I first flew into the Nuba Mountains, blackboards, chalk,
textbooks and stationery materials for schools were part
of our four tonnes of cargo. At that time there was only
an estimated 15% of the people in the Nuba Mountains who
could read and write. Now, by God’s grace, literacy
in the Nuba Mountains has increased to over 30%. As the
schools continue to grow, so too will the literacy rate.
However, to reach the majority of the people in the Nuba
Mountains, who are illiterate, we still need to make use
of film evangelism and audiovisual equipment such as the
Gospel Recordings (Bible Media) Messengers and the God’s
Story VCD Kits.
Smuggling
for the Starving
“Under the cover of darkness, I proceeded carefully
down the road to my destination in Zimbabwe. As I approached
yet another roadblock, I slowed my pickup truck to a halt.
I was hoping that the police officer would just wave me
through as the previous roadblocks had done, but not this
time. He began looking around with his flashlight. ‘What’s
this in the back?’ He asked as his light shone on the
bag behind my seat. I turned around to look. When I saw
what he was looking at, I knew I was in trouble.
“The
contraband had been carefully concealed but the bumpy road
had shifted things around. Now it was exposed, and I could
see no way out of this mess I was now in. ‘Oh that’s
just beans,’ I said, pretending that it was no big
deal to have 50 kg of beans in Zimbabwe. ‘Pull over
here to the side,’ he responded. As I pulled to the
side, about a million thoughts passed through my mind, but
not one of them was positive.
“One
wouldn’t think that carrying 400 kg of food could get
a person into so much trouble, but in a country with a Communist
dictator like Robert Mugabe, even the absurd is possible.
Zimbabwe, although once a great country with vast wealth
and resources, is now a complete wreck. Even the most basic
necessities of life, such as food or fuel, are scarcely
found.
“As
I drove through the countryside, I could see the many commercial
farms that used to be highly productive, now only vast fields
of weeds and grass. Mugabe’s thugs have seized most
of the farms for themselves, leaving a trail of human rights
abuses in the process. Now that the farms have been confiscated,
they are no longer producing anything. This has begun a
famine that is expected to get worse than the one in Ethiopia
back in the 1980’s. This famine is being caused deliberately
by ZANU-PF (Robert Mugabe’s party) to starve out their
opposition, many of whom are Christians.
“With
many already starving, we devised a plan to help meet this
need through our Box with Love project. Love boxes are filled
with basic necessities like non-perishable food and soap.
A number of churches and individuals from all over South
Africa have donated boxes. Getting the boxes together was
a great blessing, yet delivering those boxes into the right
hands would be a real witness of God’s power.
“There
are two ways to get food into Zimbabwe to meet the needs
of the people. There is the legal way, by which one can
go through all the official channels with the correct paperwork
and bribes, etc. However, using this way, the food goes
to the very government that is responsible for the famine
and the people really in need are neglected. The official
route doesn’t actually solve anything. Then there is
our way, which unfortunately is illegal. This involves smuggling
the food across the border and through the many roadblocks
undetected.
“Either of these methods is dangerous because the country
has become so lawless. Shortly before this trip, an American
man working for a secular NGO bringing in food through “the
right channels” was murdered, at one of the roadblocks.
We could easily have our food confiscated, be locked up,
tortured or even killed for our activities. The price of
compassion can be very high in Zimbabwe.
“From
the very outset of my first trip into the country, God’s
blessings were evident. With only a few tyre punctures and
car problems, our trip went well. We got through the border
and four roadblocks without serious problems. The fact that
gasoline wasn’t available created a logistical challenge,
yet even in this, God made His provision known.
“Upon arriving at our destination, we were warmly welcomed
by our friends who were incredibly grateful for what God
had used us to bring them. On this trip, we successfully
delivered 65 love boxes, numerous books, and over 10,000
Gospel booklets for distribution. I also equipped two evangelists
with the Gospel Recordings Messenger kits and one pastor
with an audio visual kit.
| The
Gospel Recordings Messengers at work in the Nuba Mountains.
These tough hand cranked tape recorders with colourful
flip charts are often called: “the man in the box
who speaks my language.” |
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“On
the way out of the country, we were stopped at one of the
roadblocks and thoroughly harassed by the police. But now
we had delivered everything and the vehicle was empty -
so we made a safe exit. In this I could see what the Lord
had protected us from on the way in.
“During
the next mission trip into Zimbabwe things got interesting.
The border and the first couple of roadblocks went fine,
but when I was asked to pull to the side of the road at
the last roadblock I became concerned. The policeman who
asked me to pull to the side remained, while a man in civilian
clothes approached my vehicle and began to interrogate me.
I remember being warned by friends before entering the country
that the officials dressed in civilian clothes are the worst
hands to fall into. They are either CIO (Mugabe’s version
of the KGB) or so called “war veterans” with every
kind of evil in their heart. My guess was that this guy
was CIO.
“After
answering a few questions, I handed him a letter with my
excuse for being in the country. He left and then came back.
‘God bless, please pray for us,’ he said as he
handed back my letter, letting me go. I was shocked. I don’t
know what the Lord had done in this man’s heart, but
it was a miracle and I was on my way! I successfully arrived
in the middle of the night to another warm welcome. We offloaded
everything while it was still dark.”
“For
I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you
gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in...Assuredly,
I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least
of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” Matthew 25:36,40
Prayer
Prohibited
As bizarre as it may seem that one has to smuggle food into
a country facing mass starvation, the government of Zimbabwe
is now even warning churches not to pray!
The
ZANU-PF government of Zimbabwe has turned on churches and
pastors in a campaign to clamp down on prayers for justice.
Various church prayer meetings have been dispersed by police.
Government officials claimed that these prayer meetings
had been “convened without (their) permission”
and “in violation of the security laws.”
Rev.
Sony Chimbuya, of the Church of Christ in Masivingo, and
a former senior official of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches,
was summonsed by plain clothes police and interrogated as
to why he was praying “anti-government prayers.”
Rev.
Chimbuya reported to the Daily News: “I was ordered
not to pray prayers which are political. They even told
me that I should write down my prayers for them to scrutinise.
They took my Curriculum Vitae and warned me to be careful
with my prayers!” Rev. Chimbuya said that he was not
a political activist, but a preacher. “ I just believe
in peace and unity in the country.”
One
daily newspaper commented in a front page article: “Zimbabweans
who have long lost hope in the government’s ability
to extricate them from abject poverty and see their only
salvation in praying hard for their country, now find themselves
with little space to do this.”
State
Sponsored Terrorism
Zimbabwe has been suffering under an increasingly oppressive
government, which has mobilised mobs to invade and loot
thousands of white owned commercial farms. Robert Mugabe,
the Marxist dictator of Zimbabwe, has publicly proclaimed:
“Farmers are enemies of the state!”; “We
have degrees in violence!”; “What Hitler did to
the Jews I will do to the whites – ten fold!”
Robert Mugabe came to power in Zimbabwe in 1980, after a
vicious civil war, as part of a political settlement organised
by the British Foreign Office and the US State Department.
Although the British and US governments publicly guaranteed
the rule of law and private ownership of property, particularly
farms, Mugabe’s government has grown increasingly lawless,
even ignoring rulings by the Zimbabwe Supreme Court.
Shortly
after taking power, Mugabe’s North-Korean trained 5th
Brigade went on the rampage, killing tens of thousands of
Matabele tribesmen. The Zimbabwe National Army has also
been involved in foreign wars, propping up the unpopular
Marxist dictatorship in Mozambique in the 1980’s and
the un-elected Marxist regime in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo.
National
Suicide
Mugabe’s ZANU-PF have been involved in an increasingly
violent campaign against all those who are considered unsupportive
of the Marxist government of Zimbabwe.
Thousands
have been assaulted and arrested, often without charge.
Many have been murdered. Over 5000 farms have been confiscated
from white commercial farmers, with widespread looting and
destruction of property by ZANU-PF “war veterans”
and youth militia.
| Ndebele
victims of Mugabe’s ZANU (PF) in Zimbabwe |
 |
The
one independent radio station was blown up. The independent
Daily News offices were also attacked and blown up. Judges
who have made rulings against ZANU-PF have been attacked
by mobs, even assaulted in their chambers in court. Supreme
Court justices who opposed Mugabe’s campaign of lawlessness
have been forced to resign upon public threat of death.
Pastors have been arrested for prayer. And hundreds of thousands
of Zimbabweans are starving in a man-made famine.
What
Hope for Africa?
Zimbabwe and Sudan are examples of what is wrong in Africa.
Lawlessness, tribalism, racism, one party dictatorships,
Marxism, Islamic Jihad, envy, covetousness, hatred, theft
and murder. We can see the problems. But where can we find
the solutions? Is there any hope for Africa?
Reformation
and Revival
This is where our mission’s vision comes in. We are
committed to working for Biblical Reformation and praying
for spiritual revival in Africa. God’s Word, the Bible,
has all the solutions for the problems of Africa. That is
why we launched our new book: Biblical Principles for Africa
at Parliament in Cape Town. This compact, 100 page book
is designed to be a powerful discipleship tool – for
government officials, businessmen, pastors, teachers, journalists
and citizens throughout the 23 nations of Africa which have
English as their official language. Our first print run
was an ambitious 10000 copies. Thousands have already been
sold and thousands more have been distributed freely to
key political, economic and spiritual leaders – as
far afield as Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Sudan, Zambia
and Zimbabwe.
Training
Leaders
In addition we have continually revised and expanded our
Biblical Worldview Manual, Reformation Conference Manual
and Great Commission Course Manuals. We run dozens of such
leadership training courses for thousands of Christian leaders
throughout Africa. To those who cannot come to our courses
we offer the manuals and audio tape sets.
When
we find exceptional students, pastors, or evangelists, we
try to arrange sponsorship so that they can come to some
of our more intensive training programmes such as the Summit
and Great Commission Course in Cape Town.
Frontline
Fellowship has also established a Bible College in Eastern
Zambia. By God’s grace the first group of pastors to
complete the three-year programme at Covenant College were
graduated at the end of October.
Providing
Literature
Along with assisting various Bible Colleges with textbooks
and guest lecturers, Frontline Fellowship is also seeking
to provide Libraries for Pastors. Most pastors in Africa
have no formal Bible College training and access to precious
few books. As we continue to go out and conduct leadership
training seminars in neglected areas we also want to supply
quality Christian books.
When
we are able to, we provide every pastor at our seminars
with a complimentary book. Also we give books as prizes
for those who attain the highest marks in our Bible Exam,
or other tests. And we award those who show the greatest
proficiency in Bible memorization during our Bible Drill.
Ammunition
and Air Support
The hunger for Christian literature in Africa is intense.
Africans love to read – but most have no access to
good Christian books. We are doing our best to rectify that.
If you can help organise book donations or sponsorships
we will ensure that these books are prayerfully and strategically
entrusted to those who will most appreciate and study them.
Literature is the spiritual ammunition of missions.
And
prayer provides air support and spiritual artillery. Please
keep praying for our missionaries and those amongst whom
we minister as we seek to be faithful to the Great Commission
of our Lord Jesus Christ - whilst under relentless and vicious
attacks.
Wheels
Under the Word
In Sudan we have also sought to multiply the effectiveness
of trained pastors and evangelists by donating bicycles.
This Bibles and Bikes programme aims to enable pastors
to cover more ground and reach and teach more people
by providing simple, and relatively inexpensive, transport.
By God’s grace we have so far provided over 70
bicycles to pastors, chaplains, teachers and evangelists
in Sudan. |
 |
Textbooks
for Teachers
All over Africa we see mosques and madressas being built.
Muslim nations, such as Saudi Arabia, are pouring hundreds
of millions of petrodollars into financing the building
of Islamic schools. Islamic propagation societies are active
throughout Africa agressively seeking to buy converts to
Islam by offering free schooling, free uniforms, free shoes,
free textbooks, free school lunches and free university
scholarships to Middle Eastern Universities.
In
response we are conducting Muslim Evangelism Workshops and
assisting Christian Community Schools with quality Christian
textbooks, and Teacher Training Seminars. We have also compiled
a Christian Teachers Manual. We need more Christian teacher
trainers and many thousands more Christian school textbooks.
“For
waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams
in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and
the thirsty land springs of water ... a highway shall be
there, and a road, and it shall be called The Highway of
Holiness ...” Isaiah 35: 6 - 8
Dr. Peter Hammond
Write
to Frontline Fellowship,
PO Box 74, Newlands, 7725,
Cape Town, South Africa, or
e-mail: admin@frontline.org.za
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