The following report, by Mike, one of our team, explains some of the ministry opportunities God has provided here in Sudan. He has been working in terrific and numerous ways; what a privilege to see His plans unfold!
Kajo Keji
After an epic 8000km overland journey across eight countries, we were warmly welcomed to Kajo Keji by the very friendly and down-to-earth Bishop Anthony and his staff. We had a very effective and appreciated time of ministry in Kajo Keji Diocese.
Evangelism Workshop
We had a week of Evangelism Workshops everyday from 08h30 to 16h30 from Tuesday to Saturday focusing on Evangelism and Discipleship. Some of the topics that we dealt with were: A Biblical Vision of Victory, Abiding in Christ, The Greatness of the Great Commission, Principles for Soul Winning, The Greatest Book, The Ten Commandments, Evangelism Explosion, The Way of the Master, The Challenge of Islam, Comparing the Bible with the Quran, Gold Nuggets for Evangelizing Muslims, The Uniqueness of Jesus in the Quran, The Lordship of Christ in All Areas of Life, Missions 9 Ways, The Power of Prayer, Understanding Humanism and The Heart of the Gospel.
Libraries for Pastors
Each day we distributed specific books to the participants according to the topic we were dealing with. The book, Faith Under Fire in Sudan was particularly well received with expressions of honour and gratitude.
Film Ministry
Every evening we showed a film for the participants. Some of the films we showed included: True and False Conversions, The Biggest Question, More than Dreams, Sudan: The Hidden Holocaust, 3 Days in Sudan, and The Way of the Master: London. It was truly a great experience to watch the participants watch the DVD, Sudan: The Hidden Holocaust. There was a constant hum of excited chatter and comments throughout the film as participants were recognizing faces and places, and at times in horror remembering the suffering of the past. This was undoubtedly the most appreciated film.
Sunday Services
On Sunday each of our team members had an opportunity to minister at a different congregation for Sunday morning Worship services.
Personal Evangelism
During the week, after each day of lectures, the participants had the opportunity to go into the local area amongst the villages and do personal evangelism. They returned with joyous reports of villagers who had trusted in Christ.
Prison Ministry
During the week we had opportunities to minister at the local prison and police station where we had the opportunity to share the Gospel with the prisoners and saw many trust in Christ.
School Ministry
We also ministered at the local Primary and Secondary School where all the students took refuge from the blazing heat of the sun under the shade of a large tree and we had the opportunity to clearly share the Gospel with these enthusiastic kids.
Bible College
We had the privilege ministering to students of a Bible College. We shared with them about Evangelizing Muslims.
Military Mission
We had the privilege of going to the SPLA barracks to share the Gospel with the soldiers. After seeing the taking down of the flag by a military officer, I was able to show the soldiers, and their wives and children, how their flag has the Gospel in it. The black on top speaks of how our hearts were dark with sin; the red in the middle shows how the Blood of Christ cleanses us and purifies us of sin; the white lines speak of how our hearts can be white as snow; the green shows us that we must grow in Grace, reading our Bibles, fellowshipping with other believers and praying; the royal blue shows us that we are now sons of the King; and the gold star shows us that we will be in Heaven one day forever.
Gratitude
As we left Kajo Kaji many participants reported how they had been extremely blessed by our coming and that they had learned much from the lectures and pleaded with us to come again. They thanked Frontline Fellowship deeply for the literature and books that we had distributed among them.
Lui
In Lui we were warmly welcomed by the friendly and down-to-earth Bishop Stephen and his pastors. We were hosted at the old Samaritans Purse doctors' compound.
Evangelism Workshop
We had an effective and appreciated week of ministry at the Lui Diocese beginning with taking the morning devotions at the Lui Hospital for the staff and patients. We held an Evangelism Workshop in the Frazer Cathederal having 22 pastors, leaders, and evangelists attend the workshops. Some of the topics we dealt with included The Greatness of the Great Commission, The Heart of the Gospel, The Greatest Book, The Way of the Master, Evangelism Explosion, The Ten Commandments, The Lordship of Christ in All Areas, Patterns for Soul Winning, Principles of Soul Winning, One Thing You Can't Do In Heaven, Missions in the Bible, The Power of Prayer, Africa's Greatest Need: Discipleship, The Challenge of Islam, and Comparing the Bible with the Quran.
Market Place Evangelism
We also gave the participants the opportunity to put into practice what they had been learning by going out into the market place to do personal evangelism.
Logistics
We were able to help the Diocese practically by driving to a remote village to collect food items that were a donation for the Synod meeting in Juba. The Diocese does not have a working vehicle. The Land Rover is dilapidated and irrestorable and the truck is heading for a similar condition, but there is still hope for it. They are struggling to get spares for their vehicles. Although the vehicle may have been parked off for a minor problem, because of the delay in repairing it, other deterioration sets in and eventually it is a total wreck.
Hospital Ministry
We spent a long time discussing with one of the doctors at the Lui Hospital about some of the challenges they are facing. The hospital is desperately short of staff. Since Samaritan's Purse left in 2007 the hospital has taken a serious turn for the worse. The nursing school which Samaritan's Purse left behind is vacant and 'crying out' for someone to use it. The hospital is 'crying out' for nurses and doctors. The patients are unable to be sufficiently assisted due to a shortage of nurses. Some critical operations have to be postponed because there are no nurses to assist the doctor in theatre. The X-ray machine is in a steel shipping container which is unsafe. The list goes on. Lui Hospital is in desperate need of help.
Film Ministry
We also had the opportunity to show certain films at night in the Frazer Cathederal which included Sudan: The Hidden Holocaust, The Biggest Question, and The Jesus Film in Arabic. Each night hundreds gathered to watch these films.
Mundri
We arrived in Mundri and muddy road. It had been raining the whole day so the road was very slippery and somewhat difficult to navigate around the huge potholes especially with the trailer which is still quite full of books and literature. I had to drive extra carefully with the trailer because the suspension needed repair having broken last week on our way to Lui. The folk at Lui assured us that we will be able to find a welding machine in Mundri.
Warm Welcome
We were well-received by Bishop Bismark and by the Director of the Teacher Training College. We were hosted at the Bishop's compound. The following morning we met a very bright, happy, and intelligent man, Canon Kenneth Baringwa. He had spent much time with Dr. Peter Hammond during the war. He fondly recounted many stories of how Frontline Fellowship had helped the Moru people. He also took us to the ECS guesthouse where we have been hosted in traditional African style 'tukuls' (grass huts).
Training at the Bible College
We have been able to do an intensive Evangelism Training Workshop at the Bishop Ngalama Bible College (which is in the same premises that Frontline renovated for the Christian Liberty High School). The topics that we were able to cover included The Greatness of the Great Commission, Patterns for Soul Winning, Principles of Soul Winning, Evangelism Explosion Gospel presentation, Missions in the Bible, The Way of the Master, The Ten Commandments, Excuses for not Witnessing, The Lordship of Christ in all Areas of Life, The Power of Prayer, Rediscovering the Christian Work Ethic. Both Hunter and Daniel have certainly been carrying a fair share of the ministry responsibilities.
Kotobi
We have also been able to visit the Kotobi Institute for Teachers' Education (KITE). The principal at KITE is a very ambitious and well organized man. I believe the College is in good hands. We had a lengthy and profitable conversation with him. We were given an in-depth overview of the history, objectives, and challenges of KITE which included how Dr. Peter Hammond had visited them during the war years under the shade of mango trees bringing Training, textbooks and other materials for their teachers and encouraging them. We were also taken on a tour of the College and were shown the newly built KITE Community Library which is well taken care of and in desperate need of more books. We were able to add to their shelves.
Teaching Teachers
We had a great opportunity to share the Gospel clearly and effectively with 91 teachers and education officials from the South Sudan Department of Education who were at a closing Ceremony of a Teachers Seminar that the state department had been running at KITE. I was given about 30 minutes to address them and the message of the Gospel was cheerfully and well received. We also gave each one The Doctor Comes to Lui book which they received with much gladness and many of them went immediately to the shade of a nearby mango tree to start reading their new book.
We were also able to donate 70 copies of Christian Teachers' Training Manuel and many useful and helpful DVDs and MP3 discs which were received with much gratitude and appreciation.
Books for Libraries
We have had the privilege of stocking three community libraries and also enriching many personal libraries with many valuable Gospel books and Christian literature. We have donated more than 150 books to Mundri Community Library which is in the town Centre, we have also donated many books to Canon Ezra Lawairi Library at Bishop Ngalama Bible College, and also the KITE Community Library. Some 44 book titles that have been able to be donated include Faith Under Fire in Sudan, Practical Discipleship, Discipleship Handbook, Biblical Principles for Africa, The Ten Commandments, Slavery, Terrorism and Islam, The Doctor Comes to Lui, Putting Feet to Your Faith, The Battle for Truth, and many more.
Meeting the Leaders
Canon Kenneth Baringwa took us to meet the Commissioner of Mundri at his office. We were warmly welcomed and he insisted that Dr. Peter Hammond and any Frontline Fellowship Mission team is always welcome in Mundri. When we met the ex-commissioner who is now the Chairperson of the SPLM, he said "Peter Hammond is our blood brother; he was here with us while our blood was flowing", another person said, "Peter Hammond is a true friend; someone who is a friend during the hard times is truly a friend."
I had a great opportunity to talk to these leaders of Mundri and to encourage them to build this new country on Biblical principles. Praise God these leaders already have a strong desire to see this county established and founded on the Bible through prayer and action.
I was able to pray for the Commissioner in his office, committing his leadership to the Lord and asking for God's wisdom to lead this office and it's staff.
Sunday Worship Services
Our team split up for worship on Sunday. I preached at the Cathedral at the English service, Daniel preached at a very rural church which was accessed by some serious bundu-bashing, and Hunter preached at Milakalaga Parish.
Film Evangelism
We have been amazed at the turnout of people to the film shows each night. Some nights there are as many as 1000 people gathered to watch. We have shown the Jesus film in some locations and also the Sudan: The Hidden Holocaust. I'm not sure which was most favourite of the two, but there has been such excitement about both films and our team has diligently taken advantage of the opportunity to share the Gospel message to the many who gather around our film equipment.
Celebrating Jesus
I have been encouraged by the way the Moru people have responded to the Jesus film. They shout with joy and the ladies jubilate in the traditional African way when the see the Risen Lord Jesus appear to His disciples for the first time after His death and burial. Each time we've shown this film at different locations, we get the same shout of praise and spontaneous applause when it comes to this point in the film.
Tonight we are showing the film Pilgrim's Progress for the first time. The people seem to be watching in an excited sense of intrigue at this classic presentation of the adventure of discipleship.
The Team
The team morale is still good and we are now working together as a well-oiled, fine-tuned machine. Our overall health is still relatively good. Daniel, however, is showing the first signs and symptoms of malaria. I have started him on a course of Coartem, so please pray for his recovery.
Thank you for all your prayers and support which makes it possible for us to serve the people of the newly liberated South Sudan.
