Missionaries, Malaria and Muslims

My November field trip to Southern Sudan had been planned for many months. As I was involved in final preparations with almost a week before departure an ominous fax came through to our office. Our trainee field worker, Scott, had been flown out of Sudan. He was suffering from a severe case of malaria and, according to the doctors, would have died had he not been medevaced and hospitalized. Rob, a Frontline team member, had also come out shortly thereafter and informed us that he would drive Scott all the way back to South Africa. Rob later came down with malaria himself.

The Frontline team that I was going to join up with would therefore not be in the field in November. This posed a logistical problem since I would not have the mission’s vehicle available. Without other Fellowship workers in Sudan I could not take Miriam, our registered nurse, in to train the medical staff of the hospital we are establishing.

The situation report from the returning field team was also discouraging. They reported that the towns were deserted following the aerial bombardments; travel was difficult, a key bridge was down, the roads were bad, there was a lot of military activity and no opportunities for church or chaplaincy services. They had managed to deliver a large shipment of medicines and a fair quantity of Bibles and set up two field hospitals for war wounded near the battlefront, but they had not managed to hold any meetings.

The situation was not helped by the fact that our host. Rev. Kenneth Baringwa, was stranded in strife-torn Zaire for several weeks (the relief column he was leading lost 5 out of the 12 trucks in the unbelievably bad terrain and took 48 days instead of the expected 2 weeks)! The Mundri Diocese (FCS) office in Nairobi had also been forced to move, so we were unable to contact them by either phone or fax. Then our own Frontline Fellowship office in Cape Town was broken into and (among other things) our fax machine was stolen. This further hampered our communications at this critical stage. Without having received any word from our contacts in Sudan for almost two months, and being unable to communicate with them, several people recommended that I postpone this field trip. In effect that would mean cancelling it, because my program is booked solid months in advance. My next window of opportunity to minister in Sudan, would be March.

The prospects for a productive field outreach in Sudan during November frankly looked bleak. I would be on my own, without a vehicle in an unstable situation where the previous team had just experienced many frustrations and had found minimal opportunities for ministry.

The great distances and heavy expenses involved in any trip to Sudan made me seriously question the wisdom of the planned trip. At the same time word came through that two other missionary friends of ours in Sudan, had come down with Malaria and Typhoid.

After earnestly seeking the Lord in prayer, I was convinced that it was the Lord’s will that I persevere with the planned mission trip to Sudan. Our Christian friends in Equatoria had been bombed, and some of their churches had been rocketed by helicopter gunships. Some pastors had been abducted and many people had lost their homes and had been forced to flee by the recent offensive. Even if it was not possible to conduct the planned leadership training programs, I had to go and encourage our friends and deliver as many Bibles as possible. Few others were convinced that I had made the right choice but I was resolved. The worst situations so often provide the best opportunities for ministry. In fact this proved to be one of our most spiritually successful mission trips ever.

The final days in Cape Town before my departure were predictably hectic. On the eve of the Parliamentary debate on the abortion bill I joined our office staff in a prayer vigil outside Parliament. I burnt the midnight oil, completed the latest Frontline Fellowship News and UCANEWS editions, sorted out all the literature, lecture notes and equipment I would need to take and rushed to the airport. It was only 3 weeks before that I had returned from a seven week speaking tour throughout the USA. I had barely caught up with the backlog of correspondence and the administrative and personnel problems that had accumulated in my absence. I was sad not to be able to spend more time with the children. Our one-year-old son had just undergone surgery the previous week. As Lenora drove me to the airport she informed me that a complication had developed and Christopher would have to go back to the hospital. My mind spun. How could I leave my family at a time like this?

It was with a heavy heart, a racing mind and an exhausted body that I flew out of Cape Town. All I could do was pour out my soul in prayer to the Lord for His healing hand upon Christopher, His strength for Lenora and for His grace and wisdom to somehow overcome all the obstacles and turn this unpromising trip into one that would glorify God and bless His suffering people in Sudan.

As soon as I reached Nairobi, I hit the ground running. Four days later I had accumulated one of the largest supplies of Bibles and Gospel literature for Southern Sudan. Because friends in America had designated a large amount of money for Bibles, Christian books and charter flights into Sudan, I was able to have the long out-of-print Catechisms in Moru reprinted (2,000 copies) and the newly translated Lay Readers Manual printed. I was also able to purchase 1,000 copies of the hot-off- the-press new Moru translation of Genesis and 1,700 copies of the new Moru book 24 Bible Stories.

The previous Frontline team had pre-positioned a large consignment of Bibles in Moru, Zande, Bari, Dinka Padang and English near the border of Sudan and to this I now added a further 1,800 Bibles in Madi, Lotuka and Dinka, Bor. In addition I purchased hundreds of hymn books and leadership training manuals. We now had enough spiritual ammunition to launch a major offensive, but the biggest obstacles lay ahead. The logistical complications of transporting Bibles into the officially Islamic Sudan would he daunting at the best of times. With the war escalating, the infrastructure deteriorating and the hostility of the United Nations to missionary work in general and Bibles in particular, several local missionaries said that it was impossible at this time. I had a wonderful opportunity to trust the Lord!

It would take 3 charter planes to fly in all the Christian contraband. Timing was critical and the coordinating of the various people and transports (road and air) needed to obtain the right materials from the different stockpiles of Bibles and books for the successive flights would take more than good planning. There were so many variables and risks involved it would take several major answers to prayer!

By the grace of God each stage of the operation went ahead successfully. On several occasions I could only praise God for the many faithful and concerned friends who I knew were praying for this mission. Your prayers were mightily answered: 3,000 Bibles in 7 languages and 5,500 Christian books in 6 languages were safely delivered to over 100 pastors in Western and Eastern Equatoria!

The welcome in Maridi was enthusiastic. The Governor of Equatoria expressed his appreciation for the medicines delivered by the previous Frontline team. I was asked to present the sermon at a special joint service in the Cathedral in Maridi. Over 30 pastors and the District Commissioner gathered with the large crowd to pack the Cathedral for this event. The Commissioner also hosted a special public meeting in the Council Chambers where I was invited to address a hundred of the town’s elders and intellectuals and to answer their questions. A similar public meeting was arranged in the Kotobi town hall.

Everywhere I received positive feedback on the Frontline Fellowship News reports on Sudan and particularly on the Faith Under Fire in Sudan book. Although hundreds had been distributed, they were not enough. Everyone who could read English was most eager to obtain his own copy. All were clearly encouraged that their sufferings and desperate plight was at last being written about and published in the “outside world.” To see photographs of their own people and situations created quite a sensation.

On a number of occasions I asked assembled pastors and civic leaders to please let me know of any mistakes, inaccuracies or omissions in my book and news reports. On each occasion they assured me that the Frontline publications were the most fair and accurate reports they had ever seen. I implored them for any corrections or improvements. Some protested that the Frontline Fellowship News and Sudan book could not be improved! Their endorsement was encouraging, but I’m still convinced that there’s a lot more of their story that needs to be told. On several occasions I was told that they were depending on me to be their ambassador or spokesman to make their persecution known. Since the District Commissioner in Maridi put it: “Peter is an African. His skin may he white, but his heart is black. He is one of us. He speaks for us as one of us!” It certainly is a serious responsibility to represent the cause of the Christians in Southern Sudan.

Soon after arriving in Moruland (Mundri Diocese) I was taken on a long hike (we walked approximately 20 km) through the bush near Niau to minister to Moru refugees fleeing from the advancing Arabs. The scene at the Yei river was heart wrenching. The crowds of malnourished refugees had pitifully few possessions. Many didn’t even have clothes left. Across the river I could see large crowds desperately waiting their turn to be transported by dugout canoe. Since it was the end of the rainy season the river was full and fast flowing. Only two people could be ferried across at a time in the small hollowed-out tree trunks that served as canoes. The fear and desperation was tangible. For many this was the fourth or fifth time they had lost their homes to a Muslim offensive. Chief Yunamo Iningwa informed me that for six years in a row his people had been unable to harvest the crops they had planted and cultivated. The Muslims chose to attack just before the harvest each year.

The people told me of the systematic burning down of villages and the looting of cattle by Government of Sudan (GOS) forces. The administrator of Jambo, Peter Khamis, was publicly tortured by the Arab soldiers. They cut off his ears and broke each finger in both hands. (This happened in September 1996).

Several refugees confirmed that all the Christian civilians, men, women and children who had been captured by the Muslims, were made to dig large pits in the ground. They were then forced into these holes which were covered with thorn bushes. This had happened in Jambo, Buagui and Lanyi. The prisoners were then selected at random to be brought out. Those who refused to convert to Islam and/or join the GOS army were tortured by amputations of hands or feet by bayonets. Some reported that the GOS had used chemical weapons to conquer the strategic town of Lui. At 8:15 am on the seventh July 1996 the GOS dropped three bombs on the center of Lui. There was an intense fire that burned for six days. Several men died, two pregnant women miscarried and all the cattle, chickens and goats in the area died. They reported that the area still looked wet long after the bombing.

On 25 October GOS troops arrested Pastor Bennet in Yadi. They reportedly tortured him for two days and then took him to Lui. One lady who was captured at that time and managed to escape reported that the Arabs said they were going to continue targeting pastors because the churches were sending chaplains to the SPLA rebels. All the churches near Lui had been burnt down and in August helicopter gunships had rocketed two churches in Kotobi.

As one of the pastors commented, it is not true that the ordination of military chaplains had caused the wave of attacks on the churches: “The Muslims have been destroying our churches from the very beginning. Anyway the SPLA have never targeted Muslim religious leaders even though they incite the Arab soldiers to attack us.”

Rev. Kenneth Baringwa, the Bishop’s Commissar for Mundri Diocese, and I conducted a church service for the refugees near the river. We distributed New Testaments and Psalms in Moru and the new Moru translation of Genesis and sought to encourage the refugees. Kenneth later returned with two truckloads of food for these destitute people.

The next day I walked to a field hospital that had been set up by Rob and Scott. Seventeen military nurses and medics from various units on the battlefront had assembled for a Medical Training Workshop. This course was meant to have been run by Miriam. In her absence the task fell upon me! It was a daunting task and certainly the first time I have ever attempted to present any medical lectures. However, I had intensively read up on battlefield first aid and took along some excellent illustrated manuals. The medics were highly motivated and responded well to my presentations on dealing with the 4 B’s: Breathing, Bleeding, Burns and Breakages.

Most of the men had previous first-aid experience, some had even received medic training in Ethiopia in the 1980s. However, they had almost no equipment or medicines. It was a joy to provide the men with some of the medicines, bandages, dressings, drips and equipment that Christian friends had donated in South Africa. The basic training and materials provided would definitely save many lives and limbs.

However, there is still the need for medic bags or backpacks for these field nurses to carry their materials in, and more surgical knives, scissors, dressing forceps, dental forceps, iodine, pain killers, local anesthetics, and antibiotics. They also need lightweight field stretchers and medical manuals.

After stretching all my first-aid knowledge to previously unknown limits, it was a relief to go on to Bible teaching on health and field hygiene and to provide guidelines for counselling patients to salvation in Christ. Those medics who could recite a Bible verse by heart were awarded the compact chaplaincy Bibles. The men expressed great interest in attending the next Medical Training Workshop in March (when I’m sure Miriam will do a far more effective job!).

The next day I inspected the work in progress at the Hospital for War Wounded being restored in Maridi. I was impressed with the progress made: clearly much work had been done to clean up the derelict buildings and the operating theater and pharmacy were already repaired and freshly painted.

On Monday 11 November, we hoisted the Christian flag and held a dedication service for the hospital. I read Psalm 127. Gunnar Wiebalck, from Christian Solidarity International in Switzerland, had flown in especially to see the hospital and he also spoke at the service. Rev Kenneth Baringwa then dedicated the hospital to the Lord in prayer. All present rejoiced to see the progress and looked forward to the hospital being fully restored and effective in healing the war-wounded body, mind and spirit.

On Sunday 10 November the Episcopal Church kept me busy from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Many pastors had gathered to talk with me before and after the combined service in the Cathedral. Then the youth kept me answering questions until late at night.

The next day I walked up to the military barracks to conduct the chaplaincy service for the SPLAs 7th Division. It was encouraging to see the beginnings of a Christian library in the new chaplain’s office at the base. Thereafter I conducted a Pastors’ Seminar for over 70 pastors and theological students. The question-and-answer session went on till late that night. The Pastors’ seminar continued the next morning. Then at midday I addressed one hundred of the town’s elders and intellectuals in the Council Chambers. This was followed by the handing over of compact chaplaincy Bibles to police officers at the Maridi police station. We then drove up to Kotobi. That evening I led the evening worship with a message from the Bible. Again the question-and-answer session went on until late. The scene under the stars was spectacular with lightning in the distance silhouetting the trees around us with the brilliant flashes of illumination.

The next day we drove up to Mundri. This town has been abandoned because of repeated bombings. (It was bombed again while we were in the area). Since it is close to the battlefront only SPLA soldiers inhabit this now otherwise deserted town. A military escort took us on a guided tour of what once was apparently a beautiful town and a thriving community. The bridge across the Yei River had been blown up in several places. The shops and homes were overgrown with vegetation. The Bishop Gwynne College (named after the first Church Missionary Society CMS missionary to Sudan) still looked impressive despite having been abandoned long ago. The jungle had taken over the classrooms; in chapel and residences we encountered a green mamba snake in one room but the structures are solid and could be restored.

I saw lots of shot-up and burnt-out vehicles, shrapnel-scarred walls and bomb craters throughout the town. I was also shown some unexploded cluster bomblets.

I was welcomed by 2 military chaplains and a platoon of joyful Christians singing hymns. The local SPLA commander Jackson Garangwa expressed appreciation for the work of Frontline Fellowship. “At the beginning of our movement we made a terrible mistake,” he said. “We forgot something most important. We forgot God. But now we realize that God must be honored if we are ever to achieve freedom.”

As soldiers gathered for a chaplaincy service under the trees, Rev. Kenneth Baringwa expressed his gratitude that the SPLA commander-in-chief Dr. John Garang had now ordered that there be prayer parades before any military mobilization and that every SPLM meeting he opened with Scripture and prayer. The hymn singing in Moru, Arabic and Dinka reflected the diverse backgrounds of the soldiers. They responded enthusiastically to my message from the Bible and received the Bibles and Christian books with joy and awe. After completing our ministry amongst the frontline troops in Mundri we set out, into the dark with minimal moonlight for a rapid 20 km walk (with packs) back to Kotobi. We covered the distance in a brisk 3 hours with not too much stumbling and falling into potholes.

The next morning my hosts took me to the burnt-out Roman Catholic church building. The people there told of how their church had been rocketed and burnt to the ground by a helicopter gunship. Their school which used to meet in the building was now being held under the trees.

We toured the town and visited the market and some local shops and businesses. Despite the war and extreme poverty of the people, the spirit of free enterprise is alive and flourishing in parts of Southern Sudan. I saw tailors busy sewing shirts and trousers (generally out of used material or sacking materials) and shoe makers crafting sandals out of used car tires. Farmers were bringing livestock or crops to sell at the market. Builders were constructing huts out of wood, clay and thatch. Teachers were busy instructing their students. Mothers were cooking, washing or cleaning. Some men were digging bomb shelters. The people I saw there had lost their homes and were displaced, yet there was an infectious joy in this flourishing community and a determination to adapt and improvise.

In the afternoon, I was invited to address a special meeting with the elders and officials in the town hall. They kept me busy with probing questions for a long time after my message. In the evening I presented a sermon in the Episcopal church compound and answered more ethical, doctrinal, historical and social questions.

Early the next morning 45 pastors from every part of Moruland assembled for the Pastors Seminar. The District Commissioner of Mundri country officially opened the course in prayer. He also reassured all of us of the steadfast support of his administration for the pastors and of the commitment of his officials to be true to Christian principles. The pastors were expectant and highly motivated. There was good interaction and they were very responsive to questions. Many won books for accurately reciting key Bible verses by memory. Late that afternoon we officially presented the first copies of Genesis translated into Moru. There was much rejoicing. In the evening I was asked many questions, most about Genesis!

On Saturday I conducted a Muslim Evangelism Workshop for the pastors. It was probably the first such course ever run in Western Equatoria. In the afternoon, shortly after 2 p.m., I was busy demonstrating how one could counsel a Muslim to salvation in Christ. Suddenly the sound of bombs exploding in the distance made everyone freeze. Then the distinctive sound of a Soviet Antonov bomber made pastors scramble for cover. The blackboards and bicycles were quickly concealed under trees. The bomber flew overhead in a wide arc as it circled and flew back in the direction of Juba.

It was a dramatic illustration of how radical Islam evangelizes. Their preferred method of reaching out to those who adhere to different religions is through bombings. However, the Bibles we manage to smuggle into Islamic Sudan will prove to be more explosive: Not destroying lives but rescuing precious people from the destructive deception of Islam.

When one compares the Quran and the Bible, it’s no contest. The Bible is 66 books written by 40 different prophets and apostles, in 3 languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek), on 3 continents (Africa, Asia and Europe), over 1,500 years. The

Quran is one book, written by one author, in one language, in one geographic area, over 23 years.

Even the Quran acknowledges that Jesus Christ was miraculously born of a virgin, was holy and faultless, performed miracles, healed the sick and raised the dead. Muhammad, however, was a trader who transported and sold slaves. He was also a slave owner. This we learn from the Muslim’s own holy writings, the Hadith. One of Muhammad’s 14 wives, Aisha, was only nine years old when he married her. (According to the laws of most countries in the world that constitutes child abuse.) Muhammad was a bandit who attacked caravans for loot and a violent man who had over 600 Jewish men in Medina dig their own mass graves before having them all slaughtered. Their wives and children were then sold as slaves. All these facts are recorded in the Hadith.

The authenticity of the Bible as God’s revealed Word is attested to by many witnesses, by miracles such as the parting of the Red Sea, the fire that came down on Mount Carmel, our Lord feeding thousands with a handful of food, walking on the water, calming the storm, raising Lazarus from the grave and countless other events. The Bible contains hundreds of detailed prophecies. Our Lord Jesus fulfilled 300 Old Testament prophecies in his life on earth. The Messiah was to be born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14), in Bethlehem (Micha 5:2), a descendant of David (Is. 9:7), 483 years after the decree to build Jerusalem 445 B.C. (Dan. 9:24-26). He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12-13), by a friend (Ps. 41:9), His hands and feet pierced crucified (Ps. 22:16), His robe gambled for (Ps. 22:18). He would be buried with the rich (Isa. 53:9). Yet He would rise from the dead (Ps. 16:10) and ascend to Heaven (Ps. 68:18).

Unlike the Quran, the Bible is convincingly attested to by countless miracles and detailed prophecies. I f you visit Medina you can see the tomb where Muhammad is buried. But if you visit Jerusalem you will find an empty tomb. The Lord Jesus Christ has risen. He is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Him.

Islam is a religion of hatred and slavery based upon a lie. Christianity is a relationship of love with God based upon the truth.

Article 1 of Sudan’s Constitutional Decree (October 16, 1993) states: “Islam is the guiding religion . . . it is a binding code that directs the laws, regulations and policies of the State . . .”

Any Muslim who repudiates his faith in Islam is declared apostate. Under the 1991 Criminal Act, apostasy from Islam is punishable by death.

The preamble to the National Islamist Front (NIF) Constitution declares that its aim is to group together “all the children of Sudan, men and women, regardless of their historical allegiances, their class situation or their regions into one comprehensive organization working for a Muslim Sudan.”

The government of Sudan provides Islamic religious training to military conscripts and Popular Defense Force (PDF) militia. Near GOS and PDF military bases one can hear the recruits singing of Jihad, and the victorious spread of Shari’a law.

GOS officials regularly speak in public of the need to transform Sudan into an Islamic state with one language, Arabic, and one religion, Islam. The South needs to be “brought to the light,” they declare through conversion, assimilation and abandonment of Southern cultures, their African languages and of their Christian religion. The war against the Black South is characterized as a Holy War (Jihad). The GOS refers to Muslims who die in battle against the South as holy warriors (Mujahedeen) and martyrs (Shu’hada) and they celebrate their deaths not by funerals but By “weddings” as promised in the Quran.

On the 40th anniversary of the independence of Sudan (1 Jan. 1996), President Ft. Gen. al Bashir declared that Sudan was entering a renaissance so that Sudan could perform its Arab, Islamic and international roles. He celebrated the spirit of Jihad which has engulfed the people of Sudan.

In public speeches and in his writings the head of the ruling NIF party, and speaker of the House, Dr. al Turabi has often declared his goal of an Islamic empire controlling initially the horn of Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan) and later all of East and Central Africa (including Kenya and Uganda). This he refers to as the Grand Islamic Project.

That evening the discussion time with the pastors around the camp fire was intense and interesting. They had no illusions that they were involved in a momentous fight for survival. The end of the rainy season always meant a sharp escalation of the fighting. The dry season meant that the Arab armies could move their tanks and trucks. As the water level would drop in the Yei River they were expecting a major offensive from the GOS forces. The bombing was just the beginning.

On Sunday morning the military chaplains, who were also attending the Pastors Seminar and Muslim Evangelism Workshop, gathered early for a further session to discuss the unique needs and problems they have to deal with in the army. Then at 10:30 a.m. people converged for the Episcopal church service. Since their building had been destroyed by the helicopter gunship attack they had been meeting in the forest. It was a bright day bathed in sunshine, hot even in the shade. The colorfully dressed congregation was joined by pastors and guests from all over the district. All the ECS pastors and military chaplains in the district were present for the celebration of the Lord’s supper and for worship and the Word.

My heart was deeply touched by the evident love and devotion to Christ evidenced by these faithful brothers and sisters in the Lord. I could only pray that the Lord would mobilize the prayer and support these precious people need in order to achieve peace with justice and freedom to worship Christ.

The afternoon was spent dividing up the thousands of New Testaments and Psalms, books of Genesis, Catechisms and Bible Story books in Moru amongst the various pastors. They rejoiced to receive so much good literature in their own languages. The next day they set out on foot to carry their precious loads of Moru Scriptures and books to their various congregations throughout Moruland.

The evening question-and-answer session was overwhelmingly concerned with the book of Genesis. When last did you study Genesis? The first time any Moru people could study Genesis in their own language was November 1996.

The next day was taken up with visits to various compounds, discussions with the District Commissioner, the handling over of the special compact chaplaincy Bible to the Kotobi Police chief and a farewell party hosted by the Episcopal church for me. There were speeches and gifts, prayers and songs. Then with many handshakes, hugs and good-byes we were driving off, back to Maridi with a sick man who needed urgent medical attention. We arrived in the dark and got the patient as comfortable as possible in the hospital.

The following day involved research interviews and plans with the local chaplain, the senior medical assistant for the hospital we are rehabilitating and local church leaders.

When the aircraft finally arrived to fly me out of Sudan, the Governor and many others came to see me off. The aircraft also brought in more new Moru books which Frontline Fellowship had sponsored for printing.

It had been a full and productive field trip: 41 meetings addressed and a total of 3,000 Bibles and 5,500 Christian books in 7 languages had been delivered to and distributed through over 100 pastors and chaplains in 3 diocese. I had also taken in the 16 mm Jesus film in 3 languages (Dinka, Nuer and Arabic). Much valuable research, including extensive video footage had been added to the growing bank of photographic and written research accumulated by Frontline Fellowship on Sudan.

There had been many firsts:

The first copies of Genesis in Moru delivered.

The first copies of the Lay Readers Manual in Moru delivered.

The first Medical Training Course for military nurses held in Equatoria.

The dedication of the Hospital for War Wounded in Maridi.

The largest shipment of Bibles and Christian books ever smuggled into officially Islamic Sudan.

The best attended Pastors Seminars

The first Muslim Evangelism Workshop held in Equatoria.

Another highlight of this trip for me was a close encounter with a lioness. During one of my travels I was on foot watching a big lion in the distance through my binoculars. Suddenly I heard the distinctive sound of a half growl, half purr to my right. There, barely 10 meters away, was a magnificent lioness walking slowly towards me. Then she lay down and kept a watchful eye on me. It was an exhilarating experience to see one of God’s mighty creatures so close in the wild.

I can only praise God for His matchless grace and protection throughout this long and potentially dangerous mission trip. And I commend for your prayers: Rev. Kenneth Baringwa, Bishops Commissar, Mundri Diocese, and his assistants. Rev. Jeffrey Kayanga and Church Army officer Victoria who remain behind to continue the work. They are some of the finest, most dedicated and effective Christian workers I have ever met.

I would also urge you to remember in your prayers the military chaplains: Rev. Ft. John Sherif, Rev. Sgt. Major Peter Beria, Rev. Sgt. David Gash and Rev. Cpl. Moses Sokou.

We have been officially asked by the leaders of the Mundri Diocese to find sponsorship for theological, Bible College and teacher training for selected students of theirs.

Frontline has also undertaken to raise sufficient sponsorship, to reprint the Moru Hymn Book and Prayer Book. Almost all the Moru Hymn and Prayer books I saw were disintegrated. Considering the vital role singing plays in their worship, instruction and Bible memorization, this project deserves major support (to print 1,000 copies of the Moru Hymn book would cost $4,000).

Please pray for our next mission trip to Sudan which will be in February.