Frontline News Edition 2 of 2018

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BIBLES FOR THE NUBA- continued from page 1 and became shock-horror. After some time, they would warm up to me, but our relationship remained a very cautious attraction. Ministry to Muslims The second day of ministry brought me, and my team of local ministers, to a totally Islamic district to minister at a large school. We met up with the local authorities to ask permission to go to the school. They thought it strange, and informed us that all the students are Muslims. “Yes”, we replied, “but these are English books for them to read”. The authorities then allowed us to proceed, but not before I prayed for all of them. I went to the school and preached the Gospel. The children and the teachers seemed to be gripped as I told them the story of Adam and Eve and how Jesus Christ is the Seed of the woman who crushed the head of the serpent when Jesus died and rose again. We distributed Bibles to all of them, and many of the older students instantly started reading! The teachers all received Bibles. The local chief was there, and even he listened to the message and afterwards thanked our team for coming. This was actually not my first visit to this area. Ben and I had been there before and preached in the open-air. During this most recent mission, I learned that a local pastor planted a church just a few weeks after we left! Praise God who waters the seed and reaps a bountiful harvest! Difficulties and Diseases By this stage, I had visited 12 schools and over the next two days I would visit another 13 schools. After the first four days of ministry, I had shared the Gospel and distributed Bibles to thousands of children. Most of my travelling and all of the preaching was in the open, exposed to the harsh elements. The fiery sun and the dry climate made preaching an incredibly strenuous task. My immune system also struggled to fight against the ferocious Nuba germs. By the end of the fourth day, my body was well worn-out. Strangely enough, I was not sick of the ministry. I was exhausted, but not fed-up with preaching. I was tired, but energized by the children I was ministering to. Sometimes, when preaching tires you out, the most invigorating thing to do is to preach even more. And so, our team pressed on. School after school received English Bibles and Story of Jesus Christ picture full colour booklets. Gifts to the Grateful One of the most encouraging things to witness was the school children reading their Bibles as soon as they received them. I went into one classroom about 10 minutes after distributing the Bibles and a group of senior students were reading through the book of Joshua together out loud. At another school, the head-teacher told me that the students are always asking for Bibles, and now they each have their own copies. When we announced to each school that we have brought them the Word of God, they mostly responded with big smiles, nods of appreciation, and loud clapping! Many of the students do not own a single book. The Bible is now the first book that they own. There are plenty of students who come from homes where there is not a single Bible. Now there is at least one in their homes. Bibles Distributed! By the end of the mission, our team had personally distributed 32,000 Bibles, 43,000 The Story of Jesus Christ picture books and gave many Gospel presentations to 130 primary and secondary schools. We had also strategically pre-positioned and given more Bibles and Story of Jesus Christ picture books for school children who will be old enough to receive and read them next year. Our team also had the opportunity to encourage pastors, teachers, politicians, and military leaders of the Nuba Mountains. We exhorted them from God’s Word for four days in a row. At the end of their conference, we gave them Bibles for their ministries and for the personnel whom they are leading. Open-Air Preaching In addition to our distribution ministry, our team took many opportunities for evangelism. Between travelling from one 2 FRONTLINE FELLOWSHIP 2018 EDITION 2
school to another, we stopped at a market place. With my interpreter, I walked over the busiest section and started openair preaching. Only one minute went by and a drunkard with an axe started yelling at me. The more I ignored him, the angrier he got. He finally raised his axe as he aggressively ran toward me, when a nearby soldier stood in his way and disarmed him. Thankfully this drew an even larger crowd who gathered to see the drama. All these people heard the Gospel. Some even wanted to publicly call upon the Name of the Lord. The market places are always full of life and noise. Deals are being made. Friends are meeting and eating together. Vendors are fussing to find a place to set up their little stalls. People are everywhere. With a loud enough voice, one can draw a crowd of a few hundred people. Our team did just that. We told the people stories from the Bible, always pointing them to the Lord Jesus. People from one section of the market place asked us to come back and share more stories and pray for them. What a blessing to be used by God to minister the Gospel to thousands of people. Provision and Protection Ministry in the Nuba is a great adventure that comes with many challenges and dangers. On our way out of the Nuba Mountains, there were cattle raids between two tribes. Our team had to be escorted by military personnel. At one stage over a hundred infantry were on the ground to usher us through a volatile area where at least 6 people had recently been killed from gunfire. Not only are the Nuba Mountains dangerous, but so is South Sudan, where we spent a few nights. While we were there, we saw military on almost every street corner near the presidential compound. One night, while eating at a small market place, we heard loud popping sounds. Everyone stood to their feet and started running, overturning tables and chairs in the process. They fled as though running from gunfire. It turned out to be some young troublemakers throwing stones against a corrugated iron roof. The mentality of the people is one of fear for civil war or unrest, which could break out at any second, as it has numerous times in the past. Despite being in all these dangerous areas, God kept us safe and provided for us every step of the way. Please Pray Please continue to pray for the believers who are in these wartorn countries. Pray for the children of the Nuba Mountains who meet for school in buildings that have previously been bombed by the Islamic Arab North. Pray for the teachers who are determined to use the Bibles as part of their school curriculum. Pray for pastors and chaplains as they have a tremendous responsibility to train their people in the Word of God which they have now received. Pray for the future shipments of Bibles – 20 000 for Uganda and 20 000 for South Sudan. “I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the Throne and before the Lamb… they were shouting with a great roar, ‘Salvation comes from God who sits on the Throne and from the Lamb’”. Revelation 7:9-10 Rev. John Clifford Frontline Fellowship P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725 Cape Town South Africa mission@frontline.org.za www.FrontlineMissionSA.org www.christianlibertybooks.co.za See also: Faith Under Fire in Sudan (300 pages & 205 pictures) FRONTLINE FELLOWSHIP PO BOX 74 NEWLANDS 7725 CAPE TOWN SOUTH AFRICA admin@frontline.org.za www.FrontlineMissionSA.org 3
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