2011 EDITION 4
PO BOX 74 NEWLANDS 7725 SOUTH AFRICA
ISSN 1018 - 144X
Africa for Christ As this newsletter is being written, Frontline Fellowship Mission teams are in the field involved in ministry to eight nations. While one team is conducting outreaches and Leadership Training courses in Zimbabwe, another Mission team is in South Sudan conducting Way of the Master and Evangelism Explosion Wo r ks h o ps fo r p a sto rs , teachers, chaplains and evangelists.
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation.� Mark 16:15
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In this Issue
Africa for Christ Bibles for Africa South Africa Mission Tugela Valley Mission Living by Faith Serving the Suffering
Africa Overland The Sudan team is involved in a threemonth, eight-country overland Mission that is involving 20,000 kilometers driving, across some of the worst roads in Africa. Despite broken axles on their heavily laden trailer, unseasonably heavy rainfall, muddy roads and swollen rivers, they have already succeeded in delivering thousands of Christian books, Bibles, textbooks, Gospel booklets, audio visual materials and essential equipment for Christians to effectively evangelise and disciple their nations.
Worldview Seminars and Evangelism Workshops in Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania. Pray Without Ceasing Please continue to lift our missionaries up in daily prayer.
Dr. Peter Hammond
Discipling Nations Three of our team members in Sudan have recently come down with Malaria, but they have already accomplished much in conducting Evangelism workshops, teaching in Bible Colleges, ministering in schools, training teachers, prison ministry, film evangelism, personal evangelism, ministry in market places, hospital ministry, church services, delivering libraries for pastors, textbooks for teachers, handbooks for chaplains and laying solid foundations for discipling the newly Independent country of South Sudan. Lives Changed They reported participants of the Evangelism Workshops returning from the market place with joyous reports of villagers who had trusted in Christ. Once they have completed their wideranging ministry in South Sudan, the team will be conducting Biblical 2
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings Good News, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims Salvation…your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7
FRONTLINE FELLOWSHIP NEWS 2011/4
Bibles for Africa By God's grace, just in time to help supply our next cross-border Missions, we received a 17 tonne, 20 foot container packed full of Bibles and Christian books. All our men received a thorough workout offloading each of the boxes of precious Bibles and books by hand. Within days, tonnes of the newly received Bibles and books were being collected, delivered and transported
throughout Cape Town and South Africa, and across the border to Zimbabwe, Zambia and overland to Sudan. Literature for Africa The newly received Bibles, Study Bibles, Devotional, Doctrinal and Discipleship books, joined other specially designed materials produced at our Mission: Chaplains Handbooks, Chaplains Prayerbooks, Discipleship Training M a n u a l s , Te a c h e r s M a n u a l s ,
Discipleship Handbooks, audio visual materials, equipment for Film Evangelism and much Gospel literature, to supply pastors, teachers, chaplains and evangelists in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan. “So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.� Isaiah 55:11
FRONTLINE FELLOWSHIP PO BOX 74 NEWLANDS 7725 CAPE TOWN SOUTH AFRICA FAX: (021) 685-5884 Web: www.frontline.org.za
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South Africa Mission Our team drove over 4,500km and conducted 45 meetings in 5 provinces. This included conducting a Biblical Wo r l d v i ew S e m i n a r , g i v i n g presentations to 4 school assemblies, ministering in 4 churches, 3 mission bases, one radio station, a School of Missions, a Teacher Training College and at a university.
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Lives Impacted Some of the written responses received included: "I've learned the importance of the Holiness of God"; "The BWS has broadened my horizons and opened my eyes"; "The BWS made me re-think all my positions"; “awesome“; "I experienced God!";
FRONTLINE FELLOWSHIP NEWS 2011/4
“excellent”; “tremendous impact”; "A great Seminar!"; "It renewed my confidence in the Bible"; “all so amazingly interesting"; "Excellent multimedia presentations"; "I am inspired, fired up and encouraged!"; “my faith has increased and I am motivated to action!"
Tugela Valley Mission On a recent visit to KwaSizabantu Mission, Andrea and I had the privilege of joining Rev. Erlo Stegen on a visit to their thriving new Mission Outreach at Maqhogo in the Tugela Valley. We had to descend over 2,500 feet from KwaSizabantu to the valley, which was barely 500 feet above sea level. The dramatic rise in temperature was startling. The Mission's impact on the communities and landscape in the valley was astounding. In areas where the local people said that only thorn bushes could grow, Erlo Stegen and his co-workers have successfully planted,
and harvested, pineapples, bananas, mangos, and every kind of vegetable. It was crystal clear where the Mission outreaches were, each was an oasis in the wilderness. Everywhere we travelled the people warmly welcomed Uncle Erlo with great joy and broad smiles. Their respect and affection for Rev. Erlo Stegen was overwhelming. The local people told us how Uncle Erlo had provided them with jobs, food, hope and the Gospel. “The government promised us so much, but we got nothing. No roads, no electricity and no plumbing. Now, since Mkhulu
(Grandfather) Stegen came, our children have enough food, we have work, we have money and we have joy in God.� Through the initiative and energy of KwaSizabantu missionaries, roads have been repaired, farms irrigated, and much of the wilderness has been turned into a paradise. A Thriving church has already been established in this once witchcraft dominated area. This year, as Rev Erlo Stegen is celebrating 60 years in Ministry, a new edition of God Among the Zulus has been published.
FRONTLINE FELLOWSHIP PO BOX 74 NEWLANDS 7725 CAPE TOWN SOUTH AFRICA Email: admin@frontline.org.za Web: www.frontline.org.za 5
Living by Faith Pioneer Missionary Hudson Taylor declared: “God's work, done God's way, will never lack God's supply.” Faith Mission Hudson Taylor not only pioneered the first Inter-denominational Mission Society, but the first Faith Mission. Convinced that “God's servant is God's responsibility” and that “The will of God will never lead you where the Grace of God cannot keep you”, Hudson Taylor determined not to engage in fundraising, but to concentrate on the Mission God had entrusted him with. 30 Years ago, as God laid the vision of launching Frontline Fellowship upon my heart, I determined to follow the example of Hudson Taylor in launching Frontline Fellowship as a Faith Mission. Vision This was during all-night prayer meetings in our military base. We were praying our way through Operation World, particularly praying for our neighbouring countries: Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Angola. These were the, so-called, Frontline states. At that time they were at war with South Africa and supporting revolutionary groups which were coming across the border into South Africa and South
West Africa, laying landmines in roads, placing limpet mines in shops, restaurants and railway stations and car bombs in public streets. They were coming at us with bombs and hate. We determined to go to them with Bibles and with the love and Gospel of Christ. Trusting God Most Christian ministries seemed to make a major emphasis on money and fundraising. We determined to go the other direction. There is nothing wrong with taking up an offering to cover ministry expenses. However, I have never taken up an offering in the almost 30 years of our Mission, Frontline Fellowship. Others may have taken up some offerings on our behalf and we are grateful for that, but we have never required or requested it. Nor have we, as a Mission, engaged in direct fund raising. Despite conducting speaking tours in 34 countries on 4 continents, I have never required speakers fees. “Freely you have received, freely, freely give.” Neither have I taken any royalties from any of the books I have written and published. All proceeds go directly into the Mission. Everything that has been accomplished in, and through, our Mission over the last 29 years has been entirely due to God's grace alone. Some have asked how any individual can live without a salary and a visible source of income. Or how any organisation can operate without fundraisers? Hitch Hiking Francis Grim, the Founder of Hospital Christian Fellowship International, taught me how to live by Faith. When he issued me the call to join his ministry in Kempton Park, I was in Cape Town, 1,400 km away. Having already been living and ministering by Faith for some months, I no longer had so much as a Rand to my name. I had to trust the Lord for the train fare to reach Kempton Park. When Uncle Francis sent me on a country wide tour to visit all the Christian bookshops and promote
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FRONTLINE FELLOWSHIP NEWS 2011/4
Heart Publishers materials, I needed to do so by hitch hiking. In the early years of this Mission, I hitch hiked over 140,000 km. Flying by Faith On one occasion I had to get from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth (1000km) in less than a day. Knowing that that was virtually impossible by hitch hiking, I went to Lanseria Airport and asked the control tower if they knew of any aircraft flying through to Port Elizabeth that day. Incredibly a new helicopter was to be delivered to PE. When I explained my dilemma to the pilot, he cheerfully offered me a free ride! So in a matter of hours I was able to travel in comfort and style to my speaking engagement in the Eastern Cape. All this hitch hiking gave me opportunities to witness to hundreds of motorists and to distribute Gospel literature very widely. Generosity When setting off on my first mission to Mozambique, funds were so low that I did not actually have sufficient means to purchase enough fuel to reach Mozambique. At a petrol station at King Williams Town, the owner of the fuel station came out and asked questions about the Christian stickers on my heavily laden off-road motor
bike and what I was doing. I explained my Mission to Mozambique and after he filled my tank, he informed me that it was “on the house” and no payment was necessary! Testing Times Things don't always go quite that easily, of course. On one Mission to Mozambique via Zambia and Malawi, funds were so tight that I would not have been able to reach even Johannesburg without the books that I sold at a church meeting in Bloemfontein, en route. The books sold in Pretoria, helped me purchase fuel to go all the way through Zambia to Malawi and Mozambique. On the way back, however, I needed to sell spare shoes and our spare tyre, in order to have the fuel to get back home. Confirmation The first two times I received invitations to minister in Europe, I received extraordinary encouragement, (and essential provision) when, just before my departure, I went past our post office box and found an envelope sent by a supporter with hundreds of Deutschmark in the letter! As there was no way that he could have known of my impending ministry trip to Germany and Eastern Europe, the timing was incredible. This happened twice. At no other times did I receive DMark cash in the mail, except on those occasions that I was en route there! New Fields When the wars in Mozambique and Angola came to an end, in 1994, the
holocaust in Rwanda erupted. I knew that I had to go there, but there was no way that we had sufficient funds for an air ticket to East Africa. I investigated and found out that I had sufficient frequent flyer miles to earn a free air ticket to Nairobi. Through missionary contacts and correspondents in the area I was able to get into Rwanda and hitch hike with hundreds of Bibles into South Sudan. There I made contact with the persecuted Church.
Macedonian Call That is also when Rev. Kenneth Baringwa tracked me down and gave me the Macedonian call: “You must come to Moruland!” But how could I do so? The distances were so vast. The expenses were impossible for our little Mission. We trusted the Lord for the resources to drive overland to Sudan. But many of the areas we needed to reach were behind enemy lines. The Lord provided for an air charter and we smuggled 1,200 Bibles to a remote area in Western Equatoria. Incredibly, through the vision of a blind man, Brent Noebel, sufficient funds were raised from Summit students for us to deliver over 300,000 Bibles and Christian books in 24 languages to 14 different regions of Sudan. I personally conducted over 1,200 services and meetings training hundreds of pastors, teachers, chaplains and evangelists in Sudan on 27 Missions. All by Faith. Frontline Fellowship conducted over 70 Missions to Sudan.
the limited means at our disposal we attempt to do our very best to respond to the challenges and opportunities to fulfil the Great Commission in Africa. The books that we have published go a long way towards financing the fuel for Mission teams in the field. But most of our support comes in from prayer supporters of our Mission: cheques, electronic transfers, direct deposits and envelopes after a meeting. These are some of the means that the Lord has used to enable our Mission to go forward. Launching Out in Faith Our recent Overland Mission to Sudan was another example of how the Lord requires us to step out in Faith. It was only after we had fully equipped and packed and loaded our vehicle and the team was already on the road to Sudan, that funds came in from supporters of the Mission to enable the team to reach their destination. The children of Israel learned to follow the presence of God as it was manifested by the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day. Just as the children of Israel were required to step into the River Jordan before the Lord parted the waters, we need to be responsive to the still small voice of God's Holy Spirit. We need to stand up, step out and launch out in Faith. We are determined not to be deterred by the dangers, diseases and risks involved in ministering in conflict areas. We trust God alone for His provision, protection, guidance and blessing. We are most grateful for your prayers, encouragement and support. Dr. Peter Hammond
Fueling the Mission Many ask: How is that possible? With PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE: Those wishing to reprint or quote from any edition of Frontline Fellowship News are encouraged to do so, provided that it is quoted in context and that due acknowledgement of source is given. Please also send a copy of any article to us. FRONTLINE FELLOWSHIP PO BOX 74 NEWLANDS 7725 CAPE TOWN SOUTH AFRICA FAX: (021) 685-5884 Web: www.frontline.org.za
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Visit the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church website: www.idop-africa.org 8
“Remember the persecuted...�