1997 issue 9 - an interview with peter hammond of frontline fellowship - counsel of chalcedon

7/21/2019 1997 Issue 9 - An Interview With Peter Hammond of Frontline Fellowship - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/7

Q Peter, explain the

meaning of the name of your

missions organization,

Frontline Fellowship

A Frontline Fellowship is

celebrating its fifteenth

anniversary this year. For the

last fifteen years we have been

serving the suffering and

persecuted church in Africa.

The narrie Frontline

Fellowsl;lip came s a result

of the desire for the

origin of

our

group in

a prayer group at an

army base on the

border in South

Africa. We were

involved in the war

against the

done in illegal areas where the

Gospel is illegal, where

Bibles

may not be taken in.

We

have

to smuggle in Scriptures and

carry out our missionary

work llnder threat of

persecution. Thatl; what we

have been dolng in the

Marxist and Muslim countries

of Africa. We aim to be in

fellowship with the

~ r s e c u t e d

churches by

-

Communists in South Africa,

Southwest Africa, and Angola, personally visiting them and

nd against other Marxists in by n c o u r g i ~ g them and

the area. Thus we were on the speaking

up

for them through

front lines. publications and interviews.

We are ministering to Q. What is the current

countries which call situation for Christians in

themselves the Frontline

Africa?

States - Mozambique and A Byron, the situation is

Angola. These were quite serious.

We

have three

communist states which were major threats to the Christian

on the front line of battle to church - Islam in the north,

advance Marxism in Africa witchcraft in the center, and

against South Africa.

Also,

we commUnism espedally in the

w nt to be

on

the front line of south.

TheSe

are the three

missionary work - reaching , great missionary challenges

to

the unreached, ministering to the church in Africa. Each

those in the neglected areas one

is

persecuting the church.

nd resistance areas, In the north seventeen

effectively going where countries are Islamic states.

conventional missionaries Every one of those countries

cannot go or are not allowed persecutes the Christian

to go. Basically our work is c ~ u r c h to one degree or

TH COUNSEL h a i c e d o ~ fOctoberiNovember, 1997

.another - some violently so,

such

as

in the Sudan. In the .

central area where witchcraft

is a problem, the holocaust in

Rwanda was caused by

witchcraft. The witchcraft

dominated Hutu majority

slaughtered the Protestant

Tutsi minority. In Angola, for

example, it is communism

that is persecuting the

Christian church. Yet the

African church is

seeing incredible

growth - six million

annually - net gain.

While evangelism

is being done fairly

effectively;

discipleship

is

not.

This is one of the greatest

burdens of our mission.

We

want to get in the literature,

to give out Bibles, and to run

leadership training courses,

Biblical worldview seminars,

and discipleship training

courses. We seek to apply the

word of God to every area of

life. Uterature distribution

and leadership training are

two of our main ministries,

along with love in action,

relief, and medical care for

those who are suffering

persecution.

Q.

What are some dangers

you have faced in your

travels?

A Most recently two

members of our mission came

under helicopter gunship

attack in Sudan. They were


2/7

smuggling approximately one

thousand Arabic Bibles deep

behind enemy lines into a

Muslim controlled area. They

had flown three and one-half

hours into

Sudan and were

in

the center of the country in

the Nuba Mountains where

the persecution is the most

severe. Located there isa little

island of Christianity in the

sea of Islam. MI-24 Hind

helicopter gunships came

roaring over the landing strip

pouring rockets and machine

cannon

fire

into them. They

had to run. For eight days

they were on

the run escaping

from Islamic troops who were

seeking

to

destroy them

because of their mission of

mercy there.

r have been in towns

running Muslim evangelism

workshops when their towns

have been bombed. We have

been attacked and arrested. I

have been imprisoned

on

a

number of occasions. have

been dragged in chains

through the streets and

beaten for preaching the

gospel. I have been beaten

unconscious

on

occasion. We

were

put

in solitary

confinement cells

in Marxist

Mozambique. We were

dragged through the streets

in

communist Zambia and

imprisoned in the most

degrading, filthy conditions.

interrogated, and tortured.

Sixteen of our missionaries

have been detained, arrested,

and imprisoned in the course

of our fifteen years of

missionary work. By Gods

grace, every one

of

them is

free. We got each one of them

out within the month because

of international prayer and

pressure.

There are also diseases. We

get a lot of sicknesses such as

typhOid, dysentery, malaria,

hepatitis, and blackwater

fever. Wild animals are also a

danger. I stepped

on

a

crocodile once as I thought it

was a log. Snakes are there.

The biggest danger, of course,

is from the Muslims and the

Marxists.

Q. How has the Lord

sustained you

in

the midst

of

these dangers?

A I do not doubt that the

Lord has sustained us. I have

walked through churches

filled with corpses. I have

waded knee deep in corpses.

In one church there was one

thousand two hundred

corpses. I remember my total

shock and horror at this.

There are no words or

pictures to convey the smell,

the foreboding silence. What

has really helped me is

praying imprecatory prayers -

praying the Psalms. ar

salms

o

the rince

of eace

by

James Adams is

an

exposition

on

the imprecatory prayers of

David. This has gripped me.

Often we are frustrated. We

see so

much of man's

inhumanity to man. We see

so

much

of man's depravity

and injustice. Our hearts cry

out for justice. The Psalms

mirror the situation we see

in

the persecuted church. Being

able to pour out our hearts,

especially

with

the Psalms,

has helped us.

Also, I think it is vital that

we do something to help

those persecuted. This is the

way we cope with the

knowledge of

all these

atrocities that we have seen.

Q

What can

u s

.

Christians do to help brothers

and sisters undergOing

persecution?

A We must intercede be

informed, and be involved.

Often Christians

in

the

persecuted church in

Mozambique, Angola, and the

Sudan ask, Do the Christians

in

the West pra.y for us? Are

we forgotten? It is important

for them to know that they

are prayed for They are not

forgotten. It is important that

we

go

there

and

encourage

them. s I have mentioned,

there are many practical

encouragements we can give.

We are trying to get an

ambulance into Sudan to help

the people in the middle of

the war front. So many lives

are lost

due

to delays and

distances needed

to

be

covered before one can get

any medical care. We have

OctoberlNovember, 1997 TIlE COUNSEL of Cbalcedon 25


3/7

two clinics to which we can

take the injured more rapidly

if

we had

an ambulance. ,

We

can also put pressure

on the persecutors. We do '

this in twO ways. We do this

by praying the imprecatory ,

prayers.

We

ask God

to.

intervene. Secondly, we

contact our representatives

and give them information

about the persecuted church

in the Sudan and encourage

them to

obtain further

information from

us

. Then

hopefully Muslim persecutors

wilt receive pressure from the

State Department

and

the

u.s.

government.

The

United Nations is a

great threat

to

us over there.

They actually prevent us from

delivering Bibles. They have ,

canceled

our

flights and ,

banned Bibles. Thus our

representatives should be

encouraged to. defundthe '

U.N. or to force the U.N. to.

change their policies

in

he

face

of

being defunded. We

are happy to supply

information to anyone who

asks us for it.

Q. Could you explain the

types of physical persecutions

God's people are facing

in he

areas where

you

are

ministering?

A There is Severe

persecution being suffered by

Christians

in

Muslim lands

throughout North Africa at '

this time. n SU,dan, I have

been stunned to find that the

largest country

in

Africa is

somehow being missed by the

mass media. The longest war

of this century is taking place

in

Sudan, yet it is not being

covered by the national and

international news networks.

We have the oldest

community of Christians in

Africain Sudan. They are '

suffering the most severe

persecution

in

the world

today, yet we seldom read

about it

in

the Christian

media. Some attention has

recently begun

to

be given

to

it, yet we are

not

giVing

enough atterition to what is

goingon there.

Since 1955 the Muslim

Arab North has been seeking

to subjugate the Chrtstian

Black South. They have been

seeking

to

lslamize and

Arabize the Christians. They

do this

by

vartous means,

One means

is

the scorched

earth. The term in the Nuba

Mountains is draining the

sea to catch the fish , To

destroy Chrtstianity in the

Nuba, they are destrOying the

Nuba .

The Sudan government has

declared jihad or holy war '

against the Christians

in

the

Nuba Mountains. The Nuba

are ArabiC speaking

Christians. Because they are

ArabiC speaking, . he Muslims

consider them to be apostate.

They can date the beginning

6

i

THE COUNSEL

\ f

Chalcedl'n ,

Octl'berlNlIVember, 1997

of the faith

in

their area back

to the third and fourth

centuries. Christianity existed

among the Nuba people even

before

there was a

Mohammed.

Hundreds of Christian

Nuba men have been

crucified, literally nailed up

on crosses like the Lord Jesus

was nailed

up

. There have

been hundreds of churches

destroyed

in

the Nuba.

Throughout the south and

central Sudan, thousands of

churches have been

destroyed. Most of the wells

have been poisoned. Most of

the cattle and sheep have

been looted. Most of the

crops have been destroyed.

Everything necessary to

sustain life has been

destroyed.

Many of the children have

been kidnapped and taken to

concentration camps or

Koranic schools where they

are

forCibly

Islamized and

Arabiied. The children are

forced to speak the Arabic

language.

f

they do not speak

the Arabic language or learn

enough of the Koran, they

will be deprived of food and

denied sleep and forced to

stand holding bricks in each

hand with their arms

outstretched and other kinds

of torture planned by the

Muslims. Some have been

branded like cattle. Some

have had their tendons cut

behind their heels to stop


4/7

their running away. The

government literally goes into

marketplaces and rounds up

children. It kidnaps them

without the parents'

knowledge

and

takes them to

these camps

or

schools. There

is a systematic attempt to

destroy Christianity

in

the

Sudan.

They also practice terror

bombings, bombing the

towns. They are using

helicopter gunships to attack

churches. Churches in which

I have ministered have been

machine-gunned, rocketed,

and burned to the ground by

helicopter gunships inside the

Sudan. I have walked among

the ashes

and

embers there

has been the indiscriminate

laying of landmines amongst

the crops to prevent the

people from being able to

harvest the crops that are

necessary for their survival.

Cluster bombs have been

dropped on civilian centers.

They have used napalm.

Every manner of abuse and

atrocity is being permitted by

the Sudan government in

order to achieve their

purposes. The Christians are

standing firm, refuSing to

submit

to

this.

Q. Are they becoming

refugees and fleeing Sudan?

A. The people are staying

in the Sudan. Many are

internal refugees or displaced

people. Only a minority have

fled across the border into

international boundaries.

They see themselves as the

people of Cush. Zephaniah

3:10 and Isaiah 18 speak of

people beyond the River

Cush. Cush was the grandson

of Noah, the ancestor of the

people of Sudan. They see

themselves as the ones

prophesied of in , saiah 18.

Therein is testimony of a

people undergoing

tremendous suffering yet

tremendous turning to God in

sacrifice and then to the Lord.

Psalm 68:31 says the people

of Cush will submit

themselves to God. This is the

desire of many of the

Sudanese.

Q. How are the families

bearing up under the strains

of persecution?

A. It is horrific. I have

three beautiful children. I

could not imagine what it

must be to have your children

undergo these types

of

tortures. I know of.many

parents who have done some

incredible things. One father

tracked down the slave

traders.

e

followed them up

north. He found the Koranic

school, the concentration

camp where his child ,was

kept. He disguised himself as

an

Arab. He found his child.

He rescued the child and

escaped by night. That is one

of the extraordinary figures.

Many of the people are

suffering. The sovereignty of

God really grips the people.

They are completely and

utterly convinced

that

God is

in

control. I have found the

people devoid of self-pity. n

fact, they rebuke

me if

I

show

pity toward them. They say,

God is

in

control.

e

will

turn

this out for the good and

for His glory. They do not

show despair. Even in the

midst of terrible suffering I

have been amazed to see how

the people sing. They sing

to

praise the Lord.

The

worship

services are

long and

deep.

The people really are turning

to the Lord in prayer. The

Psalms seem to be their

favorite book of Scripture.

Also, we have noticed

there is

no

such thing as a

Christian pacifist

in

Sudan.

The Christians have risen

up

as one man. They are

organizing themselves into

resistance groups . They ate

resisting the Muslims

militarily. They are fighting

for

the

liberty of

the

South

because they realize things

have gone beyond all

reasonable limits. They have

liberated most of the South.

The resistance movement in

the South is composed of

many fathers who are heavily

supported by the mothers.

They are liberating vast areas

where the church can be safe

and free. They see

no

alternative to this.

OctoberlNovember 997

DIE

COUNSEL of Chalcedon ' 2


5/7

Q. The Lord

is

blessing the

Gospel as it goes forth?

A.

Yes.

Its the most

, extraordinary thing. Muslims

are coming to Christ in Sudan

in greater numbers than

anyWhere else.

We

have had

cases of individual Muslims

coming over - Muslim

soldiers saying, 'We want to

. become Christians. I know

of a case where one whole

battalion, three hundred

Arabic men, came across the

line. They said that they

wanted to become Christians

and to fight for the South.

You may ask, How is it

possible that Muslims

are

coming to Christ in the

middle of a war? I think the

reason is that the Sudan

government is so extreme, so

harsh, that it

is

repelling

Muslims. They are turning ,

from Islam. Secondly; the

church has been

so

tenacious,

so steadfast. This is attracting

many Muslims. Thirdly; in

Sudan there

is

a safe area into

which Muslims cart

flee

. They

can come and find religiOUS

freedom.

In

the areas which

the Christian resistance

movement now controls,

Sudanese converts to Christ

can find refuge and sanctuary:

They use the same

Christian

flag I have seen in

many churches in America.

Hundreds of them are flying

across southern Sudan. They

put

up

crosses, wooden

crosses. This is completely

illegal

as

Sudan is a Muslim

country. They wear the cross

and carry it with pride. They

are proud to

be

associated

witl), the banner of Christ.

Q From your experience

what are some telltale sign of

a SOciety that is headed .

toward the persecution of

Christians?

A. First of all, I saw this n

Rwanda and

also

n

Mozambique and Angola, the

persecuting forces use the

media

to vilify

Christians.

They blame the Christians

for

:

all

manner of ridiculous .

crimes. They seek to use the

mass media in order to tum

the general population to

hostility against the

Christians. Secondly; we

see

moves to disarmament. Every

case in which I have seen

persecution of the church,

there

~

been gun control.

The have made Christians

defenseless. Once Christians

are defenseless, the

persecutors mobilize the

population

to

crush them.

Wherever you

see

a

go

vernment certtralizing an

inordinate amount of power

in its hands you are seeing

another signpost that could

be pointing to forthcoming

Christian persecution.

Q. A

strong d:ntralized

government

is

in competition

with the sovereign God

for

total control?

1.8 THE COUNSEL

ofChalcedon

OctoberlNovember, 997

A Gods principles that we

see

in the nation of Israel was

decentralization. For

example, there were twelve

tribes. There

were

checks and

balances such as the Council

and Sanhedrin.

Q

What has the

persecuted church learned

from

its persecution?

A I have seen many

example

as

to how suffering

can purify us and actually

prepare us for God's special

service. All o Gods great men

know great

suffering.

God

purged and prepared them

for

His service. Joseph

experienced

twelve

years

in

prison and in slavery before

being raised up to become

governor in

Egypt. Moses

was

forty years in the desert

before becoming the deliverer

of Israel, David

was

an outlaw

and a fugitive

for

many years

before beCOming King of

Israel.

There are no shortcuts to

maturity and depth of the

faith. I have seen

this

in

AfIica as well. The

church

is

growing under persecutiort in

the Comm1.\nist lands and in

Sudan as well. The church is

growing in Sudan faster than

anywhere

else.

Let

me

give you

one telling

example. Ten years ago I was

dragged in chains into prison

in

Zambia, Myself

and three

other Frontline missionaries

were arrested

by

the then


6/7

socialist government of

Zambia. They dragged

us

into

prison. We were thrown into

cells covered with

human

filth, our head were buried in

buckets of filth and urine. We

were beaten. We were

suffocated - hoods were put

over our faces. ~ could not

breathe properly. We were

dragged in chains, barefoot,

through the streets of the

capital city, Lusaka. While we

sang Christian hymns,

Onward Christians Soldiers ,

A Mighty Fortress Is Our

God ,

and

Stand Up, Stand

Up or jesus they smacked

us

with rifle butts. That made

us sing louder.

We were put in a terrible

prison. The prison did not

have running water or proper

ventilation. There was only a

one-foot square hole in the

door for ventilation Sixty

prisoners were

in

a cell that

measured twenty-five feet by

fifteen feet. It was absolutely

stench-ridden and filthy.

Insects such as cockroaches,

flies, mosqUitoes, were

beyond imagination. In that

situation, who would have

thought that anything good

could have come

out

of it? In

our

cell was a

man

who

became the vice-preSident of

Zambia.

He

came to faith

while he was imprisoned. He

was raised up by the Lord to

be

the next vice-president of

Zambia. Several cell doors

away was Fredrick Chiluba

who became the next

president of Zambia.

In His providence, God

swept away the communist

government that immediately

made a confession of faith, a

covenant with Almighty God,

repented of the sins of the

past and transformed the

nation. In Zambia terrorists

used to be exported, now it is

Bibles and missionaries. The

Bible was banned. Now all

sessions of Parliament open

. with prayer and the reading

of the Word in the name of

our

Lord

and

Savior, jesus

Christ. When President

Chiluba was asked, Are you

going to print

up

a new

Constitution? ,

he

responded

up by holding up the Bible

and saying,

I

do not have to.

Here

it

is. It is already

written.

Now I have gone back to

those prisons many times. I

recently returned to Zambia

with Andrew Sandlin, Brian

Abshire, Monte Wilson and

Wayne

johnson

on the tenth

anniversary of my

imprisonment to run a

Biblical reformation and

Christian Culture Conference.

It was wonderful. We met the

vice-president. There were

members of the cabinet there

and other government

officials. One hundred sixty

top leaders were at this

conference. Where in the

world would you find people

in high government positions

coming to a conference to

learn the Biblical principles

of

justice, economics, and

education in all areas of life?

They want to learn this. Now

I return to the prison in

which I was locked

up

and

other prisons too.

In

them I

preach the gospel

freely.

I

speak on radio

and

television.

I meet with government

officials and go to army bases,

as well as meet with

businessmen. We got

wonderful opportunities of

which we could never dream

before. We do not know the

end of the story.

Q.

We have to realize

that

God's plan is bigger

than

ours.

A. I may not know the

future, but I

know

Him who

holds the future.

Q.

In II Corinthians 1:4,

the inspired Paul writes that

one purpose of tribulation is

that those being persecuted

will know the comfort of God

being manifested n their

lives. Do you see examples of

this in Africa?

A. Most certainly. We live

in a hurting world. Because of

man's sin there is suffering

in

this world. None of us are

innocent victims. We are all

guilty sinners and have to

some degree contributed to

the problems. But God in His

. grace reaches down

and

saves

unworthy sinners such as us.

Then He uses us in the

salvation of others. Because of

God's grace the cycle of

suffering can be broken.

OctoberlNovember, 997 THE :OUNSEL of Chalcedon 29


7/7

So often the biggest change granted are not known there. spiritual war. We are in a very

that can

happen

is through Pray that the persecutors be serious war with Islam, with

our

attitude. To some people, exposed and opposed, that witchcraft, with communism,

a little problem can destroy the sufferings of

our

and the New World Order.

them. To others, the greatest

beleaguered brothers in The United Nations is no

problems do nothing more Sudan and

otherlands

be friend of the church. It has

than raise their faith higher. brought to the light, and that opposed the work of the

Being raised

on

the English. Christians would give it the Gospel

in

country after

side, we go for tea. To us tea attention it deserves until the country

in

Africa, even

has to be hot. You do not persecution ceases. though it surely has nothing

know

the.flavor of a tea bag

Also pray for more

to do with its mandate.

until you

put

it

in

boiling

missionaries. We need more We need to be alert to the

water. When we as Christians

in our

mission. The harvest is fact that there are people who

II

get into

hot

water,

then

we

large and the workers are few hate the Bible so much that

know our flavor.

When

we

In a nation the size of Sudan,

they are willing

to

kill

I

put pressure on a sponge,

with fifty million people,

Christians to prevent the

whatever that sponge is full

there are less than twenty- Bible from being distributed.

I

of,

it

will leak out.

f

we are four missionaries per million There are people who hate

I

full of the Holy Spirit, or of

of the population there. We the church and are wiling to

I

the flesh, when we are under

also desperately need more attack it. My church in

pressure the results will be

Bibles. We need the Lord to Capetown, South Africa was

seen.

protect our people. At the actually attacked by terrorists.

AdverSity is

not our

enemy. moment, we have two Hand grenades were thrown.

,

I have seen some of the most

missionaries in Sudan. Pray .

Machine guns were fired into

wonderful, God-fearing for our protection. We are the congregation murdering

believers suffering some of fortunate to still be alive at people in the church. Wars

the

most

abominable this point. There have been require sacrifice. They require

atrocities.

You

would

think

attempts

on

our

lives. Pray for rations and conscription. We

they would be bitter. I have our families who are left are in such a war for world

I

seen people who have behind while we are on evangelism. I would

I

suffered

under

persecutors

mission trips. Many of us encourage each person to

,

welcoming with open arms

have wives and children. Pray

play their part.

those persecutors, saving that the church will become

Q Thank you for this

them

and bringing them to more missionary minded,

interview. How can our

Christ. producing the kind of

readers receive further

Q. Are there specific prayer

diSciplined, dedicated

information

on

your ministry?

requests we can pray for our

diSciples who can be effective

A To receive our free

suffering brothers and sisters? servants

in

such complicated

reports and to learn how to

harvests as Sudan.

A Let us pray that peace

purchase our books, tapes

Q What can the American

with justice would come to

and videos, call this toll free

Sudan - peace with liberty

church learn from the

number: 1-888-918-4100

and

life for all. The types of

persecuted

church

in Africa?

and ask for the Frontline

freedom,

such

as freedom of A The church must learn

Fellowship package.

n

movement, that we take for

thatwe

are in a war - a

3 THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon OctoberJNovember 997

1997 issue 9 - an interview with peter hammond of frontline fellowship - counsel of chalcedon

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