Located in the center of Africa, South Sudan is one of the world’s newest countries. While it is rich in oil, following decades of civil war, it also remains one of the least developed regions on Earth. Only 15 percent of its citizens own a mobile phone, and there are very few paved roads in an area larger than Spain and Portugal combined.
Since gaining independence from North Sudan in 2011, South Sudan has been in almost continual conflict. From 2013 to 2020, an estimated 400,000 have been killed during tribal and political warfare, and another 4 million have been displaced. One year ago, a fragile peace agreement was signed between the major factions, but local conflict in certain areas still continues.
In 2016, a young South Sudanese man named Alison arrived at AFCOE Africa—the Amazing Facts Bible-training program that you’re making possible—to take the four-month evangelism training. Alison had a passion for Bible work, and after he graduated, he was invited to join our first Bible Worker Intern program, training that he completed over the following six months. He then worked as a Bible worker for AFCOE Africa for another year; afterward, he was invited to work full time as an AFCOE evangelist in Khartoum, North Sudan. He has since conducted two soul-winning outreach meetings in that Muslim country!
But there’s much more to Alison’s story. Read more about your impact on Africa through Alison and his fiancé … and also an evangelist named Edgar who, thanks to you, reached the heart of an Anglican priest with the last-day message!
The Anglican Priest
Edgar is working as a full-time evangelist for AFCOE Africa. Perhaps the most thrilling story of his work in 2020 was when he reached an Anglican priest named Joseph, who was working in a parish in Eastern Uganda but had come to Kampala to assist a sick church member.
While in Kampala, God’s providence put Joseph in contact with an AFCOE Africa iSHARE student, who began giving him Bible studies using the Amazing Facts Storacles of Prophecy Bible lessons. Eventually, Joseph studied with the iSHARE student on the Bible Sabbath. Shortly afterward, he had to return to his parish in Eastern Uganda. However, the study on the Sabbath puzzled Joseph. He had never encountered the Bible truth on the subject before, and he wanted to know more.
Several times, Joseph called the iSHARE student asking for more lessons. But with over 200 kilometers between them, and with only a phone for making calls, it seemed that there was no way for Joseph to continue his studies.
God Opens the Way
Then, God’s providence brought Edgar and his evangelistic team to Eastern Uganda, about 70 kilometers from where Joseph was staying. When Edgar began broadcasting his Prophecies of Hope evangelistic meetings on a local radio station, Joseph listened eagerly. Eventually, Joseph contacted Edgar and requested a personal visit.
During the visit, Joseph related that he had a burden to train ministers, and that for the past two years, he had been planning a one-week training for 200 Anglican ministers, which was set to take place in December 2020. Convicted of the Sabbath truth, Joseph asked Edgar, “Now that I have learned the truth, what shall I do about this training?”
Edgar replied, “You must teach them the truth.” To help Joseph, Edgar sent him home with a full set of the twenty-seven Amazing Facts Study Guides.
And “teach them the truth” is exactly what Joseph did. More than 165 Anglican ministers came together for the training, and during that week, Joseph shared with them the truths that he had discovered. At the end of the training, Joseph announced to the crowd of Anglican ministers that he was leaving the Anglican Church to become a Sabbath-keeper.
Only God knows the ultimate results of Joseph’s week of bold training and his decision to become a Sabbath-keeper. Already, he has faced opposition and persecution from family and friends for his decision. However, Joseph moved forward and was baptized into a Sabbath-keeping church on December 19, 2020.
Thank you for your role in this powerful story of change and conviction!
The Church Under the Mango Tree
In 2020, Alison and his fiancée, Loise, traveled to his hometown of Tambura in the western region of South Sudan to plant a church. There were no Sabbath-keepers in the region, and most of those living there had never even met a Sabbath-keeper. The closest ordained pastor, whose territory included Tambura, was some 125 miles away!
Alison and Loise began their mission work by conducting Bible studies with a small group of interests. There was no church to invite people to and no hall to lease, so they gathered together under a large mango tree in the village.
As the villagers first listened to the Bible studies, some were suggesting that they meet for worship under the mango tree on Sundays. But after presenting the study regarding the Sabbath, Alison and Loise began hosting Sabbath worship under the mango tree. As word spread about the “Church under the Mango Tree,” others from the village began coming to learn.
A Blessing in Disguise
Then came the COVID pandemic.
Local authorities warned Alison and Loise that they could not meet in public like they had been. With no church or other venue available, the pair decided to buy a small piece of land and put up a shelter where people would be allowed to come to worship.
Some of the interests even assisted Alison and Loise in their “church building project.” Several were from a tribe that had been displaced by the civil war; they were refugees in their own country who had moved to Tambura to escape the war. Many refugees told Alison, “We want a church here that follows the Bible truths that you are teaching.” 
Dubbed the “Shelter Church,” the simple building consisted of poles that supported a roof covered with a tarp. They topped it off with grass. It was in this humble “shelter” that Alison and Loise began their evangelistic meetings in March 2020. And by the end of 2020, that small shelter had become the district church for the region. At the end of the evangelistic series, seven souls were baptized—they would form the foundation of the first Sabbath-keeping church in that area!
Where Is My Father?
One of the baptized converts is a young man named Charles. As a baby, his father had left him and his mother. As a boy, Charles often heard other boys talking about their own fathers. “Where is my father,” he wondered? “Why had he left me and my mother to face life alone?” Thoughts like these plagued Charles throughout his childhood, and he felt that life was unfair.
When Charles became a teenager, depressed and feeling alone, he got caught up in drugs and alcohol. But his addictions only made him more depressed. Charles asked himself why all those bad things were happening to him. Where was God? Why had God left him to suffer? Life seemed so meaningless, so hard, that at one point, Charles almost took his own life.
It was about this time that in the providence of God, he met Alison, who soon offered him Bible studies. Charles had visited many churches in the region, but he had not found in them anything that convinced him that there was a God who cared about him. However, there was something in the face and character of Alison that appealed to him. He felt that this man had the answers to the questions that had been plaguing him all his life. Charles agreed to the Bible studies and soon found himself fascinated with the lessons. Charles was finding answers to his questions all throughout the Bible.
When Alison announced his plan to build a shelter to conduct a Bible prophecy series for the village and invited Charles to attend, he agreed. More than that, Charles even came to help Alison and Loise put up the shelter! At the end of the evangelistic series, Charles was baptized. Today, he is the young elder of the newly established Sabbath-keeping church in Tambura.
Thank you for supporting the work of Amazing Facts International in Africa. In 2020 alone, your gifts led to 2,064 baptisms. You have also helped plant a new Sabbath-keeping church in the previously unreached region of South Sudan!
Please continue to pray for and support AFCOE Africa. The Lord is performing miracles in hearts all across this great continent through your faithful support!