Joel 2:21 and 25a read “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things… I will restore to you the years the locusts have eaten…”
The prophet Joel served as God’s messenger to the people of Israel who had turned from His ways. Joel preached a message of warning about the “Day of the Lord.” He also preached a message of hope. The theme of hope lies in what God revealed through Joel about His plans for future restoration.
One dictionary defines restoration like this: “The action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition.” As one studies all God’s promises for restoring His people (as found in the book of Joel), one learns that when God restores, it’s more than just the restoration of “a former condition.” God’s ultimate restoration was sending Jesus to settle once and for all the issue of His wrath for those who believe. His restoration involves pouring out the Holy Spirit, so that those who repent and believe in Jesus never need fear the Day of the Lord’s wrath yet to come.
Our Sudanese brethren now residing in refugee camps have literally lost all their possessions. However, they have not lost the hope the Holy Spirit and the Word of God have given them in Christ. Nor have they lost their joy. We have stuff. They have joy.
Together, we can be used by the Lord Jesus as agents of His promise of restoration. We can provide for the practical daily needs of the displaced, as well as Bible training, Bibles, and scriptural resources.
The supreme means for restoration is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. CRM’s Sudanese field partners, boots on the ground, have set a goal of sharing a first-time gospel witness with one million Sudanese people in 2024. Many of these unreached people are living in refugee camps or in the isolated Jebel Marra region in Darfur in far southwest Sudan. Humanly speaking, for this worthy goal to be achieved, we must stand with our Sudanese brethren by praying, giving, and going like never before. With your help, this goal is achievable.
Here are some examples of how your gifts have begun the process of restoring hope to believers and enabling them to share hope with others—and the opportunities that stand before us.
1. Providing Bibles for Jebel Marra refugees.
- Two thousand New Arabic Version Bibles have already been transported from Juba, South Sudan, to Jebel Marra. The bookseller recently obtained another 2,000 Bibles, and as the Lord provides, CRM will purchase and transport them. At $8.50 each, it will take $17,000 to purchase another 2,000 Bibles.
- A South African missionary printer has agreed to print 50,000 New Testaments for Darfurians and transport them as far as Juba. This unforeseen gift resulted from my connection with a multi-agency Sudan Response Team. Please pray this brother can get permission to print the New Testaments in Injil Sharif Arabic. God willing, he will start printing them in late April.
- Our January CRM team carried 400 solar powered MP3 players loaded with digital NTs to Kenya. They were then shipped to Uganda. In March they will be carried to Darfur.
- Your giving has enabled CRM to start 2024 strong by purchasing 400 micro-SD cards containing digital NTs and gospel videos, 12 projectors, and 4 Light Streams for use within Darfur. But this is only a drop in the bucket. Achieving the goal of reaching one million Sudanese people with the gospel in 2024 will require a lot more of every conceivable form of scripture resource.
2. Sending Darfurian evangelists to minister to the displaced.
- Last week, because you gave, CRM enabled Alamadin, one of our lead Sudanese field partners, and another brother from Uganda, to travel to South Sudan and minister to Sudanese refugees living in refugee camps near Juba and in northwestern South Sudan near the Sudan border.
- We have received reports from Alamadin about many Sudanese refugees who received Jesus as Lord and Savior. We will soon post several video interviews on the CRM website of women who shared their stories about how they escaped Sudan and now reside in the refugee camps. Their stories are heartbreaking and point to the great need for trauma healing counseling. Thankfully, Alamadin’s reports also tell how camp officials eventually stopped the most overt forms of violence and persecution by declaring religious freedom within the camps.
3. Providing for the needs of displaced Sudanese.
- CRM continues to fund displaced Sudanese believers in Uganda and Darfur. Seventeen people recently entered Uganda after fleeing Sennar, Sudan. Because you gave, CRM was able to pay for their transport to Uganda. After their arrival, funds were sent to pay for their medical treatment, and provide clothing, food, and shelter.
We thank you for your continued support and trusting CRM with a portion of your treasury. Matt. 25:14-30. May the end of 2024 find us celebrating that one million Sudanese people received a first-time gospel witness this year. “With men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible,” Matt. 19:26.
David Crane,
President, Calvary Road Ministries
