Church of God World Missions—partnering with the Department of Youth and Discipleship and the Men and Women of Action—has set sights on building a firewall across Africa.
Beginning in Senegal, near the west coast, moving eastward to Niger, on across to Ethiopia, then turning south through Kenya to Mozambique, the Firewall Project will set up key ministry centers for training and spearheading evangelistic and discipleship thrusts along this demarcation line.
[1]The visionary endeavor focuses on the realization that much of North Africa is under the control of antichristian forces bent on taking their unholy and blasphemous message southward, and a tower wall needs to be erected for defense and attack. The Firewall thrust will use five centers as places of training and strategy. Dedicated and called African young people will be prepared to plant churches, minister to children, and care for orphans and the AIDS-stricken population.
As part of the Marcelly’s Dream initiative, the plans for the Firewall will also include digging wells, organizing house churches, helping local churches build when they have reached the point of need, strengthening orphanage outreaches and feeding centers, conducting soccer camps, establishing kindergartens and after-school programs, and in other ways conveying the love of God to the African people.
Youth and Discipleship will take the lead in fund raising for the Firewall, adopting it as the Youth World Evangelism Action (YWEA) project for 2014. Young people across the church will work, save, run, walk, rock, ride, sing, and whatever other ideas they have in order to earn money to help build the wall.
Unusual challenges face the Firewall effort. Hundreds of tribal languages divide the African continent, but most countries also use a foreign language, usually left from colonial days. Two of the five centers will be situated in French-speaking counties—Senegal and Niger. While the Church of God has long hosted mission efforts in Francophone Africa, including a presence in 19 such nations, the church has not yet developed a French language Bible school. Another target country is Mozambique, where the common language is Portuguese. Ethiopia and Kenya are conversant in English as the major foreign language.
A major prayer initiative will undergird the Firewall Project. When the church comes against the forces of evil—especially organized forces such as are found in North Africa—the Enemy of the church strongly manifests against godly efforts. The church is confident in ultimate victory, but recognizes that fierce spiritual battles will take place. The Firewall Project begins now with a call to serious intercession for the endeavor.
(Source: Church of God World Missions, SOW Magazine)