New Fast-Tracked Bible Degrees

Abanoub Isaac with NBIC says the school, which follows the Anglican Diocese of Egypt, is growing. They are offering more classes and programs for Sudanese people in Egypt. One program with tremendous growth is a one-year Bible degree that offers coursework on church planting, missions, and understanding people from different backgrounds.

This streamlined Bible training is crucial for Sudanese churches which are exploding with new Christians but lack trained pastors.

(Image courtesy of Tima Miroshnichenko via Pexels)

Isaac says, “They have new believers every day. But they don’t have equipped ministries or pastors. They have to make [people] pastors in church without even reading the Bible one time. So, they don’t have any leadership skills, any biblical knowledge. So just he is good with people, knows the big message of Christ, but he can’t discipleship or make a Bible study, or anything else in the church – just worship.”

The one-year course begins with five months of studying in Egypt. This is followed by two months of practical ministry in Sudan and then a final five months back in Cairo. At the end of this intensive year, students are ready to go back to Sudan for good to lead their churches.

The program has been very successful. The first year they received 50-55 applications and the next year 90 people applied. During the first two-month practical training in Sudan, pastors were leaving their congregations in the hands of the students because they were so prepared.

However, even with the successes and growth of NBIC, they have had significant barriers to overcome.

Meeting Challenges Head-On

Isaac says one issue is that education has been poor in Sudan because of the war. Even identifying good candidates for leadership can be difficult. Many people just don’t have significant prior schooling.

Additionally, the war has continued to foster deep feelings of tribalism. The years of struggle make it difficult to get the church to come together over tribal lines.

“Actually, we faced a lot [the accusation] that we are racist against some tribes,” Isaac states. “Even we don’t know the tribes! We are not putting anything in our applications [about] which tribe you are from. But when we choose people to do something because we see that they have potential, they relate this to the tribe, not the potential of the people. So we faced a lot this accusation that we are racist [against some] tribes.”

NBIC is working to equip leaders from every tribe to combat these accusations in addition to their stated goal of training qualified leaders.

Join in Prayer

Training refugees to minister in war-torn areas is challenging work and Isaac asks for prayer. Unity among the tribes and Church at large is a major prayer request from NBIC.

“We [are] trying to give them lot of perspective. We have teachers from all over the places: Sudanese, Egyptians, some foreigners come. We give them retreats in Coptic places when they have worship nights and the Bible was read with like, six or seven different languages to make them know how important unity is.”

Please also pray for Sudanese Christians who are facing practical problems including racism, the cost of living in Egypt, and families who have been separated.

Header photo courtesy of Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.

Benita with the Nuba Mountains Bible Institute in Cairo (NBIC) says, “Now with the war, there’s huge increase in refugees, 900% in Cairo, and a lot of them are single moms with kids.”

Many husbands stayed behind to defend their land, were killed, or couldn’t escape. These women now face overwhelming needs — especially in education.

Cairo, Egypt (Photo courtesy of Ahmed Ezzat via Unsplash)

“They haven’t had almost any opportunities for education in Sudan beyond maybe basic elementary,” Benita explains.

To help, the ministry offers a one-year program for women, meeting one night a week. It focuses on psychological awareness, spiritual growth, theological training, and leadership development.

The goal, says Benita, is simple: “It equips Sudanese women to train others and to serve their community.”

However, many challenges stem from family struggles. “In Sudan,” explains Benita, “maybe only the man worked and the woman was able to stay home and focus on kids and household responsibilities.”

In Egypt, the situation is reversed. Refugees cannot legally work, so many take informal jobs. Women often find cleaning work more easily — and sometimes earn more than men. This shift disrupts traditional family roles. “That creates tension oftentimes in the marriage,” says Benita.

When husbands eventually reunite with their families after months or years apart, new strains appear. “Then if the husband can come to Egypt eventually, then he’s been estranged for a long time, and that takes a while to sort that out, and he hasn’t been involved really in raising the children.”

Moreover, amid war trauma, family conflict, and uncertainty, children often drift toward gangs or other dangerous lifestyles.

South Sudanese woman (Photo courtesy of Speak Media Uganda via Pexels)

That’s where the ministry steps in again, offering teaching and guidance to families and community leaders.

“We also have one of our staff teach about what’s the difference between what is our tribal practices around marriage and what’s actually the Bible, and help them to pick those apart,” Benita shares.

The ministry also educates women about their health and supports survivors of wartime rape — restoring dignity through God’s truth.

Pray for Sudanese people displaced from their homeland — that they find healing and hope in Christ’s love. Pray for the women to experience dignity, peace, and wisdom in the embrace of their Creator.

Header representative photo of two women (courtesy of Ab Pixels via Pexels).

That’s the situation that ministry partners of Spoken Worldwide are in today in Sudan. 

Ed Weaver with Spoken Worldwide tells us, “One of the key ways that I see God answer to prayer is we’ve got people that care so much about the Sudanese people. They’re working desperately to continue to do their work because they know people are lost.” 

Did you know 2/3 of the world’s population are oral learners?
(Graphic, caption courtesy of Spoken Worldwide)

Sudan is around 92 percent Muslim and 95 percent unreached with the gospel, according to Joshua Project.  

Members of Spoken Worldwide’s oral Bible translation team have been displaced themselves from the fighting, yet they carve out time to keep translating and recording scripture for oral learners. 

“The amount of commitment that’s necessary to be thinking about things like that, while you’re just trying to survive, is pretty amazing,” Weaver says. 

Spoken Worldwide’s pastor development program, however, may be on hold as the war disrupts relationships and communication methods. They will be evaluating how they might move that initiative forward.

Pray for the peace of Sudan and that Jesus would reveal Himself to those on the run and bring them to safety. There’s no end in sight to the conflict that has already displaced an estimated nearly 7.76 million since April 2023.

Pray also for indigenous Christian leaders as they walk through dangers and adapt to rapidly changing circumstances.  

“Even if they’re unable to currently do the type of ministry that we envision, we want them to be able to keep their long-term focus and say, ‘Well, okay. At some point I’ll be able to get back to that,’” Weaver says.

Header image is a representative stock photo of Khartoum, Sudan courtesy of Ammar Nassir via Unsplash.

Warring parties must agree to a ceasefire soon, the United Nations humanitarian chief said earlier this week. Aid groups cannot reach people trapped in the war zones. All previous ceasefire efforts brokered by international and regional leaders have failed.

In the past three months, 3.1 million people have fled Sudan’s capital and Darfur to safer locations. More than 700,000 crossed into neighboring countries.

War in Sudan is nothing new. This is simply the latest episode. A society devoid of Jesus only leads to two outcomes – death and destruction. “I know what a joy [it is] to follow Christ and to be freed by Christ,” Voice of the Martyrs Canada partner Yassir Eric says in a recent podcast.

“When we don’t have Jesus in our hearts, it is very difficult to have peace.”

As military and paramilitary forces vie to control Sudan, a second battlefront opens in West Darfur. RSF and Arab militias target non-Arab tribes, shooting people as they flee and torturing those left behind.

“Our challenge in Sudan is not only Islam; we have another challenge – the tribalism with different groups,” Eric says.

In 2011, ethnic conflict in Sudan gave birth to a new nation – South Sudan. The world’s newest nation quickly inherited its predecessor’s sins; South Sudan’s ongoing civil war began two years later.

“When [Sudan and South Sudan] separated, I always hoped that peace would come, but we have tribalism [in both locations]; it is devastating,” Eric says.

(Screenshot image courtesy Prayercast: Sudan)

The true enemy

Even before Sudan’s latest war started, believers from a Muslim background – like Eric – faced severe persecution under Islamic rule.

There was a brief window of freedom for believers after former dictator Omar al-Bashir’s 2019 ouster. However, true reform is problematic and old habits die hard.

A transitional civilian committee tried to make gains in 2021, but a military coup derailed the progress. Tensions simmered for months between military and paramilitary forces before erupting in mid-April.

Islamist radicals meet little resistance as security entities fight amongst themselves. Yet Eric and others like him continually pray for their persecutors.

“Nothing will happen to make me hate Muslims,” Eric says.

“My message to the West: we need to distinguish between Islam and Muslims.”

Eric says it is a mistake to assume individuals and the ideologies they claim to follow are one and the same.

“Islam is a religion; we can have our opinions [about Islam], and even Muslims will not have a problem with that because they do the same thing,” he explains.

“We can speak critically about [Islam and] all of the things that interfere [with] peaceful coexistence. But we cannot start to hate people.”

The header image shows the flag of Sudan. (Image by David Peterson from Pixabay)

Greg Kelley with World Mission explains, “There’s essentially two warring generals who are power hungry and they’re being asked to negotiate. These people have all kinds of authority and power, [and] what happens in every situation is that the people suffer.”

At least 600 civilians have been killed so far in and around Khartoum as a result of the fighting. Thousands of displaced Sudanese are fleeing to other parts of the country and even across national borders.

“It’s not just the areas that are affected around Khartoum right now,” says Kelley. “There’s suffering that’s going on in the Nuba Mountains and in Darfur. We have active work going on that are getting food supplies in there, medical assistance, blankets, and of course our solar-powered audio Bibles.”

(Photo courtesy of World Mission)

In Sudan, the Arabic language goes a long way unlike other African countries with populations that rely heavily on a myriad of tribal languages. World Mission helps local Sudanese believers distribute solar-powered audio Bibles — called Treasures — in Arabic across the country. They’re also pairing Treasure distribution with humanitarian assistance.

“If you just show up and you’re trying to preach the Gospel, even giving them a Bible alone, it doesn’t have nearly the impact as if you come along with a loaf of bread or a cup of cold water…. When you express the love of Jesus Christ in a tangible way, it opens the heart,” says Kelley.

“Pray that God just grips the heart of these leaders so that they would come to reason and come to a place so that their people don’t suffer.”

Also, Kelley asks, “Pray for the indigenous leaders, the church planters, the missionaries that are risking their lives to go into these very hostile environments sharing the Gospel. We need to pray that God would protect them, guard them, [and] provide resources for them so that they can effectively do their work.”

Learn more about World Mission here.

Header photo of Bank of Khartoum Headquarters, Khartoum, Sudan. (Caption, photo courtesy of Abdel-Moneim Mustafa/Flickr: https://rb.gy/lizdh)

Elie Haddad, the president of Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Lebanon, says they are supporting many Sudanese seminary students and graduates at this time.

“Sudanese people are some of the nicest, most gentle people on the face of the earth. It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening in Sudan right now,” says Haddad.

“We in Lebanon have a lot of experience with crises and wars and stuff like that. It takes a while for things to stabilize and new realities to set in and understand how they’re going to adjust to that…. Now they’re entering into what may end up as a war, maybe a long-term civil war. That’s the fear…. So it’s about safety and making sure that people’s families are safe and people’s church members are safe.”

(Photo courtesy of Arab Baptist Theological Seminary)

These young Sudanese students at ABTS are learning how to advance the Gospel and grow the Sudanese Church. A part of their program also includes peacemaking initiatives.

“Our Sudanese students and graduates, it’s incredible how God has been using these leaders in proclaiming the Gospel and reaching new people groups that no one has thought possible,” Haddad says.

Could this be the generation God has called for such a time as this for Sudan?

Haddad says, “We support our Sudanese students in equipping them and then building relationships with the churches and coming alongside some of the projects…. So we have a very close connection with them. The Church in Sudan is very dear to our heart.

“We are committed to coming alongside them any way we can. We always come alongside them in terms of theological education, the initial formation for the Church. We work with seminaries that are in Khartoum as well. And now we do want to come alongside them in terms of relief efforts as soon as things are figured out and they know what’s going to happen.”

Habil, a Sudanese graduate from ABTS. (Photo courtesy of Arab Baptist Theological Seminary)

For now, many students at ABTS need financial support, including their Sudanese students. You can help sponsor an ABTS student here!

Meanwhile, Haddad encourages, “Let’s keep Sudan in prayer. Let’s keep the Church in Sudan in prayer. The Church in Sudan has done a great job at being open, engaging with the community in very positive ways, [and] preaching the Gospel in meaningful ways. Let’s pray that the Church in Sudan can continue to do this despite the hardship that they’re facing right now.”

Header photo of Habil, a Sudanese graduate, courtesy of ABTS.

Medical supplies are also running low. One British doctor still trapped in Khartoum was shot, and is treating himself with leftover antibiotics and makeshift pillowcase bandages.

Over 450 people have been killed and at least 4,072 wounded since fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The two warring parties agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire to open a humanitarian corridor for evacuations. But that agreement ends tonight at midnight, and recent skirmishes have already broken the ceasefire in certain areas of Khartoum.

Joe Willey with SAT-7 says for Sudanese people trapped and trying to get information, smartphones only help so much. “In Sudan, unlike the US, only 28% of people in the country at least statistically have internet access. But satellite television is really popular.”

(Photo courtesy of SAT-7 Arabic)

Satellite communication is critical in times like this. That’s where SAT-7 ARABIC’s television channel comes in with Gospel hope across the Middle East and North Africa.

“SAT-7 ARABIC is broadcast via satellite as well as social media,” Willey says. “So it is a really powerful tool to be able to share God’s love and make His love visible with the people of Sudan.”

Willey asks, “First and foremost, pray that the violence would stop…as well as asking for prayer for those who have lost loved ones and also that Sudan can be united because that nation itself is struggling to have democratic rule.”

“Please pray for the protection of Christians. Even though it’s a very small number, there is persecution and we’re praying that they would be protected, as well as any businesses that are operated by Christians and any churches or fellowships that meet regularly.”

Learn more about SAT-7 ARABIC’s ministry.

Header image of Sudan flag, courtesy of David Peterson/Pixabay.

The first challenge is adjusting to life in a foreign country, particularly one like Lebanon, which features more freedom than Sudan for religious minorities. Sometimes students come alone or with families. In both instances, it is a big adjustment leaving family, their churches, and their communities, not to mention adjusting to a different dialect of Arabic. However, despite their challenges, ABTS’s President Elie Haddad says the Sudanese students tend to be some of the seminary’s sweetest students.

Returning to Sudan

After three years of studying in Lebanon, many students return to Sudan. This is where the challenges increase. Adjusting back to life in Sudan could arguably be more difficult than adjusting to life in Lebanon.

(Photo Courtesy of ABTS)

“One of the big adjustments that our students usually have to go through is within their own churches. So, they come from the church, the church would send them. Many times, churches are small and they have sometimes limited vision of what ministry can be accomplished, and then they come here for three years. They’re bombarded with new concepts, new ideas, new ways [of] being church and then we ask them to go back and submit to the old structure that they came out of and then fit within that again, which is very difficult,” Haddad explains.

ABTS wants to help its Sudanese students transition back into life with their churches. Haddad says it is easy, once your mindset has changed, to want to give up on a structure that has not experienced the same change. But, ABTS does not want their students to give up. They want them to persevere in their relationships and positions with the churches who originally sent them to study and grow.

“It requires a lot of humility, a lot of submission to their church leadership…We want them to go back, submit to whatever system is there, and then help little by little, in God’s timing to grow the ministry from within,” Haddad says.

Adjusting to an Old Way

To help with engaging its own community, ABTS has been involved in peace-building initiatives. The seminary has been experimenting with new ways for churches to engage its communities. Haddad says a lot of the Sudanese students have been taking the concept of these initiatives back to Sudan.

These initiatives help bring people from different faiths together, even into the same room. The initiatives teach a diverse group of people how to listen to each other while also articulating their faith in a respectful manner.

“They’ve been doing that in Sudan. I love to see the pictures on Facebook and our students have been doing that. That creates more opportunities, many more opportunities to build relationships, to build trust, and it’s [an] amazing opportunity for the Gospel,” Haddad says.

Serving Well

It is vital that the Sudanese students can engage in conversation with people different from themselves. This will give them opportunities to build friendships and respectfully articulate their faith.

“When there is a context of multiple religious groups, lots of suspicion in between the groups, and one group sometimes dominating the others, it takes a lot of wisdom to build the right platform for what relationships can be nurtured and that would be the right platform for the Gospel. The Gospel is good news. So how can it be good news in a context like theirs. And how can they be contributing to the common good that needs to happen in a country like Sudan,” Haddad says.

In this region, the Middle East and North Africa, there are limitations to what ministry can look like because of external pressures, restrictions, and finite resources. There are also internal pressures, too. Many church communities are not comfortable with opening themselves up to have faith conversations with different faith groups. This can be for a myriad of reasons, like self-preservation.

ABTS wants its Sudanese students not to be viewed as a threat by their governing body, but instead as individuals contributing to the good of their country. Haddad says there is a need for the sense of the good news of the Gospel to permeate through the students.

Be Prayerful, Be Active

Haddad asks for prayer support for the Sudanese students. So please, pray for these students who often pay a high price for their faith and ministry. Pray for ABTS as it equips these students for ministry. Ask for wisdom for both ABTS and the Sudanese students. And finally, pray for ABTS to be equipped with the necessary resources to educate the Sudanese students as well as the financial support for the Sudanese students and their ministries on the ground.

To partner with ABTS, click here.

“It’s just such a privilege for us to be able to work with them for a few years. We bring them here to teach them, we end up learning so much from them. They’re amazing group of leaders and God’s already at work in their lives,” Haddad says.

Header photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Bonita Dirk with Nuba Mountains Bible Institute in Cairo (NBIC) explains: “Officially, the laws of Egypt are you have to have nine or ten Egyptian employees for every foreign employee. On some rare occasions, [Sudanese refugees] are officially employed. But most of the time, they are working [in] unofficial employment. They don’t get much assistance from the government or even from the UN. There is very little official assistance. But they can survive. So it’s a little bit better [than Sudan], but it’s not at all what they were expecting.”

A mosque in Cairo, Egypt. (Photo courtesy of Pixabay)

Refugees started fleeing from Sudan to Egypt around 20 years ago when civil war overtook Sudan. Non-Arab and African tribal groups were targeted by the Muslim majority, especially in areas like Darfur. Because Egypt and Sudan used to be one kingdom a long time ago and still share a common language, some Sudanese see Egypt as the best place to escape.

Then, after Sudan and South Sudan split, Sudan placed a tax on the Nuba Mountains region. As a result, more people fled.

“There is estimated to be between one and three million Sudanese in Cairo,” Dirk explains. “Most of them are refugees, not all. But Cairo is a city of 25 million, so that means almost one in ten or ten percent are Sudanese.”

Today, refugees in Egypt are torn. They could go back home to Sudan if they save enough money, but the social and economic climate in Sudan has not improved. However, staying in Egypt is not ideal either, since Sudanese often suffer discrimination and public harassment.

Some Egyptians don’t even realize the Sudanese among them are refugees. Since the two countries share a border, Egyptians view Sudanese as simply coming and going, and they would rather the Sudanese stay in their own country.

(Photo courtesy of Open Doors USA)

Dirk says the lack of awareness and aid is “partly because people have no idea of what has happened and is happening in Sudan. There were a lot of foreigners that were pushed out of Sudan a couple years ago and so it is very difficult to actually find out what is going on in Sudan itself. People have no idea that the conflict and the issues are ongoing in Sudan.

“Then, Egypt is a developing country on its own. The Egyptian government can’t afford to help the Sudanese very much because they are trying to help their own population. There are more visible issues in [global] news, and Sudan is not one of them.”

For Sudanese Christians living in Egypt, life is even harder. Being Sudanese already makes them a second-class citizen, but being Christian makes them a third-class citizen, ostracized by both Egyptians and majority-Muslims alike.

This is where the local Church in Egypt is stepping in when they can. Some Christian groups provide refugee services, operate medical clinics, and help Sudanese refugees find jobs.

However, Dirk says there is only so much they can do. “There are different ministries, but they are mostly small, local churches doing little bits and pieces.”

NBIC sees the value of a growing and thriving Church among the Sudanese diaspora in Cairo. That’s why NBIC trains Sudanese Christian leaders to spiritually encourage and instruct the Sudanese Church there.

(Photo courtesy of Prayercast)

“I really believe that God cares about the least, the last, and the lost and the people that are forgotten,” Dirk reflects. “The Bible talks a lot about widows and orphans, and there are a lot of those amongst the Sudanese refugee population. I feel privileged that I get to work amongst a people group that is kind of a bit forgotten in the world, but [which] God has not forgotten. I think that’s a real clear Gospel opportunity to love our Christian brothers and sisters and our non-Christian brothers and sisters that are often forgotten.”

Dirk says raising awareness and standing in solidarity with our Christian Sudanese brothers and sisters in Egypt goes a long way.

“Try to find bits of news on Sudan. There are really good websites like Nuba Reports. There is an amazing hospital in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan where there is only one doctor for a population of a million people.”

Finally, she asks, “Pray, pray, pray. Remember them. Remember that you have Christian brothers and sisters all over the world and a lot of them are suffering, but they still love God and are pursuing Him. Lift them up in your prayers. Seek out opportunities to encourage and support and give to good organizations.”

Header photo courtesy of Open Doors USA.

“Last year, we had almost 50 percent of our residential students coming from Sudan. We are expecting to have 19 students from Sudan next year, maybe three of them would be from the South and the remaining 16 are going to be from North Sudan,” ABTS’ Loulwa El Maalouf says.

“It’s exciting to know that we are part of God’s plan to prepare church leaders for the Sudanese Church.”

El Maalouf says Sudanese students are very sweet and tend to enjoy their new community at ABTS. The affection goes both ways. El Maalouf also says ABTS learns a lot from its Sudanese students.

Sudanese Students Continue Ministry

Since many ABTS students return home during summer break, they can use what they have learned to impact their churches.

“A condition for [students] to be enrolled at ABTS is that they have ministry experience, they are endorsed by their local church, and they demonstrate a clear calling to serve God in their communities,” El Maalouf explains.

(Photo courtesy of Terry Kearney via Flickr)

ABTS encourages all its students to use their summer breaks as an opportunity to serve back home. Still, this is not the only thing which sets ABTS apart from other seminaries. ABTS, unlike the traditional teaching method in Arab communities, trains its students to be critical thinkers.

When students ask questions, they are often answered with more questions and a nudge to head to the library. It is there, buried in books, where students learn to use their resources, conduct research, and think critically.

Students also study courses by looking at four distinct areas of a topic. These include biblical, historical, sociological, and personal backgrounds. Additionally, ABTS strives to focus on building the affective, behavioral, and cognitive aspects of leaders.

“Leadership formation is very crucial for the Church…and our curriculum is helping to prepare more leaders for the Church in Sudan,” El Maalouf says.

Welcome to ABTS

Some challenges the Sudanese students face include immersing themselves in a foreign culture. However, these challenges are not stopping Sudanese students from coming to ABTS. Many Sudanese students are recommended by alumni to attend the seminary.

ABTS tries to alleviate these challenges by acting more like a family. Students from cultures outside of Lebanon live in a building together. There, they learn about each other, the other cultures, and find they are not alone in a foreign land.

Another way ABTS tries to welcome international students is through food. Students have a stipend to buy and cook their own food, meaning they can enjoy a taste of home.

“Many key church leaders in Sudan are ABTS graduates. In fact, one of our graduates from Sudan had said that the ministry in Sudan would have been very much different if it was not for ABTS,” El Maalouf shares.

“We had the privilege of being a part and training the leaders who are actually serving in many different churches around Sudan.”

God is equipping the Sudanese Church for His work. Pray it would continue to persevere in faith and ministry. Ask God to help the Sudanese Church as it makes relationships with the communities around it. Finally, pray for ABTS graduates to be the salt and light in their communities, regardless of their circumstances.

Find ways to support ABTS and its students here!

(Header photo courtesy of ABTS)