​You’ve been involved in missions for over 55 years. Please tell us something about your background and how you got involved in missions to the persecuted church.

Yes, my wife and I have been missionaries ever since I graduated from University in 1952. We spent 22 years in Europe, without a furlough, serving our Lord Jesus Christ primarily in evangelism. At the beginning we worked among refugees in Berlin who had escaped from behind the Iron Curtain. Then I worked in Spain, which before Vatican II was closed to the Gospel. This was a training ground for me to work in restricted-access countries.

​Some years ago we witnessed an extraordinary campaign of hate and slander launched by disgruntled ex-members against an outstanding mission in South Africa. Salvos of letters, articles, e-mails and phone calls were launched. Websites dedicated to slandering this mission were set up. All manner of vindictive abuse was unleashed against this fine Christian community. I was astounded at the persistence, obsession and unconstructive maliciousness of the antagonists.

​“Remember the prisoners as if chained with them – those who are mistreated – since you yourselves are in the body also.” Hebrews 13:3

From 10 to 17 November 2002, hundreds of thousands of congregations worldwide will be observing International Days of Prayer for the persecuted Church. It is estimated that over 200 million Christians suffer persecution from totalitarian and anti-Christian governments. Over 200 000 Christians die for their faith every year.

​The inevitable consequences of Robert Mugabe's racist and marxist policies in Zimbabwe are becoming increasingly apparent.

Zimbabwe's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has declined by over 25% in the last three years. At the same time, employment has fallen by over 33%. Exports have fallen by over 50% and foreign exchange receipts by over 66%. All imported products are in short supply and the hospitals are virtually out of all essential medicines.

​September 1986

“What we need here is persecution!”

Often Christians have a glamourised view of persecution, and confidently assert that the way to revival is through persecution. After bemoaning the prayerlessness, the half-heartedness and the sinful compromises of their churches, they conclude that “persecution will purify the church.”

“Perhaps it will. It will also decimate the church and curtail its witness,” is my common reply. “Communist persecution in the USSR has failed to destroy the church, but it has succeeded in killing 60 million Russians (half of whom were Christians), and in incarcerating a further 66 million in concentration camps. Even today there are 10 million people in 1 000 concentration camps in the Soviet Union. 1 Million are there for ‘religious reasons’ alone. It is true that after over 30 years of persecution in China, the church has multiplied to over 50 million believers. But about 2 million Christians were killed, hundreds by crucifixion!”

The Black Book of Communism is a monumental work that is heralding the ultimate defeat and disgrace of Communism worldwide. It was a best seller when first published in France, selling nearly 200 000 copies. That is a very large print run for a hard back book almost 900 pages long! It led the Communist Party in France to hold crisis sessions considering whether it could continue to hold to Marxism in any shape or form. The consensus was that they would have to abolish the Communist Party!

​Helicopter gunships and Antonov bombers of the Government of Sudan have launched repeated intensive aerial bombardments of civilian centres in Southern Sudan. On some occasions these aerial attacks were followed up by co-ordinated ground assaults by the National Islamic Front (NIF) armed forces and Peoples Defence Force (PDF) militias.

​​Reports received by our mission include testimonies of ground assaults (sometimes) at night and scorched earth campaigns by government forces burning homes and grain supplies, and looting cattle. On one occasion 4 helicopter gunships and an Antonov bomber co-ordinated with ground forces to destroy everything necessary to sustain life in the area.

​ It is no accident that the most vicious terrorism originates from the least evangelised area of the world. The Muslim Middle East represents the most complex political challenge and potentially an enormous military threat to the free world. It is also the greatest missionary challenge to the Christian Church.

Muslim states are the most severe persecutors of Christians. And radical Muslim extremists are the most vicious terrorists, hijackers, kidnappers, suicide bombers and assassins. The failure of the Christian Church to fulfill the Great Commission in the Middle East continues to have far-reaching and disastrous consequences.

Islam is a challenge that we cannot ignore. Yet, very few Christians understand Islam or know how to respond to it.

​By God's grace, it would appear that the culminative effect of many years of intensive prayer, worldwide publicity, international pressure, and missionary partnerships with the courageous persecuted Christians in Sudan are finally bearing fruit.

For most of its independence, Sudan has suffered from successive oppressive governments, violent revolutions, coup d'etats and civil war. Since being granted independence in 1956, the increasingly oppressive Arab governments have discriminated against and waged war against the Christian Black South. The government of Sudan has bombed Christian schools, hospitals and churches, burned crops and poisoned wells. The long-suffering Christian Blacks of Southern Sudan have endured slave raids, scorched earth campaigns, amputations and even crucifixions.

​In the daily battles of life one can be tempted to give in to depression or fatigue as we see sin and compromise increasing. Yet there is hope. God is sovereign. Nothing is inevitable except what God has decreed. And there is power in prayer.

Christians are not doomed to defeat but called to victory. If God can change us then He can use us to change some part of this world. Christians can change the course of human history by prayer and obedience to God. The Bible is full of examples of believers "who through faith conquered kingdoms." Hebrews 11:33. And recent history confirms the power of prayer.