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Russell Watson Memorial Fund for IMB Missions in Africa
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Statistics show there are now more professing Christians in Africa than any other continent. These local believers are critical to reaching the last unreached peoples in Africa! They need biblical and practical training to learn to cross cultural lines and geographical borders to reach the remaining unengaged, unreached peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa for Christ.
Training will focus on the essential components of the missionary task: entry strategies, evangelism, discipleship, healthy church formation and leadership development. Classes and seminars will be offered locally across the continent and regionally at centers in East Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa. You can assist missionary teams and local churches to achieve this God-given vision. With your help, IMB personnel will establish training centers and equip trainers with teaching materials. Classes and seminars will be offered locally across the continent and regionally at centers in East Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa. Training will focus on missionary and church planting strategies. Trainee expenses for travel, food and lodging—costs beyond the reach of many Africans– also must be subsidized. Your gift will help meet all these needs. Prayerfully consider how God is leading you to come alongside your African brothers and sisters to share the gospel of hope and salvation with 55 UUPGs in 5 years!
The Ingessana of Sudan are one of the 55 who need the gospel. Numbering over 110,000, this people group practices a form of Islam mixed with traditional animistic religion. They live in rural villages and farms and have little to no access to the gospel. There are no Scripture resources, and an ongoing Bible translation project has stalled.
In late 2022, we learned that the majority of this UUPG resides in refugee camps in South Sudan. We also established contact with a believer in one of these camps. Through this contact, we learned that there were four churches in the camp and two in their home region of Sudan with about 200 believers.
In February 2023, full-time Christian workers visited this camp and trained a small group of Ingessana believers in evangelism and basic discipleship. During this trip, both Muslim and Christian Ingessana women were trained in a Bible-based Trauma Healing called “New Hope.” Through this training, 13 Ingessana women professed Christ as their Savior! Little did these women know that what started as a journey of fleeing for their physical lives would lead them to run toward eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Since this trip, many of the Ingessana have re-settled in their homeland of Sudan. This movement is taking place at the same time fresh conflicts have erupted in Sudan, leading to political instability and the threat of a new civil war. Please pray for the new Ingessana believers to be a voice of hope and healing to the lost in their war-torn homeland.
Thank you for your kindness, gifts and faithful prayers. Your sacrificial gifts and intercession are truly transforming lives as we partner together to solve the world’s greatest problem, lostness. 
55 in 5. In 2020, we launched with the goal of seeing the 55 largest UUPGs in Sub-Saharan Africa engaged with the gospel by 2025. When we started this focus, we knew little about these people groups. Since then, we have learned much about their cultures and gospel entry points, and we’ve seen progress among many. Yet significant work remains to ensure all 55 have access to the gospel in a way they can understand and believe. Thank you for partnering with us through prayer and gifts to fuel the progress we have seen!
We want to celebrate the progress made among some of these people groups because of your gifts and ask you to intercede for continued gospel access. We invite you to download the “55 in 5 Prayer Cast” that highlights 10 people groups. Use this 30-minute audio prayer guide on a run or walk, during your personal devotions, or with your church small group. The prayer cast highlights the progress made and shares prayer prompts, so you can specifically pray for further gospel advancement.
Let’s go on a prayer journey together on behalf of the 55 in 5 People Groups. The “55 in 5 Prayer Cast” is available at the links below:
From the jagged Atlas Mountains to the vast Sahara Desert and the wildlife of the Serengeti, Africa is unrivaled for natural beauty and the hospitality of her people. Most Sub-Saharan Africans live hand-to-mouth, surviving on what they can harvest and herd, but regardless of status or wealth, most Africans share a common bond in community, family, and tribe.
Home to 2,500 ethnic groups, the region once characterized by sweeping poverty is redefining itself with bustling economies and technological enterprise. Eleven of the twenty-five fastest-growing global cities are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Whether urban-or-village dwellers, though, many Africans still try to manipulate spiritual powers through charms, sacrifices, and divination. The hope of the gospel is desperately needed.
African believers are catching a vision for sharing their faith. Sub-Saharan Africa is poised to become a tremendous missionary-sending force. Ask God to fan the flames of evangelism and cover Africa with his glory.