Volume 45 - Special Edition on the 21st African Missions Summit (AMS 2016)

We are in a very sensitive time in world history. The Bible calls it the end times. Footballers and football fans refer to it as injury time. This injury time is characterized by warfare. It seems like the warfare is approaching the final phase. The devil knows this so well and working hard to weaken the church at all cost depopulating by ensuring that many persons derail from genuinely following the Lord and halt the advance of the gospel.

This edition of God's heartbeat is, therefore, focusing on the Battle for the Final Harvest.  It is the same with the theme of the 21st African Mission Summit (AMS 2016). Some of the papers to be presented at the summit will be published. The edition will explore the battle from different angles. Two of our editorial team members, John Abafi and Blessing Olivia examines three of the weapons commonly engaged by the Devil, which includes persecution, money and biological weapons. It is eye opening! Ezekiel Ganagana stresses the need to care for wounded warriors. Florence Sowemimo traces the challenges of the church in world evangelism to the level of adequate training. She likened the missionary to soldiers and warned that failure to give proper attention to mission training is preparation to fail.

The war on the church extends to Christian marriages. Jim Brook in an article earlier published in a Blog discussed the ideal marriage, the various ways the Devil had attempted to corrupt the institution and how the Christian can take their victory in Christ Jesus. Our immediate past editor listed 68 tribes in Nigeria that are not only neglected by the government but by the church. She stressed the need for the church to give them priority attention. These tribes tagged as chronic unreached people groups in the mission circle. They deserve to know that Jesus paid the price for their redemption over 2000years ago. According to Oswald J. Smith, there is no rationale for some to be hearing the gospel over and over whereas some have not heard about Jesus even once.