(Africa)– Meanwhile, the Book of Hope finds itself in a race to plant seeds of the Gospel in Africa. Children across the continent face war, famine, poverty and the devastation of AIDS. Book of Hope’s Rob Hoskins says requests for Scripture far outweigh what they can provide. Even more frustrating is the effect of instability on their teams. “We’re on hold in several places like Angola where they’ve been experiencing civil war, and there’s still unrest in different parts of the country. That doesn’t diminish what we’re doing, but increases the need for what we’re doing. All of the Books of Hope that we use are distributed through public school systems by national churches.” Hoskins says even though fighting creates an obstacle, the hope of the Gospel still goes out. “When the school system in disrupted, the national church is still there and still has God’s Word. At a time like that, children are even more open and receptive. The church is always in a place where they’re trying to reach out and relieve, trying to reach out in meeting the emotional needs that kids are facing in times of terror, war and strife.”
