The Landuma people are, by and large, an underprivileged group. They live in a depressed economy and in an underdeveloped country. Many basic needs, such as food, clean water, health care, and education are difficult for them to obtain. So the missionary team has undertaken a number of community aid projects. As a result we have seen a reduction in the frequency of deaths in our area - including a lowering of the infant mortality rate.
Some of the projects we have undertaken in the past have included financing village wells, providing basic medical assistance, providing ambulance service to the nearest hospital, assisting in the building and staffing of a local health post, assisting in the construction and equipping of a local school, and after one particularly poor farming year we provided a bag of seed grain for every household in the area.
There are always ongoing community aid projects and we would be grateful for assistance with any in which you might take an interest. Current projects include:
School Rebuilding Project
The Landuma School Rebuilding Project fund is being used to help rebuild a Landuma village elementary school building that fell down due to water saturation of the mud bricks from which it was originally made. The walls and roof of the new building are finished, but the floor is yet to be poured and furniture must still be made. Due to enlarging the building to include an extra classroom and the rapid rise in prices of building materials these past two years, this project is way over budget. More donations are needed to finish the building. You may see more photos of the project here.
Ambulance Project
Our team has purchased a truck which is being used to transport sick people from 20 to 30 villages in our area to the nearest hospital free of charge. Donations to the Landuma Ambulance Project will help maintain that vehicle in good running order, and/or help subsidize ambulance trips for sick villagers.
Medical Project
Frequently sick villagers or villagers with sick children come asking for financial assistance to obtain medical help that they cannot otherwise afford. If you choose to make a donation to this project you can help provide some of that medical intervention to keep Landuma people alive. Additionally, during times when the Ambulance Project Fund has no money available the Medical Project Fund may be used to help the missionaries pay the cost of ambulance trips. Occasionally money from this project is also used to help make improvements to or purchase equipment for the local health post.
Fence Project
Remember the song from "Oklahoma" "The Cowboys and The Farmers Can be Friends"? That turned out to be a total falsehood in that musical and indeed, in real life it is a very difficult thing. A neighboring tribe here keeps cattle, but like in the early days of Oklahoma they do not keep them fenced on their own land. The cattle often roam wild - which is a BIG problem for Landuma farmers.
The purpose of the Landuma Fence Project is to improve the economic stability of the villagers by supplying fencing to help Landuma farmers fence their gardens against the roaming cows. Farmers from our area who develop a piece of ground into a substantial garden or orchard are provided with up to 750 meters of fencing wire free of charge.
Bible Translation
Our purpose for being in Africa is far more than just social and ecconomic aid. Our desire is to see people come into a right relationship with God. We believe that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) The Bible is the foundation of our belief and our teaching. For any church to function without constant outside assistance, they must possess the Word of God in a language that they understand and in a form that does not change. So we have undertaken a Bible translation project with the objective to translate many key portions of the Old Testament and the entire New Testament. Kirk Rogers and our first Landuma convert, Masalu, are doing a wonderful job on the Bible translation. Printing a Landuma Bible, however, will be a very expensive undertaking. A translation fund has been set up to help defray the cost of printing the Landuma scriptures.
Bible Teaching
God chose to communicate his message to man by using people to "preach" or speak it. (I Corinthians 1:21) And of course the public and verbal teaching of God's Word is a very important aspect of our ministry to the Landuma. Jim Sheffield is spearheading this task by developing curriculum and doing the majority of the Bible teaching. Bible lessons are also being recorded on cassette tape and loaned—sometimes along with tape players—to Landuma individuals without cost. (There is a cost, of course, which is being absorbed by the missionary team and their financial supporters. If you wish you may make a donation to help defray that cost.)
Donations
If you wish to make a financial donation to any of the above projects you may write a check and send it to the following address. Thank you for your assistance.
New Tribes Mission
Finance Department
1000 E First St
Sanford FL 32771-1487
Please make your check payable to New Tribes Mission and write "for the Guinea Field fund/Landuma Projects Account" on the memo line. Please include a note as well stating that your donation is for the Guinea Field fund/Landuma Projects Account, and naming which project you would like your donation to go to. You will receive a tax deductible receipt from New Tribes Mission. And giving to New Tribes Mission will never result in telemarketers calling you to ask for more donations.
We thank you for your interest in partnering with us in this spiritual and humanitarian effort. If you'd like more information on these project you may e-mail the Sheffields. If you need more information on making donations to NTM you may write to the NTM finance office or you may contact us at one of these addresses.