Mission – Sudan

Tensions in Sudan between the Arab Muslims in the north and mainly African Christian and pagan population in the south have led to two civil wars.

In a country 1/4 the size of the USA, over 2 million people have been murdered, killed in action or starved due to the war. The south of the country has been devastated – 5 million people have lost their homes and half a million have fled as refugees to other countries. In 2005 a fragile peace deal was made, allowing southern areas autonomy for 6 years. However the cost of war is still apparent.

In 2003 a separate Conflict began in the Darfur region of Western Sudan. At least 200,000 have been killed and nearly 2 million displaced; UN peacekeeping troops are struggling to stabilise the situation.

Sudan also has faced large refugee influxes from neighbouring countries, primarily Ethiopia and Chad, and armed conflict, poor transport infrastructure, and lack of government support have chronically obstructed the provision of humanitarian assistance to affected populations

Sudan was declared an Islamic Republic in 1083 and since then attempts have been made to Islamize the country – introducing shari’a law and turning schools into Muslim schools.

Sudan has turned around a struggling economy with sound economic policies and infrastructure investments. Sudan has stabilised its currency and maintained GDP growth at 8.6%. However, it still faces formidable economic problems. Conflict, lack of irrigation, adverse weather and weak world agricultural prices – indicate that much of the population will remain at or below the poverty line for years.

Through this long and terrible war Christians have had to move all over the country – which now means that there are now churches in places where lots of people have never heard about Jesus.

Thank God for the end of the civil war with the 2005 peace agreement. Pray that the peace will be consolidated and long lasting.

The Islamic government has re-introduced slavery to Sudan. As many as 200,000 people have been kidnapped from the south and sold as slaves. Pray that world leaders can help bring this practise to an end.

Persecution is increasing and has been more extreme since 1985. Church services have been bombed, whole villages destroyed and church leaders have been murdered. Pray that Christians can remain strong in their faith and that there would be justice and freedom throughout Sudan.