Team Returns From Southeastern Sudan

A multi-ministry, international team has returned from the Blue and Upper Nile regions of southeastern Sudan after conducting an investigation of recent developments in the country and sponsoring a four-day church leaders conference.

Representatives from The Voice of the Martyrs, Servant's Heart and Freedom Quest International discovered evidence of atrocities, including the deliberate killing of young children, by troops of the Islamist government of Sudan (GOS) in direct violation of the March 2002 agreement between the GOS and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). In the agreement, the parties agreed, among other things, to discontinue attacks against civilian targets. The team also discovered that government-backed militias continue to violate the agreed upon ceasefire. Reliable sources also report a significant military buildup in and around Juba, also in violation of the ceasefire agreement. It is feared that the government of Sudan may be preparing a major offensive to coincide with expected US-led action against Iraq, to take advantage of diverted world attention.

The GOS and SPLM are presently meeting in Kenya for peace negotiations. According to Reuters, an agreement was reached yesterday ceding control of any areas captured since October and to allow international observers to investigate any violations of the agreement. However, any optimism from this announcement is dampened by the history of violations, particularly by the Sudanese government.

A joint press release with more details on the trip to Sudan will be issued within the next day or so. Representatives from The Voice of the Martyrs, led by Communications Director Glenn Penner, also conducted a four-day church leaders conference in the town of Yabus. Local Mabaan and Uduk church leaders from the region gathered to receive specific training in discipling young Christians. The church in Sudan continues to grow at an impressive rate, but the majority of church leaders in this region have little or no biblical education. Most churches have few Bibles in their indigenous language. Presently only the New Testament is complete in the Uduk and Mabaan languages.

The Voice of the Martyrs, in partnership with Servant's Heart, anticipates launching a significant two-year theological education by extension course in the Mabaan language in early 2004. Glenn Penner, writing in an email today enroute from Africa, asked for prayer for the necessary arrangements for the development and translation of the study material into Mabaan and that the training of indigenous leadership will progress speedily. "There is a tremendous need for this course," wrote Penner. "The people there are already eagerly anticipating its launch. Pray, too, that we will see peace in Sudan. This region is near the frontlines and it is expected that it will be among the first places attacked should the GOS launch an offensive in the next month or so. So please pray!

  • Country Information

    Population
    49,197,555 (2023 est.)

    Ethnicity (%)
    Sudanese Arab (70), Fur, Beja, Nuba and Fallata (30)

    Religion
    Sunni Muslim, small Christian minority

    Leader
    President (to be determined)
    Transitional military leadership in place

    Government type
    Presidential republic

    Legal system
    Mixed legal system of Islamic law and English common law

    Source: CIA World Factbook

  • Pray for Sudan

    Pray that Christians throughout Sudan will continue to entrust themselves to Christ and preach the Gospel boldly, knowing Jesus is the ruler over the kings of the earth (2 Timothy 1:7-12, Revelation 1:5).

    Pray also that peace, justice and religious freedom may be firmly established.

Sudan News

  • Church Building Destroyed While Authorities Watch
    A pile of rubble - corregated metal, wood, and various other objects - is heaped where a building once stood.
    A demolished Pentecostal church building in Khartoum.
    Photo: CSW

    On July 8th, approximately 30 individuals equipped with heavy machinery demolished a Pentecostal church in the El Haj Yousif area of Khartoum as police officers and military personnel looked on without intervening. By the time the demolition was finished, the worship hall – which had been constructed in the early 1990s – was reduced to rubble, along with the church's administrative offices, guest house, and other adjoining buildings.

  • Church Leaders Face Violence from Multiple Sides
    A large church with several spires.
    A church in Sudan.
    Photo: Flickr / David Stanley (cc)

    The bishop of the El-Obeid diocese in Sudan recently suffered a harrowing ordeal at the hands of both members of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and those of the opposing rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF). On December 1st, Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali reported that he was travelling with a deacon named Joseph. The ministry team had just arrived in El-Obeid when they were suddenly stopped and harassed by the SAF. The troops seized the small sum of money in U.S. dollars that the bishop was carrying, claiming that it was forbidden currency. During the robbery, the soldiers also physically harmed the two men.

  • Displaced Christians Driven From Their Homes
    A large group of people are gathered around a small mosque.
    A group of people in Sudan.
    Photo: Wikipedia / Nina R (cc)

    Residents of the Al-Makniya area of Sudan's River Nile state drove 34 displaced Christians from their homes on October 19th. Those responsible for the displacement explained that they did not want any Christians nor black people in the area.

  • Military Officers Arrest Christian Refugees
    A group of men are standing together. They appear to be singing.
    Photo: VOMC
     

    Amid the ongoing civil war in Sudan, a group of over 100 Sudanese men, women and children travelled to the city of Shendi on the banks of the Nile River in search of refuge from the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary group, RSF. There, the refugees – most of whom are members of the Sudanese Church of Christ – sought shelter in an affiliated church building.