If you’ve followed our reports, you know that on April 15th, a new war erupted on the streets of Khartoum, as two rival Islamist Generals began fighting one another for control of the military junta which runs the central government in Sudan.
The International Community feigned shock at this development but then quickly chose sides. Here is the bottom line: both Generals vying for control are genocidal, terrorist, anti-Christian mass murderers. One has been indicted by the International Criminal Court, and the other, who’s hands are just as bloody, was recently invited to New York to speak to the United Nations!
Sudan is in real danger of breaking up into several separate countries or autonomous regions. By this time next year, we could witness a “sea change” in the political geography.
It’s very easy to get bogged down in the details of geopolitics within one of Africa’s largest nations, and we should not waste a lot of time doing so, not because we don’t care, but because there are more important things to care about.
The average Christian family living in the war-torn Nuba mountains of Sudan doesn’t have the luxury of debating these political issues. They have no voice anyway, so it doesn’t matter. But what they do worry about very often is where their next meal is coming from. They worry about the health of their sick child. They wonder if the local clinic will have any medicine if someone in the family contracts malaria. If they’ve fled from combat areas, they are concerned about rebuilding when they’ve lost nearly everything.
The real news coming out of Sudan that should concern (and encourage) us is how the people of God are serving their community amid chaos and civil war. The heavily Christian Nuba mountains region has become a kind of “Ark” where hundreds of thousands of Sudanese (mostly ethnic Nuban) have fled to weather the raging storm around them.
More than 300,000 have arrived in the Nuba since April. More are expected. This puts great strain on the already limited resources available— resources, a large part of which have come from the active compassion of people like you!
One of the areas of great need is medical. The rainy season in Sudan typically brings with it a lot of water-borne illnesses. Malaria is a major killer, and ensuring Nuba clinics have enough antimalarial drugs in stock has been a challenge.
In the last five weeks alone, more than 25,000 displaced people have moved into the area serviced by the Persecution Project-supported Gigaiba Referral Hospital (GRH). To serve this new wave of patients, Dr. Martin, who manages the hospital, has requested an emergency shipment of medicines, which include antibiotics and antimalarials.
The political situation in Sudan is important, but the “people situation” is far more important. No matter who wins in these kinds of regional conflicts, its usually the common people who suffer and lose the most every time— especially the marginalized Christian population in Sudan.
Your prayers and partnership have never been more needed or more beneficial to our persecuted brothers and sisters. Thank you for continuing to stand with the embattled Church. Thank you for arming them with the weapons of love, designed for the real war in Sudan right now: the war for hearts and souls.
