wfn.org | ACNS - Sudanese Christians face terror attacks every day

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

ACNS 3115 - SUDAN - 6 September 2002

Sudanese Christians face terror attacks every day but renewed hope brings
encouragement

[Southern Cross] Bombing raids that target hospitals and children playing in
yards. Sunday church services meeting before dawn to avoid attack. Military
helicopters machine-gunning village livestock. This has been daily life for
Southern Sudanese for many years. However, negotiations look set to end the
violence perpetrated by Sudan's Islamic government and give Southern Sudan
autonomy.

"The peace accord signed in July could be the breakthrough we have been
waiting and praying for," said Bishop Andrew Wawa, referring to the Machakos
Protocol signed in Kenya last month.

The bishop, from Sudan's Africa Inland Church, was speaking during his
CNEC/Partners International-sponsored visit to Sydney last month and said he
hoped a ceasefire would follow. Although there was a brief window of peace
in the 70s, which did not last, this time it is different. The great powers
like the US, the UK, Canada and others have made it clear that international
aid will be stopped if the warring factions cannot come to an agreement," he
said.

Yet, the tentativeness of the Bishop's analysis is justified. Another new
element in Sudan has been the discovery of rich resources of oil, gold and
uranium in the south. The Islamic northern government imported 500,000
convicts from China, trained as military technicians, to build and protect a
1000km oil pipeline from the southern oilfields to Port Sudan. A 12-mile
no-go area was cleared each side of the pipeline, by slaughtering locals and
destroying villages from helicopter gunships. The sharing of these rich
natural resources is one of the issues needing to be resolved. The accord
envisages a miserly peace: an immediate six-month period of transition,
followed by a six-year period of shared government. After that there will be
a referendum in the south, giving the option of being part of one nation
ruled from Khartoum in the north, or a two-nation system, where Islamic
Sharia law would prevail in the north but not in the south.

Despite the war the church has thrived. "It is amazing," Bishop Wawa said.
"The Church is exploding in the Sudan. In 1984, the AIC had just ten
churches and they were all in the south. Today, we have 150 growing
congregations, with 100 pastors and evangelists, including 20 churches in
Khartoum itself, at the seat of the Islamic government. Our great need now
is for the training of pastors."

The Bishop reported that Muslims are turning to Christ in larger numbers
than he can recall. "The Lord is using all kinds of means, just like in the
Bible. Muslims, even Imans, are becoming believers, as a result of dreams
and visions turning them to the Bible; through healings, and especially
through the attractive loving concern of Christians. But such converts are
given the choice of the gun or money - either they recant (with material
rewards), or they are threatened with death," he said.

_________________________________________________________
The ACNSlist is published by the Anglican Communion Office, London.

Please send QUESTIONS or COMMENTS to acnslist@anglicancommunion.org. Any 
comments about the content of the article should be directed to the author. 
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY to this message, as any replies are discarded 
automatically.

You can subscribe/unsubscribe online at 
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/subscribe.html

ACNS mailing list