Pray for Sudan

A crevasse of division and violence marks the largest East African country of Sudan. The jagged ethnic and geographic barriers, decades in the making, have contributed to the challenges of the present. After gaining independence from the UK in 1956, differences between the north and south led to civil wars and the eventual formation of South Sudan as a sovereign nation in July 2011. Though concessions had been reached between the North and South, in the last several years, a civil war has decimated Sudan once again.

Before South Sudan seceded, Sudan was torn in two by ethnic and religious differences. Though fewer in number, northern Arab Muslims controlled the government with little regard for the Sudanese majority who occupied the south. Civil wars and exploitation of southern oil fields led to retaliation of blacks in Darfur, western Sudan, in 2004. Government forces responded harshly to the rebellion, displacing an estimated two million people and killing 200,000 to 400,000 more. Four tragic years later, the UN became the leading force in peacekeeping operations and began the difficult task of restoring a society devastated by ethnic discrimination and displacement. In 2023, again, a civil war broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, leading to widespread violence and destruction. Decades of developmental progress and trauma recovery efforts have been lost. SAF and RSF remain locked in a deadly power struggle, complicating an already dire humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands face life-threatening food shortages, the healthcare system is deteriorating, and 9 million people are internally displaced. Sudan is now the nation with the largest internal displacement crisis globally.

Sudan remains a physical and spiritual battlefield, as Christians comprise only a small minority. Today, the majority of Sudan’s inhabitants are Arab Sunni Muslims, and their influence over law and government is strong. Though a recent agreement provided protection for non-Arabs, conversion to Christianity is legally punishable by death. While their brothers and sisters in South Sudan live in relative freedom, believers in Sudan face strong persecution, with those in the Nuba Mountains facing the most severe. There is a great need for regional and denominational unity as well as the establishment of Christian communities throughout Sudan. Pray that Sudanese believers remain faithful to Christ amid persecution and severe crisis and join together as a unified body of believers to bring the hope that is so desperately needed when all else has failed.