In Sudan, to live for Christ is to die

April 23, 2001 When Sudanese authorities flog 53 Christians or government forces attack a bishop's plane in the Nuba Mountains, few eyebrows are raised. Such occurrences are all too common for the nation's 2 million believers. Yet, while these incidents have garnered outside attention, years of ongoing persecution have largely been ignored. Today we begin a series of weekly articles, examining in-depth the ongoing persecution of Christians in Sudan and what various organizations and individuals are doing to help.

"To be a Christian in Sudan is a matter of survival and not living," says Hamilton Lugar with Voice of the Martyrs. "Christian families in the Sudan often can't tell who will be next in the line of fire. When all can gather for evening devotion, you all praise the Lord.

"There is no freedom of worship, no equality, as our young boys are denied education," Lugar told Religion Today. "And those who are lucky enough to reach colleges are forced into the military before they get their certificates. Most are sent to Southern Sudan where the war is dragging on, to fight against their fellow Southerners. Few return. Young girls are raped by Sudanese soldiers and children are enslaved. Churches, schools and hospitals are burnt."

This is Life 101 for Sudan's 2 million Christians. According to The Persecution Project, the Islamic religion is dominant in the northern part of Sudan, while Christians control the southern areas and the Nuba Mountains. Christians in Sudan make up one of the fastest growing churches in the world. It is the only Islamic country with millions of evangelical Christians, and the church is growing about 10 percent each year.

Sudanese Christians have been persecuted since the mid-1950s, but a cease-fire held through the '70s. In 1983, the Islamic government came to power, and replaced the Sudanese constitution with one based on Islamic law and an emphasis on the military. Jihad ("holy war") was officially declared against the Southern "infidels."

Most Recent Battles
Easter Week 2001 was far from peaceful in Sudan. The Catholic World News reported Friday that leaders of 10 Christian denominations have filed a protest to the Sudanese premier over the treatment of Christians during Holy Week and Easter.

Hundreds of worshippers were arrested and given harsh sentences following unrest that was sparked by the cancellation of an interdenominational open-air Easter service. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports that German evangelist Reinhard Bonnke had been scheduled to lead an ecumenical Easter service on April 10 in Khartoum's (the capital city) Green Square. He held a similar event last year that went off peacefully. However, the Khartoum authorities insisted on a change of venue to the outskirts of town on a site owned by Muslim fundamentalists who, prior to the event, whipped up anti-Christian sentiment, accusing Bonnke of being a "witchcraft infidel and a blasphemous Christian."

Government officials claimed the order was issued for security reasons "to avoid a confrontation between Muslims and Christians." They blamed the unrest on Western groups trying to portray the civil war in Sudan as a religious war, which is an "oversimplification."

Then, on April 16, an airplane carrying the bishop of El Obeid, Macram Max Gassis, was caught in an attack by government bombers on an airfield in the Nuba Mountain region. The bishop and his entourage were unhurt but a militiaman was killed and two civilians were injured. The Khartoum regime has long seen the bishop as an obstacle to their efforts to depopulate and demoralize the people of the Nuba region, according to PetersVoice News.

Freedom of Religion?
CSW notes that Article 24 of Sudan's 1998 constitution provides for freedom of religion and guarantees religious coexistence, but the Khartoum government continues to suppress Sudanese Christians.

According to Steve Snyder with International Christian Concern, "The tensions in Sudan are due to the radical, militant Islamic regime that has pledged to Islamize all Africa. The regime has been responsible for nearly 2 million deaths over the past 18 years and the massacre of the mostly Christian population in the south. Therefore, it is no surprise that the regime will not tolerate Christians becoming too vocal about their faith in public, probably because some Muslims have become Christians. Many Muslims don't like the tactics of the regime any more than the Christians like it."

Tammy Moss with Prayer for the Persecuted Church traveled to Sudan over Christmas. She says, "Sudan is one of, if not the worst, place in the world for Christians."

Says Moss, "It is horrific that this war has been going on so long and, really, there has been silence about what is happening to our brothers and sisters there. It is unfortunate that the U.S. church doesn't know more, because there is so much to learn from our brothers and sisters there."

Moss adds, "It is obviously the power of the Lord that the church is even alive in Sudan. Because of war, there is no infrastructure and they face incredible challenges. Yet the people have amazing faith."