News from the Frontlines of Conflict and Persecution—Sudan
According to reports we are receiving on the email from concerned brothers and sisters who are close to the scene, the “escalating violence against civilians in Sudan’s South Kordofan state is a major humanitarian catastrophe in the making, with an estimated 300,000 people besieged, cut off from relief aid, and unable to escape fighting.” Estimates are that up to 40,000 people have fled fighting between Sudanese government troops, Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), and members of the former southern rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), in Kadugli, the capital of Sudan’s oil-producing border state of South Kordofan. Shelling and aerial bombardment has been going on in civilian areas. People have locked themselves in their homes without food or water, for fear of being killed. Others have fled to the Nuba mountains, where they are being hunted down like animals by helicopter gunships, says the Sudan Council of Churches, an umbrella organization representing all Sudanese churches.
Compass Direct News reports that: “Military intelligence agents killed one Christian, and Islamic militants sympathetic to the government slaughtered another last week after attacking churches in Sudan’s embattled South Kordofan state… Armed conflict in Kadugli broke out between southern and northern militaries on June 6 after northern forces seized Abyei last month. On June 8, Islamic militants loyal to the SAF slaughtered a young Christian man by sword in Kadugli Market, the sources said… The Islamic militias were heard shouting Allahu-akbar (God is greater) as they began shooting at a Roman Catholic Church building the same day… On Sunday (June 12), North Kordofan Gov. Mutasim Mirghani Zaki El-deen declared jihad (holy war) on the Nuba people, most of whom are Christians. Christians in the area said they are still traumatized as result of the atrocities committed against them by Sudan security forces and militias loyal to the government military. Sources in Sudan said Christians are calling their brothers and sisters worldwide to pray for the crisis in South Kordofan.” Let us join them in praying that the spirit of violence and death will be bound and that peace will be restored between North and South Sudan.
Opportunity in Somalia After Killing of Al Qaeda Militant
The Transitional Federal Government of Somalia has been given a new opportunity through the killing of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Al Qaeda’s top operative in Somalia and one of the most wanted men in Africa who plotted the bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and devised a plan in 2002 that nearly brought down an Israeli airliner in Kenya. He drove into a government checkpoint by mistake last week and died in a blaze of gunfire. The Islamist militant group he helped lead – the Shabaab – has also been “steadily losing ground as African Union peacekeepers and government troops go on the offensive”. Conditions are now ripe for the transitional government, which for years has been boxed into a tiny corner of Mogadishu, the capital, to assert greater control. However, many are doubtful that Somalia’s political leadership will be able to seize the moment. From their perspective, the prognosis for this chaotic, battle-weary nation remains grim.
Pray that somehow the government authorities will be able to act with wisdom and unity to bring Somalia into a new and better future for its long-suffering people.
Christianity reaching Mosques
In uncertain times across the Muslim world, God is working! Abdul, an imam who teaches Islam, is a follower of Jesus. Not only is his conversion a miracle, but after his conversion Abdul kept his faith a secret, allowing him to remain an imam and preach in the local mosque. So when it is his turn to preach he tells how the Koran speaks of Jesus as a great man, and that there is no one like Him. He shares how the Koran speaks of Jesus being holy, compassionate, a miracle-worker, and the person who went to heaven and will come back again one day. This makes Jesus unique and special even in Islam. Friends are now asking questions about Jesus as they get to know Him through Abdul. Even other imams are seeking to know more about Jesus! Once, Abdul was asked jokingly, ‘Are you sure you aren't a Christian?’ Abdul simply replied, ‘I just love Jesus!’
Praise: and thank the Lord for working His purposes out in unimaginable ways. (Ps.104:33-34)
Christianity reaching Mosques
In uncertain times across the Muslim world, God is working! Abdul, an imam who teaches Islam, is a follower of Jesus. Not only is his conversion a miracle, but after his conversion Abdul kept his faith a secret, allowing him to remain an imam and preach in the local mosque. So when it is his turn to preach he tells how the Koran speaks of Jesus as a great man, and that there is no one like Him. He shares how the Koran speaks of Jesus being holy, compassionate, a miracle-worker, and the person who went to heaven and will come back again one day. This makes Jesus unique and special even in Islam. Friends are now asking questions about Jesus as they get to know Him through Abdul. Even other imams are seeking to know more about Jesus! Once, Abdul was asked jokingly, ‘Are you sure you aren't a Christian?’ Abdul simply replied, ‘I just love Jesus!’
Praise: and thank the Lord for working His purposes out in unimaginable ways. (Ps.104:33-34)
