Sudan Resource Center

"Sudan is the largest county in Africa by area and is home to a wide variety of ethnic and language groups. The primarily Muslim Arabs in the northern part of the country have traditionally held control over the black peoples of the south who speak different languages and are mostly traditional religionists or Christian in their beliefs.

"Sudan is a divided country. Civil war has continued for more than 30 years, resulting in the displacement of 4.5 million southerners and easterners who continue to flee the war and have, therefore, lost their livelihood. The current government in Khartoum has continued to pursue the war and is dominated by the National Islamic Front, which favors a fundamentalist Islamic government. The Sudanese government is fighting to keep the people and resources of the south within its control, while the south rejects domination by the north, particulary the imposition of Islamic Shar'ia law. In the south, the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army has broken into numerous factions. Both sides have committed atrocities in the war. Peace efforts in the past have broken down and no end to the suffering is in sight.

"Little outside pressure has been put on the government of Sudan despite its interference in United Nations and church relief efforts for those at risk of starvation in the south, west, and makeshift camps around the capital. The hundreds of thousands of refugees have become a problem for neighboring Kenya, Ethiopia, and Urganda."

--Taken from Standing with God's People in the Sudan, published by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.

On January 9, 2005 a peace agreement was signed and people have been making their way back to South Sudan. However, the entire infrastructure needs to be rebuilt, which is a slow and long process. Clean drinking water is needed -- to dig a single well costs approximately $10,000 USD; additionally, there has been a cholera outbreak in South Sudan, which the Red Cross and the World Health Organization are working to contain.

Wal and Julia Duany have been able to set up a permanent base of operation for South Sudanese Friends Internation (SSFI) in the southern capital of Juba. Wal is now able to stay in Juba instead of Nairobi, Kenya. The peace agreement has made it possible for both Wal and Julia to go to Juba, whereas before it was impossible to do due to the war. Having this presence in South Sudan will make a big difference in SSFI's ability to stay connected with the people in the villages; however, it will be some time before a reliable and affordable means of communicating between SSFI in Juba and the US is set up.

"Thank you so much for your faithful interest in Sudan ministry. The vision that the DePere congregation has for training leaders in Sudan is SO important to the future survival of the Southern Sudanese people. I really appreciate the congregations's patience and long-term perspective ..."

The particpants of Pathfinders initially spent several weeks studying the crisis in Sudan, through the viewing of videos, discussions and listening to speakers such as Dr. Julia Aker Duany and Francis Bok. We learned that this is a tragic and complex issue and there is a lot that we can do to help the persecuted people of southern Sudan, and do periodic updates to learn the current situation.

Please select one of the links above to lean more about the situation and to learn what you can do!

Sudan Resource Center

The Situation