Sudan (MNN) ― Darfur's upcoming peace talks are expected to be a huge challenge. The rebel leader has already refused a temporary truce, leading to further security erosion.
The instability has hit Christian aid agency World Vision personally. World Vision's Rachel Wolff: "Our convoy of two World Vision vehicles was attacked, and three of our aid workers were seriously wounded. Thankfully, they are all stable." The two vehicles carrying eight World Vision International staff were ambushed late last week near Bul Bul, about 40 km from Nyala, the capital of Southern Darfur province and headquarters of WVI operations in Darfur.
The United Nations says attacks on relief workers in Darfur increased 50 percent between June 2006 and June 2007. The tragedy of this attack is that the casualties will be the refugees. Wolff says, "This has forced us to temporarily suspend our work for a couple of weeks. So we're eager to get back to our work, but we want to make sure that security can be assured for our staff."
This year's increasing violence is restricting the massive humanitarian response in a region where nearly four million people are now dependent on aid agencies for essential services such as food, water and health care. Humanitarian agencies in eastern Chad are also finding it increasingly difficult to operate.
World Vision distributes food (alongside emergency education, peace building, nutritional and food security projects) to about 250,000 internally displaced people across war-torn South Darfur and in rebel-controlled areas to the northeast and south.
Their staff may not be able to overtly evangelize, but Wolff says their actions are watched for consistency. Staying speaks volumes. "I think everyone that saw this incident was so thankful that lives were spared. That is certainly a testimony, and that diligence to continue the work understanding that so many people are depending on us, I think, is a testimony as well."
Please continue to lift the Darfur, Sudan team up in prayer as they recover from their injuries. Pray too, for the leaders to come to unprecedented peace.
