Sudan (MNN) — In the past two weeks, brutal raids by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have displaced 135,000 people in Sudan’s Gezira State. More than a hundred people were killed, according to one source.
The Sudanese people have suffered relentless attacks, killings, sexual violence and loss at the hands of both the RSF paramilitary and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The conflict broke out in April 2023 and there’s still no end in sight.
Child in Sudan (Photo courtesy of Abdulaziz Mohammed/Unsplash)
“You’ve got these two warring leaders that are essentially just up for a power grab. This is kind of a fight to the death, literally,” says Ed Weaver with Spoken Worldwide.
As always, it’s everyday people who pay the price. According to the International Organization for Migration, 14 million Sudanese are currently displaced. That’s a fifth of Sudan’s entire population.
“Literally every country around Sudan is absorbing all these people who are escaping,” Weaver says.
But another danger is rising: cholera and dengue fever. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that there have been 28,000 cases of cholera between late July and late October, with more than 830 people dying from the disease.
Sudanese Bible translators with Spoken Worldwide are living in the midst of chaos and atrocities as refugees, yet they press on with the work. They look to reach fellow refugees with the gospel of Christ.
“Here [are] some incredibly faithful, godly people, men and women not losing focus in the midst of all the reasons that they should lose focus,” Weaver says.
The SAF and RSF have support from different nations factoring into this long conflict. It should follow that Sudanese Christians have the support of the global Church. Would you commit to pray for them?
“We need to be aware of their plight, looking for ways that we can serve them, encourage them, stand with them,” Weaver says.
“We can be swayed so easily by mainstream media to focus on just the latest tragedy. [But] there are consistent tragedies that we need to be aware of and not be fatigued by.”
Find your place in the story by praying for the good news of Christ to penetrate Sudan.
“I would encourage us to learn from them and, by those lessons that they’re teaching us, to be emboldened in our faith, to look at that as an example, praise God for their steadfastness and yet, weep with those who weep, mourn with those who mourn,” Weaver says.
“There will be a day for us to rejoice with them. But right now we mourn with them.”
Header graphic courtesy of Spoken Worldwide.
