1/18/2024　South Sudan　(Morning Star News) A Sudanese Christian, Karbino Bla, has succumbed to his injuries after militants from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) assaulted him. The motives for the assault were unclear. Rights organizations and area residents report the RSF has killed civilians, raped women and girls and looted homes and shops since taking control of the state in December. Muslim extremists from the RSF also set a church building on fire. Christians in Sudan fear they are being increasingly targeted. Fighting between the RSF and the SAF, which had shared military rule in Sudan following an October 2021 coup, has left more than 12,000 people dead and displaced an estimated 5.8 million others. Christian sites have been targeted since the conflict began. Following two years of advances in religious freedom in Sudan after the end of the Islamist dictatorship under in 2019, state-sponsored persecution returned after the 2021 coup. Let’s pray… Pray that the Lord will comfort Karbino’s widow and take care of her and their infant daughter. Pray the the churches in Sudan will continue to preach the gospel and not lose heart. Pray that the Lord will bring a new government to power that respects religious freedom […]

11/27/2022   South Sudan   (Morning Star News) On Nov. 21, authorities in Sudan arrested and jailed a church leader on charges of “witchcraft” for leading a prayer meeting for his sick mother. Pastor Abdalla Suleiman was leading a prayer meeting for his mother, who suffered from a serious infection in her legs that kept her from walking, when government authorities walked into the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church church. His mother was healed after he prayed for her, and others from the predominantly Muslim area began crowding in for healing. The meeting angered Muslim extremists who persuaded police to arrest the pastor on charges of claiming to be a witchdoctor. “This is a serious violation against Christians in Sudan,” said evangelist Francis Ismail, who visited the pastor on Nov. 24. Sudanese Christians took to social media, some demanding the pastor’s immediate release, and others terming the jailing more evidence of ongoing and systematic persecution of Christians in Sudan. Since a military coup in October 2021, religious freedoms have been eroding steadily. Let’s pray… Pray that the Lord will encourage and strengthen Pastor Suleiman as he faces this persecution for his faith. Praise the Lord for the miraculous healing of Pastor […]

3/7/2022   South Sudan   (Morning Star News) Church leaders in Sudan were detained and questioned on February 27 after Muslim extremists who upset about the presence of their church building locked it shut. An evangelist belonging to the denomination had been arrested a week earlier. The Muslims accused church members of hostility toward Islam by holding gatherings on Fridays, the Muslim day of mosque prayer. They also accused the church of taking their land for the church, which is not true. Following two years of gains in religious freedom in Sudan, state-sponsored persecution has resumed with the new military government. Christians fear the return of the most repressive and harsh aspects of Islamic law. The Christian population of Sudan is estimated at 4.5 percent of the total population of more than 43 million. Let’s pray… Pray that the Lord will strengthen and encourage the Christians in Sudan as they face resumed persecution under the new government. Pray that Christians will be allowed to continue to worship freely. Pray that Christians will not do anything that will unnecessarily provoke opposition from Muslims.

10/29/2021   Sudan  (ICC) On October 25, Sudan’s military dissolved its power-sharing government and detained civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, hindering the country’s progress towards a democratic transition. Since then, protests have erupted in the streets of Sudan, with citizens largely demanding the resumption of the government’s transition to civilian rule. For the 1.97 million Christians living in Sudan, the future is uncertain. Religious freedom for Christians in Sudan had improved following the installation of Sudan’s transitional constitution in 2019. Perhaps the most notable feature of the transitional constitution was its lack of appeal to sharia law, which had previously laid the groundwork for al-Bashir to outlaw apostasy and criminalize blasphemy against Islam. If the military remains in control, progress towards religious freedom in Sudan will likely be halted, if not reversed. Let’s pray… Pray that there will be a civilian government in Sudan that does not base any of its laws on Sharia. Pray that the international community will put pressure on the military leaders to cooperate in establishing a civilian government. Pray for the Christians in Sudan, that the Lord will encourage and strengthen them, and they will have His peace.

7/5/2021   Sudan   (Morningstar News) A transitional government in Sudan is taking steps toward ending religious discrimination. Masked gunmen in an area south of Khartoum, Sudan attacked a government religious affairs worker at midnight on July 2, and threatened to kill him for supporting the return of church properties to Christians. Botrous Badawi, a Christian and an advisor to the minister of Sudan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments, said that four gunmen followed his vehicle before stopping in front of his car and ordering him to get out before beating him and threatening to kill him if he continued advocating the return of Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church property. Badawi said he suspects his attackers were agents of the former National Intelligence Security Service (NISS), a notorious agency with an Islamist bent. Christians in Sudan are still awaiting the return of properties seized by the government under the Islamist regime of Omar al-Bashir, ousted in April 2019. Let’s pray… Pray for the physical and emotional healing of Botrous Badawi. Pray that the government of Sudan will side with Badawi in the property dispute and return all the properties confiscated by the former Islamist Bashir government. Pray that the government […]

7/14/2020  Sudan  (Church Leaders) A transitional government in Sudan is taking steps toward ending religious discrimination. Apostasy (abandoning Islam through speech or behavior, including conversion to Christianity) and Sharia morality laws have been eliminated. The African nation, which is predominantly Muslim, had endured more than three decades of Sharia law and a 22-year civil war. The legal reforms protect Muslims as well as non-Muslims, who make up about three percent of the population. Death by stoning had been the punishment for apostasy. Sudan remains unstable, with attacks on Christians still occurring and current leader Abdalla Hamdok surviving an assassination attempt in March. Some hardline Muslims consider the current leaders as merely transitional and some are already demanding a return to Sharia law. Let’s pray… Praise God for the changes that are being implemented by the new government of Sudan. Pray that the Lord will protect these courageous leaders who are trying to bring equality and religious freedom to Sudan. Pray that hardline Muslims will not overthrow the new government and that Christians and churches will be able to worship more and more freely.

6/24/2020  Sudan  (Morning Star News) Following calls from mosque leaders in east Khartoum, Sudan to rid their “Muslim area” of South Sudanese Christians, several Christians were attacked there. Imams have called for residents to rid the “Muslim area” of Christian South Sudanese. In a separate attack on June 20, young Muslim men shouting the jihadist slogan “Allahu Akbar! [Allah is most great!]” stabbed 35-year-old Mariel Bang to death. He is survived by his wife and four children ranging in age from 1 to 4 years old. One of the other Christians is in critical condition. The attacks came at a time when hopes that persecution of Christians would decline under the new transitional government. Some progress has been made, but there is clearly much more that needs to be done to protect the rights of Christians in Sudan. Let’s pray… Pray for the widow and children of Mariel Bang, that the Lord will comfort them, strengthen them, and provide for them. Pray that the Christians of Sudan will stay true to Jesus and not lose hope. Pray that the new government will do more to ensure the rights of its non-Muslim citizens. Pray that the new government will have wisdom and that the Lord would bless these leaders.

3/14/2020  Sudan  (ICC) In a surprising move, the new government of Sudan abolished all government-appointed committees that used to oversee religious groups under the Bashir regime in order to control and demolish churches. Many church leaders and members were harassed after these committees claimed to have ownership of the church buildings. Some were arrested on trespassing charges because they were in their own churches without permission from the Muslim government officials. Since the regime change last spring, the new government has been much more positive toward Christians in Sudan, but there are still many church buildings that have not been returned to their owners, and destroyed churches have not yet been rebuilt by the government. Let’s pray… Pray that real and lasting change will take root in Sudan.  Pray that the new government will continue to undo the harsh, prejudicial policies and practices implemented under Bashir.  Pray that Christians will be allowed to worship freely without fear of attack or arrest, and that new church construction will be permitted by the government.

12/13/2019  Sudan  (VOM) Under former President al-Bahsir, Sudan was widely criticized for its religious freedom and human rights abuses, and was designated by the US State Department as a “country of particular concern”. The new prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, met recently with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the first time in three decades that a Sudanese government leader has done so. One major goal of PM Hamdok is to update Sudan’s laws on apostasy and blasphemy within the next two months. The government has also met with churches that had their land and buildings confiscated and has promised restitution. It is still early in the transitional government and time will reveal how serious these Sudanese leaders are about religious freedom and protecting their Christian citizens. Let’s pray… Praise God for the change in leadership in Sudan and for the signs of improving religious freedom. Pray that the reforms will be sincere and far-reaching, and that Christians will truly have freedom to worship as they please. Pray for the Lord’s protection over Prime Minister Hamdok. Not everyone is happy with the changes he is making and plans to make.

4/12/2019  Sudan  (ICC) On April 11, President Omar al-Bashir, known for brutal policies against Christians and other minorities, was forced to step down in Sudan, bringing an end to his 30-year reign. This comes after nearly four months of protests, dozens of deaths at the hands of the security forces, and endless chants of “revolution!” against the despised leader who ruled the vast country plagued by famine and war. The deposed president is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in the early 2000s which killed hundreds of thousands of people.Bashir was president during the Sudanese Civil War caused by an effort to establish Sharia law throughout Sudan. Bashir’s military is also responsible for bombing civilians in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, a region of the country where a significant Christian minority lives. With his commitment to Islamic extremism, Sudan was ranked the 6th most dangerous country for Christians during his decades long rule. Let’s pray… Pray that the new government will end the government-level persecution of Christians in Sudan. Pray that the churches and Christians in Sudan will have freedom to worship and to preach the Gospel. Pray that the church buildings and Christian schools that were taken over by the government under […]