The Sudanese Church Needs Your Help!
Monday, November 01, 2004
I remember his scars. And the tragic story behind those scars.
It was Thursday, September 16th – just a couple of months ago now – and I had traveled half-way around the world with 11 other Christian talk show hosts to hear first-hand about the need for Bibles in war-torn Sudan, Africa.
A dozen Sudanese Christian leaders had made the long trek to meet with us in St. Luke’s chapel in Nairobi, Kenya where they were momentarily out of harm’s way. Pastor William, a thin Anglican priest who wore a dark green suit and sported a white clerical collar, recounted a horrific, fear-filled personal event on May 18, 2002 as if it happened yesterday. He was leading prayer in a church when, all of a sudden, “I could hear guns outside.”
Radical Muslims set fire to the thatched roof of his church, stole their cattle and shot nine Christians dead at virtual point blank range in cold blood. One government official on horseback grabbed William by his jacket and literally started dragging him behind the horse like he was just a piece of brush. Thankfully, he wriggled out of his jacket onto the ground and ran into the bushes fearing for his life. “God protected me,” claimed William as he nodded his head slowly.
The other talk show hosts and I were sitting motionless on long wooden benches. Today, more than two years later, he still bears the ugly marks of that attack. He pulled up his green pant legs to reveal scar tissue along his kneecaps and lower legs. We all leaned forward or got up to look first-hand.
As you gather this year around your family dining room table adorned with a turkey and cranberry sauce to celebrate Thanksgiving, take a moment to remember how many reasons we have in America to be grateful. But, more importantly, as you read about the plight in Sudan of our brothers and sisters in Christ, I trust you will be motivated to take a stand and make a difference in their lives.
Let me give you some context to Pastor William’s moving story:
• Sudan’s National Islamic Front regime in the Arab and Muslim north declared a jihad on the mostly Christian and animist south back in 1989. Since 1983, an estimated 2 million people have died from war and related famine. About 5 million have become refugees.
• The American Anti-Slavery Group based in Boston cites civic leaders in southern Sudan who report more than 200,000 women and children have been enslaved in that area alone by Khartoum’s armed forces and allied militias since the beginning of the civil war in 1983. In fact, Muslims are buying Christian slaves to force them to convert to Islam. This is egregious indeed.
• According to the International Christian Concern, 70% of Sudan’s people are Sunni Muslims, 9.9% belong to tribal religions and 19% are Christians.
• As many as 10,000 displaced people could be dying each month in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, six times higher than normal mortality rates, a World Health Organization report indicated several days ago.
Justin, one of the Sudanese Christian leaders, challenged us to hear their cries and to respond with Christ-like compassion. He said, “The Church of Sudan is like a sick person in a sick bed. It needs somebody, somewhere to give it support. When a sick person is not visited in the hospital, he can die easily.”
“Take our message to our brothers and sisters,” Justin declared. “Tell them the church of Sudan is still alive.” Justin said, “In time of war, people run to Jesus for refuge. Life in Sudan is not easy. People are demoralized because of the ongoing war in Sudan. The church remains in the hearts of the people. I know of many pastors who died for their faith. The Church of Sudan has seen a lot of ups and downs. All the Bibles were burned, left in homes” as people fled for their lives.”
And where the Christians stumble, the Muslims dominate.
If I learned nothing else from my day with these men of courageous Christian convictions, I learned that there is a systematic Muslim agenda to Islamicize the world, including Sudan, at all costs. Justin said quite matter-of-factly, but with an almost ominous tone of voice, that “Muslims are collecting money to buy our people as slaves in order to convert to Islam. It is a threat. Our Lord will never allow this to continue.” The Muslims “have tried to Islamicize Sudan…When we are persecuted we will be stronger than before.”
Sadly, the few Bibles which were not destroyed by the Muslim government, have fallen victim to the appetite of the white ant or ruined by rain during the displacement and refugee-like living of four million Sudanese.
Oftentimes, one Bible is divided among many people, each Christian grateful for the few pages of a given Old or New Testament book despite the fact that huge hunks of the Word are absent.
I also learned that the United Nations project known as Operation Lifeline Sudan, which was established back in April, 1989 is also to blame for the extremely limited supply of Bibles. You see, they did not allow ANY Bibles to be flown into Sudan at all, emphasizing strictly food and medicine. The good ole UN strikes again!
Margaret, a 30-something Sudanese woman dressed in a red blouse and navy blue skirt, painted the perfect picture about the need for Bibles in Sudan. It was during Operation Lifeline Sudan that her organization labeled boxes of Bibles as “food.” She smiled wryly. “Well, it is food of a sort,” she said in her own defense. “That’s not a lie. The Bibles are the spiritual food the people so desperately need.”
Worse still, during this time period of outright civil war, the United Nations is repeatedly willing to subject their food distribution programs in Sudan to the Muslim agenda. If you attend the mosque, then you get food. If do not attend the mosque, then you get no food. It’s as simple and as egregious as that! Pastor Samuel was tremendously profound.
He reminded me and the other Christian talk show hosts of the Biblical story about Shadrach, Meshak and Abednego. Even though they were thrown into the fiery furnace, the Lord was with them. And they were not burned, nor did they have the very scent of fire on their person. Samuel, with excitement building in his tone of voice, boldly declared, “That’s a picture of Sudan because we know the Lord is with us because of our faith, our testimony and the Word of God.”
Wow! Now THAT’LL preach!
“God has sustained the local church through the persecution.” But, in a moment of refreshing candor, Samuel said, “Up until 1998, we felt forgotten, wondering whether ‘we had been abandoned by God.’” It’s one thing to read about what’s happening in Sudan from afar. For me, it’s been something quite different, indeed precious, to personally meet brave Christian pastors who are doing their part for the Lord in the midst of dire circumstances. The question is simple: As you thank God this November for your blessings, will you join these Sudanese pastors and BE a blessing to the Sudanese Christians who desperately need our help?
TAKE A STAND ACTION STEPS:
1. Join KSLR listeners who contributed funds toward sending 22,285 Bibles in just four days to our spiritually thirsty brothers and sisters in Christ in Africa including Sudan. Call the Bible League at 1-800-YES-WORD and let them know you’re calling about the KSLR Radio Campaign. Every $4 you contribute pays for one Bible for the Kenyans who complete their first Bible study. With a limited matching grant, every $2 provides one Bible.
2. Donate on-line through the Bible League and indicate that you are responding to KSLR in the pull-down menu under radio stations: https://www.sendbiblesnow.com/index.asp
3. Learn more at http://www.bibleleague.org
4. Sign up to receive your free Voice of the Martyrs monthly magazine by calling 1-800-75-VOICE or by visiting http://www.persecution.com/. You’ll learn about your brothers and sisters in Christ who need your prayers and intervention.
5. Learn more about what you can do to help the suffering people of Sudan at http://www.iabolish.org/
Adam McManus hosts a weekday afternoon radio show called “Take A Stand” on AM 630, KSLR in San Antonio, Texas from 3-6 p.m. To sign up for his weekday e-mail alert, go to www.TakeAStand.net and listen live at www.kslr.com. Contact Adam at (210) 344-8481 ext 132 and adam@takeastand.net.
----------------------------------- |
