It is important that we are mindful and prayerful for the persecuted church:
Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Hebrews 13:3
This week the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin informed us of terrible suffering in Sudan:
When Khartoum began ethnic cleansing South Kordofan in June 2011, there
were an estimated one million non-Arab, non-Muslim, predominantly
Christian Nuba in the state. Today more than half that number have been
either killed or displaced. To maximise casualties, the Arabist-Islamist
regime of Sudan president Omar el-Bashir (an indicted war criminal) closed
the region off to humanitarian aid so as to engineer famine. Now the UN
estimates that by March up to 500,000 Nuba will be dying en masse due to
famine.
A coalition of Christian, Jewish and interfaith anti-genocide groups are
urging the American government to intensify its efforts to convince
Khartoum to open a corridor for the delivery of humanitarian aid. Aware
this might fail, they are also urging the US administration to consider
delivering aid without Khartoum 's consent, an act they acknowledge would
be fraught with risk. Khartoum insists it will never let aid organisations
reward 'rebels'. Furthermore, without citing any evidence, it has accused
the aid organisations of arming rebels. Khartoum would surely view any
unsanctioned incursion as a hostile and provocative act and doubtless
declare it to be a trigger for war. The situation is extremely delicate.
Grave fears are held for some 200,000 starving Nuba refugees slowly making
their way south through the Kauda Valley , headed for the Yida refugee camp
in South Sudan which is already home to about 24,000 Nuba refugees.
Digital Globe images made public by Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) [http://www.satsentinel.org/] show that the Government of Sudan has moved
Sudan Armed Forces' tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and artillery into
the southern end of the valley, creating a fortified 'choke-point' which
is preventing refugees from escaping south. SSP images also reveal that
the runway at nearby Talodi has recently been extended to handle Antonovs
(used as bombers). Satellite images also show new elevated roads being
built into the Nuba Mountains , capable of bearing heavy military vehicles
in all weather conditions. Images also reveal that helicopter gunships
have arrived at the renovated airbase in the capital, Kadugli. Observers
believe the regime will want to complete any military offensive and
genocide before the onset of the rainy season due in around 8 weeks.
Why don’t you pause and pray for the country of Sudan . These paragraphs were written by Elizabeth Kendal, of the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin. If you are interesting in receiving weekly emails from the ‘religious liberty prayer bulletin’ send a blank email to join-rlpb@hub.xc.org.