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ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA
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Wednesday, August 3, 2005

SUDAN: LEADER DIES BUT HOPE CAN LIVE
- calling for prayer for Sudan: "Put your hope in God..."

By Elizabeth Kendal
World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC)
Special to ASSIST News Service

AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- In 1983 Sudan's President Numayri defied the 1972 Addis Ababa Accords that gave autonomy to South Sudan (predominantly African animists and Christians) and declared that all Sudan would come under Islamic Sharia Law. The Southerners refused Islamisation and fought to regain autonomy and religious freedom for the South, while the Arab Muslim Government of Sudan (GoS) fought a jihad to bring all of Sudan into submission under Islam. The war/jihad was marked by its appalling barbarity and inhumanity, as well as its invisibility.

When I (EK) started to write for this WEA Religious Liberty Prayer Ministry in mid-1999, the war/jihad was at its peak. From 1999, the million dollars a day it was costing the GoS was funded with revenues from oil pumped from the south. Especially in these oil-rich regions, ethnic cleansing intensified: bombing raids, including chemical weapons; scorched earth warfare and slave raids using Islamic paramilitaries; and forced starvation through GoS-mandated humanitarian aid blockades. The GoS was also expert at 'divide and conquer' techniques, adeptly setting southern tribes against each other, further complicating the war and weakening the SPLM/A (Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army). Through all these years of horror and terror, the SPLM/A's larger-than-life leader, the authoritarian John Garang, held the South Sudanese together and led them.

During the late 1990s intercession for Sudan increased markedly, and Christian advocacy gained not only momentum but political leverage, especially in the USA. After the 11 September 2001 terror attacks, the USA could no longer tolerate states such as Sudan sponsoring terrorism. The fact that Sudan's President al-Bashir had split with National Islamic Front (NIF) leader Hassan al-Turabi (Sudan's chief Islamist) made it easier for the GoS to yield to America's demands that they crack down on terrorism and end the jihad against the South. Peace talks received fresh impetus and the historic Machakos Protocol, a peace deal that restored autonomy and religious freedom to South Sudan, was signed on 20 July 2002. It took a further two-and-a-half years to finalise the details, with a comprehensive peace deal signed on 31 December 2004, officially ending 21 years of war. John Garang led the SPLM through the entire, often tortuous, peace negotiating process.

On Saturday 9 July 2005, John Garang (60), President of Southern Sudan, was sworn in as the First Vice President of Sudan's new national unity government. Southerners were jubilant. Oppressed Sudanese, such as those in Darfur, rejoiced at Garang's appointment, hoping he might secure peace and rights for them. Sudan was abuzz with optimism and hope.

On the weekend of 30-31 July, Garang's helicopter went down en route from Uganda to Sudan. There were no survivors. Present indications are there was no foul play and bad weather caused the crash, but a full investigation has been launched. John Garang is dead. The Southerners are devastated. They feel leaderless, hopeless, and deeply suspicious. On 1 August, ethnic and sectarian conflict broke out in Khartoum as Southerners attacked Arabs, with several fatalities. Rioting also erupted in Juba (South Sudan) where Arab-owned properties and businesses were targeted, with no human casualties. On 2 August, the Khartoum Monitor reported Arabs were retaliating. Southerners had been shot and their homes ransacked. A church and school were also attacked, with children
being killed.

The SPLM has announced that Garang's deputy, Salva Kiir Mayardit, will replace him as leader of the SPLM, President of South Sudan, and Vice President in the national unity government. The SPLM has reiterated its commitment to fulfilling Garang's vision of a peaceful, free, and prosperous South Sudan. However, some analysts fear Garang's death could derail the process.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR:
all Sudanese believers to put their hope in God.
'Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.' Psalm 42:5 (also Psalm 62:5-8)
our Sovereign God, whose hand was clearly seen in the peace process, to still pour out grace and mercy on Sudan by restoring peace, order and hope before the devil can get a foothold.

God to use President al-Bashir and Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit as instruments of his purpose to extend peace, justice, religious liberty and health across impoverished, war-ravaged Sudan.

God to raise up righteous, just, godly, servant-hearted leaders and workers across Sudan at every level: in churches, in communities, and in local, provincial and national government.

God to bless the longsuffering Sudanese Church with grace, strength and integrity, and with wise pastors and courageous evangelists, supplying all their needs.

May God use the Sudanese Church to heal shattered lives, create wholesome communities, and spread the gospel of his redeeming love, so His name will be glorified throughout Sudan.
Elizabeth Kendal is the Principal Researcher and Writer for the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC) www.worldevangelical.org/rlc.html. This article was initially written for the WEA RLP(Religious Liberty Prayer) mailing list

Elizabeth can be contacted by e-mail at rl-research@crossnet.org.au.
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