Sudan is currently enduring a year of civil war, overlooked by the crises in Gaza and Ukraine. Nearly 16,000 people have been killed and 8.2 million people, including 4 million children, have been evacuated from their homes. Both figures are the highest domestic migration volumes in the world.
The United Nations says “the world's worst hunger crisis” is looming, with a third of Sudan's 49 million people suffering from severe food insecurity and 222,000 children likely to starve to death within weeks. I warned you that there is. But the International Emergency Response Plan, approved by United Nations agencies including Cindy McCain's World Food Programme, is only 6% funded.
Christians in Sudan feel that “no one cares”.
Five years ago, they had high hopes. In 2019, a popular revolution overthrew longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir, who was wanted for war crimes against his people. The new civilian government abolished the apostasy law, removed Islamist elements from the bureaucracy, and implemented other democratic reforms. But in 2021, military commanders worked with leaders of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a pro-government militia accused of atrocities in Darfur, to remove the prime minister.
Continued negotiations with civilian leaders called for the integration of the two armies, but both generals were unable to agree on terms. And although it is not clear who fired the first shot, the conflict exploded in the capital Khartoum on April 15 last year. Most of the North African country is currently a war zone.
But somehow, the Evangelical Alliance was formed and joined the two regional groups.
Rafat Samir, secretary general of the Sudan Evangelical Alliance, witnessed the outbreak of violence firsthand. Currently residing in Egypt, he divided his time between his home country and a safe haven in neighboring Ethiopia, overseeing dialogue between his own Evangelical Presbyterian synod and the Sudanese Church of Christ.
Earlier this month, these denominational partners, representing at least 75% of Sudanese evangelicals, successively joined the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) regional associations in both the Arab world and sub-Saharan Africa. Catholic, Anglican, Coptic Orthodox, and various Protestant denominations make up about 4 percent of Sudan's population, and Sudan ranks 8th on the Open Door World Watch List of countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. It is ranked number one.
CT asked Samir about the impact of the civil war on the church, why WEA's identity exists in two directions, and why Samir's only hope is in God.
Where were you on April 15th last year?
My home was in the Bari area, where there were both military and RSF bases, where flak was fired right outside my bedroom window and bombing operations were underway morning and night. Electricity and water services were cut off. One day, as it was during Ramadan, I thought the fighting would subside and went out at sunset to forage for food. The bullet missed me by just a few centimeters.
I wanted to get away right away, but my brother, who had witnessed the crash before, preferred to wait until it was over, and expected it to be over in a few days, as before. Dead bodies were found lying on the street, and sand was covered with sand to reduce the smell. But after enduring these harsh conditions for 15 days with his wife and two daughters, he agreed to leave when a bomb fell on his neighbor's house.
How did you escape?
I searched for three days just to find a car to get me out of the city, but in the end I had to pay $500 to travel just 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). We then negotiated a minibus to the Egyptian border with 40 other people, but upon arrival the driver increased the fare to a total of $10,000. We only had space for personal papers, everything else was left behind.
But leaving Khartoum depended entirely on God's timing.
Fighting continued to rage, with barrel bombs damaging roads outside the town. The earlier bus was stopped by the RSF, who killed people and stole money. I heard that the same thing happened to the bus following us at the military checkpoint. we were lucky. The soldiers only searched our vehicle for weapons and wanted a bribe to let us move on.
A kind family who lived in the city before moving to Egypt gave us a place to sleep and running water. However, the next day, the border was so crowded that it took three days to cross. Some slept inside the mosque, others under scattered trees. When we finally arrived in Aswan, we were met by an Egyptian friend who put us up in a guest house at a German mission hospital. He looked at me and cried.
I didn't understand why until I finally calmed down and looked at myself in the mirror.
Where are the others in your church?
Our Bari church has over 100 members. The people taking shelter there were beaten and had to flee when the RSF attacked our building. Many went to Egypt, others to Ethiopia, Chad, the Nuba Mountains region or South Sudan. But it was expensive there, so some headed to Uganda. Some stayed in Sudan, but renting in the country is expensive and there are no schools for those with children.
Even a bottle of water can cost up to $10.
Everyone is making as much money as possible from this crisis. So basically people went where their families were, where they could find a job, or where they could get a visa. However, outside of Khartoum, most churches are still functioning. They are not at peace, but there is no possibility of them leaving. Evangelicals do not come from an elite class, and most believers come from conflict areas in Sudan. Many do not have travel documents and, although they are able to work and eat, they remain poor.
Almost all members of the Christian Church come from the Nuba Mountains, which were at war with the government. Presbyterians also have a Nuba majority, with 20% from South Sudan and the remaining 20% from various tribes. I am of Egyptian descent, but I also have people from Darfur and northern Arab countries.
How do you manage this diversity?
Identity is a big issue in Sudan. Although our country is Africa, we speak Arabic. This is why we joined both regional alliances. When you say “Arab” to someone from the Nuba Mountains or South Sudan, you mean people who killed their families, raped their daughters, and tried to Islamize them. But in the north of the country, the Arabs are his friends and family, the ones he wants to bring to Jesus.
When we started reaching out to Muslims, some people in the south resisted by saying, We don't want to see them in heaven, they don't deserve salvation.. I understand this feeling. However, some members of our congregation operate outside of their tribal identity and refuse to speak Arabic.
For a long time, many people in our country wanted to call ourselves an Arab Republic. We are part of the Arab League, but when we need the help of Africans, we start calling ourselves Africans. But at the end of the day, we are Arabic-speaking Africans and our tribal makeup is multi-ethnic.
Sudan is a borderless country and most of us are of mixed heritage, although some of us are from Yemen and East Africa. Only the Nuba Mountains and a few others do not. Our country was even a Christian country until the 14th century, but in the 19th century, an apocalyptic Islamic movement killed many Christians and forced others to convert to Islam.
Presbyterian missionaries arrived in 1899 and established the first girls' school, agriculture, and vocational training. The Church of Christ He was founded in 1920 and is the largest evangelical denomination today. However, Sudan is neither a Muslim nor a Christian country. Similarly, they are neither fully Arab nor fully African.
We joined the Middle East and North Africa Evangelical Alliance because we speak Arabic and face similar issues of discrimination against Islam and government. We joined the African Evangelical Association because we face the same issues of ethnic identity. I checked with the WEA regional leadership and it is OK to belong to two alliances.
How could the church help?
Our main activity was to help people evacuate and find shelter.
Our school in Wad Madani (160 miles southeast of Khartoum) took in the family and provided basic food and trauma care. All the houses are filled with people who had fled Khartoum, but when the war reached the region, many moved back to other cities in the east and to Port Sudan. It also helped 15 believers from Muslim backgrounds flee the country who were not welcome in their original villages.
We didn't get much outside help. Much of it is funded from our own resources. Because of this, we were not able to do much relief work. We pray and strive to give hope to others. We urge them to remain as salt and light and protect their children from battle. The easiest way to make money is to join the army or RSF and participate in looting.
But what is clear is that now is not the time for logic or reason. The bullets are talking.
Does the church have a political opinion on war?
However, we never support war and desire peace.
Last week, officials approached me about making a pro-war statement. I told them this is not about the army or the RSF. It concerns human life. We cannot support murder and destruction.
So they went to the same Christians that they used against us in the time of Bashir. Bashir belonged to his political party and usurped his leadership in our church council. They took a nice photo with the Army General.
Has RSF contacted you as well?
As evangelicals, both sides hate us. They burned our church. We know how the RSF killed our people in the Nuba Mountains and Darfur, so we will not deal with them even when they were part of the post-revolutionary government. did. I have met with military leaders in the past, and I have also met with the civilian prime minister and his cabinet. However, we have no involvement with RSF.
We are clear in our support for life.
Security agencies have also approached Christian churches, which are facing the same problems as us. Rejecting them can lead to difficult situations later on. But we cannot lie and forget who we are in Christ.
Is there anything you would like to say to people outside Sudan?
There is a suspicious silence from the international community. The Arab League won't help. People ask me if there is still a civil war going on in Egypt. Our problems are not covered on CNN and no one pays attention to the news from Sudan.
It makes the church feel like no one cares.
No one stands up and says: please stop the war. I don't hear about people praying for us. I don't see the church making statements on our behalf before the government.
To Sudanese people abroad, I say this. Calm down, it'll be a while before I get back.. They are not mentally calm, but I tell them to wait on God and not be negative about the nation. Eventually, many will return with the fruits of their lives in other countries. Others can stay and help from the diaspora.
But we are all, like Abraham, foreigners in this world, strangers living in tents.
Do you maintain hope in God?
we will never lose it. We know that God is good.
From Deuteronomy we learn that he can turn curses into blessings. From Isaiah we know that he can turn sadness into laughter. And from Romans we know that God will work all things for good.
Like Samson's lion, he can turn a carcass into something sweet.
This is our only hope. We know that this is not the end. God works and we are safe and somehow have enough to eat. This is all a blessing from him.
But there is nothing we can do but wait for God to move.
