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Pray as Southern Sudan becomes independent

5:41pm Friday, 8th July 2011

Karen Mudge

This Saturday, conflict-torn South Sudan will celebrate its independence as the world's newest nation. For millions of Christians suffering from decades of the violence between the Muslim north and the Christian and Animist south of Sudan, this independence may bring some measure of relief.

In January the people of the southern region of Sudan voted overwhelmingly to secede from the north and form a new nation. In 2005 a comprehensive peace agreement hadbrought a tenuous peace and the end to about 50 years of civil war, with 2 million lives lost according to the New York Times.

The UN says 2,000 people have been killed and 300,000 displaced in fighting so far this year. The conflict in Kadugli in the Nuba Mountains in South Sudan has been described by Sudanese Episcopal Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul as “a deliberate strategy to rid Kadugli of its indigenous African and Christian population by the [Sudanese Armed Forces], in short a policy of ethnic cleansing.” The violence has included widespread bombing and looting, and has resulted in the displacement of thousands of civilians.

Throughout June, violent clashes have occurred over the South Kordofan region, which lies on the border between the north and south. This region is oil rich, as is a lot of the south, with much of the violence due to contention over political power, land and oil rights. In addition to this, the south is the home to many of the estimated four million Christians who live in South Sudan. Christians form a significant part of the proposed new country of nine million.

Last week the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, released a statement deploring the “mounting level of aggression and bloodshed” in South Sudan. “Numerous villages have been bombed. More than 53,000 people have been driven from their homes. The new Anglican cathedral in Kadugli has been burned down,” the Archbishop reported, adding Kadugli had also been “overrun by the army, and heavy force is being used by government troops to subdue militias in the area, with dire results for local people. Many brutal killings are being reported.”

Millions of brothers and sisters in Christ are in need of our prayer and support, as they face this significant time in the story of their nation. Bishop Abraham Nhial of Aweil asked Christians to “remember in your prayers and advocacy for our brothers and sisters of Abyei who are still missing, those in the bush, and those on the streets in Southern Sudan towns. As always, your prayers are needed for the people of Abyei and the world.”

Sources: Episcopal News Service, Compass Direct News Service, Anglican Communiuon News Service