A team from ICC recently visited Khartoum, the capital of the Republic of Sudan and found it to be a place many contrasts. Unlike the cities in southern Sudan, Khartoum is relatively peaceful in spite of a 17-year-old civil war. There is an absence of landmines, routine air bombardments, and raids from pilfering bands of armed militia. There seemed to be an ample supply of food to eat in the north while an ICC team visiting southern Sudan in February found the people near starvation. The people in war-ravaged southern Sudan are in a survival mode. Millions of people are without clothes to wear and existing on a scant amount of food. In Muslim controlled northern Sudan there would appear to be a relative amount of freedom of worship and evangelism. Nevertheless, evangelism among Arab Muslims by black-African Christians is generally not tolerated. ICC also found churches have been subjected to random destruction by the Muslim-led government. Another common problem is that the Government of Sudan will recruit young unsuspecting black-African males right off the streets and immediately induct them into the military.

There is a stark contrast in living conditions among Arab Muslims and black Africans. The very rich ruling class Arabs live in fine villas and drive expensive cars. They are surrounded by very poor sub-Saharan Africans who are barely able to survive, particularly those living in refugee camps surrounding the city of Khartoum. The civil war in the south is a major problem for the leaders of Sudan, as no solutions are in sight, and the war is extremely unpopular. The war has lead to the death of an estimated 2 million people the dislocation of nearly 5 million more, many who are Christians who inhabited the fertile southern regions. Many people in the north downplay the religious differences between the Muslim north and mainly Christian south as the root cause for the war. Instead they claim that the primary reason for the conflict is economic greed, as the south contains much of the fertile land and mineral reserves within Sudan. The south also has Juba, the second largest city in Sudan, which the Government of Sudan presently occupies and does not wish to lose.

An ICC Sudanese representative recently traveled to Juba and found conditions for Christians to be extremely bad. Any Christians breaking the strictly enforced curfew laws are summarily shot. Most Christians are fortunate to have one meal a day. Bibles are not available and fellowship among believers is limited to one meeting per week. Religious differences have been used to build support for the war, but apparently with marginal success. However, religious differences cannot be ruled out as a factor in the war, as the G.O.S. is proceeding with a policy of Islamization in the north. With or without the war, the apparent intent of the Government of Sudan is to Islamite the country and eventually destroy all trace of Christianity. The Muslim leaders plan to eliminate vestiges of Christianity within one generation by Islam the children of Christians living in the north. A decree was recently announced that effective with the 2001/2002 academic year in July 2001, all students will be instructed in Islam, regardless of their religion. All private schools, including schools operated by the Roman Catholic Church, must adopt the new curriculum, or close. This is a major concern for the 2 million or so Christian citizens of northern Sudan, and they cry out for a solution.

The Islamic leaders of Sudan destroy churches routinely without notice or compensation. One Protestant church constructed in Motorman, the old capital of Sudan just west of Khartoum, was presently razed bygovernment forces. The church was built of masonry and was suitable for over 100 persons to worship. One Sunday morning the congregation gathered for worship, and instead found a G.O.S. bulldozer was busy destroying the newly constructed building. The members of this church salvaged the brick, steel, and wood from the destroyed building and reconstructed a smaller church elsewhere. Properties belonging to Christian groups are routinely confiscated, and in one case a building belonging to a Catholic group was turned into a mosque. The G.O.S. is planning another bridge over the Blue Nile that will link North Khartoum with the center of Khartoum. This bridge is in the planning stages, but current plans have the bridge approaches located directly through the property of the largest Catholic church and school in the city. The Catholic school on this property was recently enlarged in order to accommodate the need for private education. A reported eight refugee camps surround the desert area around Khartoum. One camp could be visited which is located about 10 miles from central Khartoum and extends for about 4 miles square in the desert. Other camps cannot be visited without official permission. Refugees from the south inhabit these camps which have been constructed for the most part by the refugees themselves. Many makeshift dwellings have been constructed over the past 10 years by the camp inhabitants using the local clay materials and thatch for roofs. These dwellings extend for miles across the desert and are home for many people.

Various dwellings in the camp visited by the ICC team have been marked with a large white "X" to signify the G.O.S. plans to demolish them shortly. There is no pattern to this planned destruction except to keep the inhabitants of these camps forever building, and in dire poverty. Inhabitants of these camps work in Khartoum when they can find work. Wells and water tanks have been installed by various missionary organizations and water is then distributed to individual dwellings by donkey carts. No electric service is provided, and health services are minimal. It has been reported that health services provided by the U.N. in these camps is readily available to the Muslims living in the camps as clinics are largely staffed by Muslims. Christians and other groups are treated after the Muslims, if at all. Several churches were visible in the one camp visited, with the largest being a Roman Catholic church and school. Most churches are constructed of mud bricks and often initially lack a roof. A number of well built mosques were also observed throughout the camp. No clinics or other medical services were observed throughout the camp. Churches in Khartoum routinely conduct outreaches to the refugees, and several refugees attended a teaching session while the ICC team was in Khartoum.

The Government of Sudan closed the university 2½ years ago and the entire student body was sent to the south to finish the "Jihad" or holy war against the rebel groups. This was to have been a one year proposition to complete the victory over the opposition groups, mainly the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army, or SPLA. It was reported that less than 10% of the students returned after 2-1/2 years with some being killed and many others avoiding the war by traveling abroad.
Khartoum police routinely surround the bus station, and detain men of military age for service in the army. Men can only avoid this forced one year conscription by proving they are the only male child of their family. This conscription applies for both Muslim and Christian men born between 1959 to 1975. Men of military age must also pay a special tax of $100 U.S. if they travel abroad. This tax is to help keep men from leaving the country to avoid military service. The political situation is Khartoum is shaky since Preside Bashir ousted his main rival, Mr. Turabi, the speaker of the Sudan parliament in December 1999. President Bashir also fired 10 ministers and 25 of 26 state governors in an effort to pack the government with persons more loyal to his cause. The parliament building remains closed and is guarded by several army units. The confusion has been compounded by the resignation on January 31, 2000 of Dr. Riek Machar, the rebel leader who brokered a peace agreement with Khartoum in 1997. Dr. Machar served as an Assistant President of Sudan and Administrator General of Southern Sudan. None of these changes appears to signal a shift in the government's position toward the war or its intent to Islamite the nation.

One of the most exciting things about Sudan is the expression of needs and vision of their church leaders. They feel a need to be working together in unity, and great efforts are made to promote cooperation among the eight Protestant denominations present in Khartoum. They also wish to encourage training of their leaders within the country. Training is needed for future growth of the church with sessions conducted in Sudan, so leaders remain in the country. They wish to be able to send missionaries to countries beyond Sudan. Their vision is to expand their efforts in order to establish a strong church that is able to reach out and evangelize all of Sudan, regardless of the consequences. The Christians in Sudan cry out to God for their impoverished and hungry people, and the injustices being committed against them and their children by the majority Muslim leaders. ICC encourages Christians in the west to lift their voices in prayer for the Sudanese brothers and sisters, and to seek additional means that we can help under these dire circumstances.

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