call to prayer: sudan

It appears as if prayer is very much upon the heart of God. And an appeal that I received this past week from my friend Bishop Andudu provides direction for intercession for Sudan. This is exclusive for KGI Global

It always is, of course, but two weeks in a row we in the Body of Christ have received a sacred call to prayer and fasting. Last week we were praying for the Church and peoples of China. This week, beginning today, Trinity Sunday, May 30, 2021, and for the entire month of June, we have been called to pray for Sudan by one of our own Anglican bishops, the Rt. Reverend Andudu Adam Elnail, Bishop of Kadugli (Nuba Mountains), Episcopal Church of Sudan.

The month of prayer focuses on peace talks that opened this past Wednesday, May 26. The talks are between the Government of Sudan (Khartoum) and the opposition forces that represent Sudan’s marginalized people groups. They are being hosted by the nation of South Sudan and taking place in Juba, South Sudan’s capital (from now on referred to as the Juba Peace Talks).

The past two years or so have brought enormous changes to Sudan. After decades and decades of war — more accurately described as genocidal jihad with the intention of building an Arabist, Islamist state — the efforts of the opposition forces and a populist civilian-led uprising resulted in the downfall of the former president Omar al Bashir. It also led to a reduction of power to the National Congress Party (NCP) also known as the National Islamic Front. Sudan is now under a “transitional government” jointly controlled by civilian leaders and by the military.

There are still much that needs to happen to make Sudan a place of religious freedom and secular democracy. Most agree that the military has far more power than the civilian leaders. And it is the civilian leaders who appear to want to see real change, to see the marginalized peoples “un-marginalized.” But all in all, great progress has been made. The kind of change in Sudan that is almost hard to believe, in spite of being that for which we have prayed for so long!

One very important change still needs to come is one. That change is to give complete religious, racial, and ethnic equality to Sudan’s marginalized, indigenous people groups — be they in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile State, Beja Land, Nubia, or elsewhere.

The Juba Peace Talks focus in part on an agreement that was made between the top civilian leader in Sudan, His Excellency Abdalla Hamdok, Sudan’s Prime Minister, and the top opposition leader and commander-in-chief of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army North, General Abdelaziz Adam Alhilu. In September 2020 these two leaders signed a Declaration of Principles that, if implemented, will guarantee separation of religion and state and other important rights.

The importance of this declaration being made official law, acknowledged by both halves of the Sudan government, cannot be overstated. This is what the opposition forces, particularly the SPLA North have fought for, and this is what millions of Sudanese Christians and others have died for, including those who are now part of the newest nation on earth: South Sudan. They will not settle for anything less than equal status or separation (like South Sudan).

Perhaps this is why General Alhilu called upon Bishop Elnail to be a spiritual advisor and support during the Juba Peace Talks. Alhilu knows the power of God and the prayers of the people are needed for this miracle of peace and freedom to take place in Sudan. The desire of all of Sudan’s marginalized peoples is for what the late heroic leader of South Sudan, Dr. John Garang, called the “New Sudan.”

Bishop Elnail, who co-leads the GAFCON Suffering Church Network with me, sent the photo that appears with this post of himself offering prayer at the Juba Peace Talks. He also sent the attached Episcopal Call for Peace in which he calls upon all the dioceses in Sudan and across the world, as well as all Christians of all denominations, and all prayer groups! Bishop Elnail says: “Pray for the success of peace talks to reach comprehensive, justice and lasting peace in the beloved land of Sudan.”

If you would like to learn more about where Sudan has come from to reach this point, you can read this article: A War of Domination : PRISM Magazine and here is Bishop Andudu’s Call for Peace. Please share it with your family and friends and church leaders and members. Thank you for praying for Sudan!

Here is the Call for Peace