Sudan (MNN) — The UN reports rising displacement as paramilitary attacks ratchet up in Sudan. More than 700 people were displaced in a single day, bringing the total to 41,000 who have been forced out over the last month.
John*, a Gospel worker focused on Sudan, says Rapid Support Forces show no sign of slowing. “They’re going east to Kordofan, and it’s creating a new displacement of people,” John says.
“We really need to pray. I don’t think that Sudan is on the radar; very, very few people that I talk to are even aware of how dire the situation is.”
Displacement and despair
A brutal power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in April 2023, plunging the country into widespread violence, displacement, and humanitarian collapse. See our coverage here.
(Photo courtesy of unfoldingWord)
El Fasher, the last army stronghold in Darfur, fell to the RSF in October. “Now the RSF, much like ISIS, is free within the city to do what it wants without having to fight a battle. And what they’re doing is ravaging the people,” John says.
“Rape of women is [common]; the numbers are unbelievable. And then the trafficking and selling of children has become one of the most horrible results of the RSF having control of El Fasher.”
Thousands of families are struggling to survive as their access to aid groups is limited. Access routes into Darfur and Kordofan have become increasingly restricted due to RSF control, active fighting, and the looting of aid supplies.
Furthermore, “They (survivors) are moving from El Fasher into places that make it more difficult to help them, and that has really heightened the crisis,” John says, adding that the Mara Mountains are a popular destination.
“The (church planting) teams that we had [in El Fasher] were driven out. We’re trying to contact some of them in the Mara Mountains.”
Strength for today, hope for tomorrow
Church planters living among the displaced offer the hope of Christ through trauma counselling.
“We have 28 teams in 28 refugee camps in three countries, and they are sharing Christ. I have pictures of baptisms from refugee camps, so the Church is growing. People are coming to Christ,” John says.
“The Gospel is such a threat to Islam because it gives the person inner strength, regardless of the circumstance, and it gives them hope through the circumstance. It is an incredibly powerful thing.”
Please keep Sudan in your prayers. Ask the Lord to guide and protect two church planting teams in Kordofan, the expected path of RSF advances.
“Desperation creates an openness to the Gospel. Pray that the people who were seeking wouldn’t become closed off,” John requests.
“Pray that the Christians in these camps – the people who know God, who have peace, and yet are struggling with discouragement – would be reminded of the hope that they have, and they would be motivated by the Holy Spirit to share that.”
*Pseudoynm
Header image depicts the flag of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). (MartinKassemJ120, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)
