UPDATE: I had not finished including links for this blog post Friday so planned to post it on Monday.
Today, as I prepare to post it, I know that everyone’s mind is on our own most recent horrific jihadi terrorist attack, in Orlando. It may not seem the best time to be posting a story about the genocide in far away Sudan. Since quite a few people don’t seem to care about the issue of global Christian persecution even when we have not been recently attacked ourselves, it is a safe bet that they will care even less when their preoccupation with domestic religious freedom issues — whether in their church denomination or the public square — has been rudely interrupted by a Sudan-style jihadist attack on our own soil.
But maybe that is the point — jihad, as it is described and as instruction is given in the Quran, is a global phenomenon. That is what my Sudanese and South Sudanese brothers and sisters, Christian and Muslim alike, have taught me, and have warned us for DECADES now. The Islamic State and its adherents (whether they are laminated card-carrying members or just in sync with the ideology of Sharia) may not be dropping cluster bombs from Antonovs and Sukhois as they are in the Nuba Mountains and in Darfur, but make no mistake, it is the same war.
Pray for the victims and families of the attack on The Pulse nightclub in Orlando. It is my prayer that at the moment of their death, the victims of this jihad looked into the eyes of Jesus, who loves them and who was holding them in His arms, and said yes to Eternity with Him. Pray also for the victims of jihad in Sudan, and all over the world.
A Petition from Nuba Mountains Civil Society Organizations June 2016 Signatories
I hope that this blog post will not be media overload, but whenever there are actual, practical resources to share, ways that you can make a difference for Christians and others suffering persecution and oppression, I am eager to share them with you.
In my last blog post/video I explained that five years ago this month, June 6, to be exact, the Islamic Republic of Sudan’s National Congress Party (NCP) government began attacking the men, women, and children — civilians — of Sudan’s Nuba Mountains. Today, these attacks, that are tantamount to genocide, or genocidal jihad, continue.
Last month the regime in Khartoum sent bombers to a Nuba town, Heiban, and the subsequent aerial bombardment killed 6 children. Even when the bombs do not hit their targets, the threat of this hell from sky keeps people traumatized and paralyzed with fear. And it keeps them from planting, growing, and harvesting crops, meaning that many face starvation. This is called terrorism.
At the top of this blog post, there is a link to a PDF version of the petition that has been sent from Nuba Mountains Civil Society Organizations along with other advocates and friends to the UN, President Obama, and other world leaders.
If YOU would like to add your voice to the protest against these ongoing atrocities, and urge that the world community do the right thing, not only for the Nuba People, but for all of Sudan’s marginalized and oppressed people groups, you can do the following:
- Download the petition to save to your computer and/or print out, and encourage your friends, classmates, fellow church members, and others to sign. (You can send the names collected to our Nuba friends that created the petition. Their contact info is on the last page of the petition. Or if you prefer, you can send them to me and I will send them to our Nuba friends.)
- Send the petition to your Senators and your U.S. Representative, urging them to take a stand for the Nuba and other persecuted Sudanese and in opposition to the Islamist regime in Khartoum. We are in a precarious situation with many in the Administration wanting to lift terrorism sanctions against Sudan — and even already lifting sanctions on certain companies (more about that in another blog post!).
- Watch the video and share the link on the YouTube page with others to help them to understand what has been happening.
- Another way to learn more about what has been taking place in the Nuba Mountains is by listening to this podcast from the Lisa Benson Radio Show. On this show, Lisa and her co-host, Jerry Gordon, interviewed me, Sudan advocate and language expert Deborah Martin, Christian persecution and human rights defender Brad Philips, the founder of The Persecution Project Foundation, and Juma Sefedin Shaibu, a medical officer at Vanderbilt University Hospital, who fled from Darfur.
As the petition entreats us in conclusion:
The people of Nuba Mountains across the world call upon YOU to stand up for the rights of the Nuba Mountains. Together we publicly condemn the government of Sudan for its fifth year of the second genocide against its own civilians, the people in the Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan.
Please help us end the suffering of the Sudanese people and to bring a lasting peace. Thank you.
If you missed the video on this horrible crisis, you can watch it here:
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