Peace isn't very likely according to an article that ASSIST News Service published last month. Elizabeth Kendal, author of the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 021, released an article for ASSIST News Service titled "Sudan: Bleak Future for Christians as War Looms." She wrote the following about the history and importance of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement:

In July 2002, with a very powerful and angry post-9/11 USA breathing down its neck, Sudan's ruling National Islamic Front (NIF) somewhat reluctantly signed the historic Machakos Protocol, putting Sudan on the path towards a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The regime's Islamic backers were strongly opposed to peace on anyone's terms other than their own—and they were demanding the full Islamisation of all of Sudan. The 31 Dec 2004 signing of the CPA was extremely important because Khartoum had been investing its new found oil wealth on logistical development. Elevated dual-purpose roads together with sophisticated weaponry and security—mostly Chinese—were means for a military victory. The CPA provided hope for the predominantly Christian African Southerners who had spent decades fighting Arabisation and Islamisation.

The CPA gives the Southerners a 2011 referendum on secession, which was essential to bring them to the negotiation table. However it was always known that the North would never just let the South secede as most of Sudan's oil reserves are in the south. This was one reason why Southern leader Dr John Garang advocated a united, equitable, secular and democratic "New Sudan"—something to benefit all Sudanese. Garang planned to unite the opposition and win the CPA-mandated national elections in mid-2009. Then (theoretically), Sudan's new, more representative government could work at making unity more attractive than secession, averting war.

The 2010 Elections

The piece goes on to report that the April 2010 elections have been severely compromised already because of a fraudulent national census, which "will determine the proportional representation in the national assembly." The concern is that the regime in Khartoum will secure a majority in the national assembly who will rewrite the terms of the CPA and abandon the Southern Self-Determination Referendum (SSDR). "With the elections ruined and the SSDR under threat, Southern leader Pagan Amum has warned that the South might be forced to declare independence unilaterally, something the Islamist-regime in Khartoum has described as a 'red-line'. There is much concern that Sudan is heading towards a war that would lead to disintegration, chaos and a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented scale." says Kendal.

All of this political maneuvering is taking place in the North, while in the South some 2,000 lives have been lost and more than 250,000 south Sudanese have been displaced from their homes since January (more than in Darfur). Christians in the South of Sudan are suffering in the midst of the increasing violence and from the lack of food in the area, but many are using this time of hardship to unite and cry out to God in prayer.

"Our Christian brethren whom we prayed for through years of Islamic jihad and a tortured peace process are facing a seriously bleak future as war looms. Last week, Christians in Western Equatoria, South Sudan, held three days of prayer and fasting for an end to LRA [Lord's Resistance Army] terror (see RPLB 019). Hundreds of believers took part in a 20km walk for peace led by Bishop Edward Hiiboro Kussula of the Catholic diocese of Tombura-Yambio and Bishop Peter Munde of the Episcopal Church of Sudan." writes Kendal. Let's join our Sudanese brothers and sisters in their prayer battle!

Pray

• That God will intervene for his people in Sudan.
• That the church leaders, SIM workers, and other believers will have wisdom in how to respond and how to best care for one another.
• That God will display his power in the midst of this turmoil.
• For the leaders in the Khartoum national assembly to make wise decisions for all of the people that they represent.
• For the people who are displaced and hurting.
• For peace to reign in Sudan.