Source: www.MNNonline.org
Date: November 19, 2021
Sudan (MNN) — Turmoil continues in Sudan. Thousands took to the streets in major cities this week, protesting the October 25 military coup and demanding a return to civilian government. Security forces opened fire, killing at least 15 protestors and wounding dozens.
The world celebrated Sudan’s move toward change following Bashir’s ouster in 2019. More about that here. However, “very little has changed in Sudan because you still have the same people in the various (government) significant positions; also with the Sudanese secret police,” Petr Jasek with The Voice of the Martyrs International explains.
“People who are sharing the Gospel with Muslims [are] aware of this danger, even now.”
Listen to the whole conversation between Jasek and VOM Canada’s Greg Musselman.
State of the Church
In 2017, Jasek spent more than a year in a Sudanese prison for helping underground believers. See our coverage here. He still works closely with Sudanese Christians today and says the collective “big C” Church is growing.
“I have visited several churches in Sudan, and I know they have missionary activities for the Muslims. It is a very well prepared program covering not only the Gospel but also training [for] believers from the Muslim background,” Jasek says.
“Churches are aware that their mission field is among the Muslims, and they’re actively preparing church members for this activity.”
These believers know Sudan’s secret police are hunting for them, but that knowledge doesn’t hinder their mission. Interestingly enough, Jasek adds, sharing Christ with Sudanese who hold animist beliefs does not put believers at risk.
“If they would share the Gospel with those (animists), that’s considered ‘Okay’ for the secret police,” Jasek says.
“The biggest danger is always for those who are sharing the Gospel with Muslims.”
Find your place in the story
Please add Sudanese believers to your prayer list. Use the prompts listed alongside this article to guide your intercession, or check out this free resource from our sister ministry, Prayercast.
“Let’s pray especially for those arrested and interrogated by the police, that they would stay firm and not reveal anything that could be dangerous for their brothers and sisters from the Muslim background,” Jasek suggests.
“The torture these secret police apply during the interrogation can be really severe.”
Pray for Christian women who’ve been arrested and imprisoned for Gospel work. See our coverage of Meriam Ibrahim’s case as an example.
“I’ve seen people in the Sudanese prison who have been sentenced to death. Those were always chained on their legs, and they could barely walk. I could vividly imagine what it had to be [like] for Meriam when she had to give birth, with having the chained legs, and that just shows the brutality of the regime in Sudan,” Jasek says.
“Quite often, what Christian women in prison experience is extremely awful because they (police) even rape them.”
Header image is representative, depicting a Sudanese woman participating in the 2019 protests calling for President Omer Al Bashir and his government to resign. The woman has written “Just Fall “ on her arm, reflecting the demonstrators’ calls, and the photo was taken in Khartoum during a sit-in protest. (Wikimedia Commons)