The Gospel Spreads as They Scatter
The Gospel Spreads as People Flee a Region of Unrest.
You may have seen headlines in your newsfeed about unrest occurring in Sudan. Our global partners Paul* and Silas*, who are in this region, have been directly impacted. The unrest is primarily political, but as a predominantly Muslim nation, there are religious side effects as well.
Both Paul and Silas have been able to evacuate their locations and proceed to safety. Paul has just arrived in South Sudan. Silas has left Khartoum and is heading toward Egypt. Below Paul shares a bit about the past few days.
“I really don’t know even where to start! This has been a time of testimony after testimony of God’s physical and spiritual saving of His people.
Our compound in El-Fashir is in an area called Daraja. Many government offices are in the same area. In our zone, there are four houses. Two were the houses of Rapid Support Forces (RSF). When the fighting started in El-Fashir, our zone became the fire field. In fact, for the first three days, everyone believed there would be no survival in Daraja. About 58 civilian fatalities were recorded in the same area.
At our compound, there was a total of 18 of us taking shelter. We praise God none of us experienced any injury. Most fled their homes, and their homes were quickly looted.
But God has manifested his saving power towards us. We were able to escape the compound, and everyone scattered into the IDP (Internally Displaced People) Camps.
In Zalingei, the church was also located in the fire field. Many believers were sheltered there. When over 80 civilians were killed in their homes, no one was even injured in our church.
In my mother’s home, the bomb fell there killing two neighbor children and injuring two of my sister’s children. Leaders there told me that the church became the only place where people in the villages could find refuge - both Muslim and Christian. They asked the pastor there to continue praying for them, believing that God answers prayer.
As I continue to communicate with our network around the countryside, the total number of people who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior during this time is 34.
As the fighting continued, we saw it becoming impossible to continue in that situation. We were encouraged as Christian leaders to leave the country because of insecurity and for the future of the ministry. But it was still very risky to think about going out under that gunfire and checking anywhere to evacuate. But after we prayed, we were convinced to move out.
We started our journey from El-Fashir town to Dean which took us 8 hours. As soon as we reached Dean, we found there was only one car that was going to the border of South Sudan. We were told it had just left. The taxi driver told us that these people might have not gone far, and he would attempt to take us to catch up to them. He took us and drove us for one hour until we reached the car. We joined them and continued our journey with them for another 15 hours.
We finally reached the border of South Sudan.
Every kilometer we crossed, we prayed thanks to God. At every corner, we feared a big problem as we saw people with guns moving in the bush, looting, killing, and robbing people.
As we reached the border, we hired a motorcycle which brought us to Aweil, another 8-hour journey. We now finally find ourselves in Awiel.
No one can believe we reached Aweil. We can’t believe it ourselves.
We just thank God for His faithfulness and His mercy.”
*Names altered to protect the identity of those working in areas of increased persecution.