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Sudan
Population: 40,187,486
(July 2005 est.)
Ethnic groups:
black 52%, Arab 39%, Beja 6%, foreigners 2%, other 1%
Religions:
Sunni Muslim 70%
(in the north), indigenous beliefs 25%, Christian 5% (mostly in the south and Khartoum)
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Our Ministry in Lietnhom, Sudan
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Who is our ministry partner in this area?
We are working closely with ALARM (African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries) and Pastor Celestin Musekura
Who are the people in this community and what are some of the life challenges they face?
They are almost exclusively Dinka. Lietnhom is a village-proper of around 15,000 people, within the context of a greater community of 130,000 people. The village area has been bombed and burned many times over the last 20 years by the militant Muslim forces from the North.
Some of the life challenges the people face:
• Adequate, clean drinking water. Surface water carries parasites and bacteria. They only have one working well for the entire village area.
• Educational opportunities are seriously lacking, especially for girls. Only 600 children (out of 7,000 eligible) attend school.
• A simple agricultural infrastructure is getting started. Young bulls are being trained to pull plows expanding cultivated land.
• Women and children are treated harshly in the culture, which is mostly polygamous. Many young females were taken as slaves by the North in the past 20 years.
• Dinka are generally animistic in belief. They place great emphasis on the powers of dead ancestors to influence their daily lives. They believe in spiritists, witch-doctors and spear masters.
• Healthcare resources are minimal. For the entire area, there is one clinic, no doctor, and just one nurse. The nurse sees 100 people by noon every day. Malaria is the number one disease and the leading cause of death.
• The community lost much of its intellectual capital (leadership) during the 20 years of civil war. Raising up leadership from the ranks of the youth is the most critical need of the community.
• Refugees and slaves who were taken to the North in the past 20 years are now being forced to return to the South. This is causing stress and hardship because many of these women experienced an easier life in the North (under Muslim husbands with resources) than they find in the resource-depleted South.
• The recent Peace Agreement between the Muslim North and the Christian/animist South is already creating new opportunities and challenges in the South. Muslims are flooding into the South to build clinics, schools and mosques to attract the poor to Islam. Many expect tensions between Muslims and Christians for years to come, in spite of economic changes.
Why is Fellowship involved in this community?
We partner with ALARM and World Relief to provide:
• Relief and long-term development assistance
• Church leadership training
• Educational training
• Women's leadership and ministry training
What work and ministry has already been accomplished?
Fellowship has been involved in Sudan since 2000, having sent six teams since that time. We partner closely with Good Shepherd Community Church in Oregon. Our teams are usually small in number (around 5-7 people).
Teams typically conduct church leadership, education and women's ministry training, but we’ve also assisted with healthcare needs involving the training of indigenous women to be mid-wives.
Fellowship routinely provides material resources like bicycles, ox-plows, garden hoes, educational materials, Bibles, clothing, and medical supplies.
How can Fellowship benefit this community in the months and years to come? What are some of our goals and strategies?
• Continue sending teams to encourage and equip the community’s leadership.
• Work closely with ALARM and World Relief to strategically assist development of the church.
• Continue to support James Baak (local Lietnhom pastor, ALARM staff) and help him develop a Bible leadership facility targeted at the secondary level, to better train potential
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