The word ‘Sudan’ is derived from the Arabic expression in the ancient Egyptian, which referred to the land to their South as ‘Bild Al-Sudan’, meaning the land of the black people. Sudan is also the place where African and Arab cultures mingle and is a home to a physically, religiously, and culturally diverse people for centuries. Therefore, Sudan is a nation full of potential and promise. Southern Sudan was a rich source of gold, slaves, and ivory for the Arab merchants of the north. As a result of the Arab exploitation at that time, the country was tragically torn by the civil war between Arab-dominated northern and the diverse black African tribal population of the south. Sudan, the largest country in Africa, is engaged in the longest war in African history, which is one of the worst ongoing humanitarian disasters on the continent. In Sudan, the civil war has taken the lives of two million civilians, and uprooted four or five million people. Innocent civilians in Southern Sudan have experienced famine, slave raids, bombing and other gross human rights violations on a massive scale.
Archive for the ‘Sudan Project’ Category
About Sudan
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009A Call to Prayer and Action
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009A message to all Christians from the Southern Sudan Christian Mission Church:
The oldest community of Christians in Africa, suffering the most severe persecution in the world today, demands your most urgent and wholehearted assistance. The southern people need your help to rise to this challenge.
- Pray for Sudan. Make their needs known and work together for the freedom of Sudanese Christians.
- Pray for an end to the devastating war and for the end to spiritual bondage due to religious persecution.
- Pray that those who are spiritually blinded will come to salvation.
- Pray that the church is blessed with on-going revival and growth, including the discipleship of believers and training of the church leaders.
It Is Well With My Soul
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009This hymn reminds us of the words of Paul in Philippians 4:11-13:
For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
When we are relying on Christ for our strength, we can be like Paul and be content no matter the circumstance. Whether we are at peace or in the middle of a storm, we can say “It is well with my soul.”
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
It is well, with my soul
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Isaiah 18
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009Isaiah 18:7, read in English by Michael Bol Bol, and in Nuer by Pastor Michael Teny Gatkek is included on the CD because of its significance to the Southern Sudan Christian Mission Church. Isaiah 18 is one of their theme chapters, quoted from the New International Version below:
Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush, which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers. All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it.
The Invisible Man
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009He wasn’t really invisible–at least, not at first. On the day of his birth, he was the most visible of all his siblings. His parents looked at him, and looked at him again. His mother’s eyes welled up with tears, and his father shook his head, making a tsk noise with his tongue.
Their son was born with a terrible birth defect. His legs and ankles were deformed, and they knew he would never walk. This was the greatest tragedy the family had faced. In their society a man who could not walk was a man who could not plow or harvest a field. He was a man with no use at all.
He spent the first years of his childhood lying alone on his cot while his brothers went out to work. He listened sadly as he heard the laughter of children playing, the shouts of children fighting. He wondered what he had ever done to deserve his fate. He cried out to God, but God had nothing to say.
His sixth birthday was a memorable one. His father and his oldest brother picked up his cot and carried it out of the house. They walked down the street, collecting stares from passersby. Two men carrying a little boy on a cot is not an everyday sight. They carried him to the city gate, and set him down there. Gently his father explained to him his great purpose in life–to beg for money, or food. Anything to make it worth his family’s while to support this crippled child. Then with a quick tousle of his hair, father and brother left him alone on the crowded sidewalk.
Count Your Blessings
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009Perception is reality. Often, what we believe to be true becomes the center of our thoughts so much that it really is true. When we focus on all of the negative aspects of life, we become consumed with negativity and overcome with despair.
This old hymn reminds us to count our blessings, focusing on the good things in our life. When we focus on all of the wonderful things that God has provided for us, the trials and tribulations seem to fade in importance.
At That Time
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009One of the most downtrodden of all the Old Testament characters was Job, the man who was persecuted by Satan. But in the midst of his trials, Job triumphantly proclaimed “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God.” (Job 19:25-26)
In the New Testament, the promised Redeemer echoed Job’s words: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” (John 11:25) For those with faith in Jesus Christ, the promise is clear; even the final disaster–death–will not overcome you. So keep looking to the future. Keep hoping. Keep praying. Keep trusting.
Sing O daughter of Zion, Shout aloud O Israel
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart
The Lord has taken your guilt away, he defeated your enemies
The Lord your God is in your midst
I’ve Anchored In Jesus
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009Sometimes life can seem full of roadblocks and obstacles. We just think we’ve settled into a routine and some surprise comes along and shakes things up. Sometimes these bumps in the road simply cause nuisance and annoyance, but sometimes they really change the course of our lives.
When you don’t know what’s around the corner, it’s helpful to know who’s walking with you. Even as an anchor is important to keep a ship in one place during a storm, knowing that we can anchor our lives in Jesus helps us to maintain our course when the storms of life arise.
Upon life’s boundless ocean, where mighty billows roll,
I’ve fixed my hope in Jesus, blest Anchor of my soul.
When trials fierce assail me, as storms are gath’ring o’er,
I rest upon His mercy and trust Him more.
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The Sudan Project
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people have been displaced from their homeland because of the atrocities of the Sudanese civil war. Adults have been tortured or killed, children have been sold into slavery, and villages have been wiped out, leaving orphans to trek across the deserts of Southern Sudan to the relative safety of refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.
Unfortunately, the neighboring countries do not have the resources needed to deal with these ‘Lost Boys’ of Sudan, and thousands are living in conditions of extreme poverty and starvation
It is our goal to use our talents and resources to make a difference in the lives of these refugees. This is why several businesses, churches, and Christian ministries have banded together to create Those Who Dream: The Sudan Project.