This past year has also been very
significant for the New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC) as we
continue to pray, witness, and advocate and promote human rights,
justice, and a lasting peace for all Sudanese peoples. Breaks
in the fighting have already brought a sense of hope, joy, and
rejoicing among our people. There is joy in an increased stability
and normality in the lives of people in many communities of southern
and marginalized areas of Sudan. But there can be no just and
lasting peace until the root causes of the war, injustices, and
conflicts are honestly identified and genuinely addressed by the
solutions being put forward in the peace talks and by international
bodies. Despite progress toward peace, there is still suffering,
impoverishment, despair, and desperation among too many who are
still affected by conflict, who have been displaced and disenfranchised,
and who are threatened by ongoing aggression and injustices in
the absence of security, human rights, and a just and lasting
peace.
Since the period 1997-1998, NSCC has been a leader in facilitating
peacemaking both among local communities that have been in conflict,
and in the higher levels of community leadership (what we call
“strategic linkages”) who must be committed to promoting
and sustaining peace if it is to be effective and lasting. In
the past two years, there have been numerous peace meetings and
conferences. In this past year, NSCC has also facilitated several
meetings of civil society leaders, groups, and representatives
to build support and advocacy for peace. These contributions for
peace are increasingly recognized and respected, and now NSCC
enjoys a reputation of effectiveness, integrity, and consistency
in its advocacy for human rights, justice, and peace. In fact,
this reputation has again come into the international spotlight,
as I have been awarded the 2003 Wallenberg Award by the American
Swedish Historical Museum. The Wallenberg Award is presented in
alternating years to a person, an organization, or an institution
that has done remarkable work in the cause of human rights and
to alleviate human suffering—as Raoul Wallenberg himself
did in Budapest in 1944-45 to combat the Holocaust. Let us rejoice
in this recognition of the work of reconciliation that God has
allowed us carry out in Sudan.
Rejoice with us for these successes in the people-to-people peacemaking
that has been able to foster harmony and peace agreements among
communities that have been in conflict. Rejoice in the increasing
stability and normality for the lives of many people in southern
Sudan as communities push forward for peace, reconciliation, rehabilitation,
and development. Pray for restoration and rehabilitation because
many people are still fearful and many are still displaced from
their homelands and disenfranchised and have almost nothing in
hand for restarting and building normal lives.
I am pleased to inform you that the NSCC has published a booklet
on its peacemaking initiatives and experience. The booklet is
“Inside Sudan: The Story of People-to-People Peacemaking
in Southern Sudan—a Peace of the People, by the People,
for the People.” The booklet is available from NSCC for
a nominal donation. I highly recommend this book for you and your
churches. Please contact us if you do not have a copy in your
hands. We will arrange to have one sent to you.
This past month, the NSCC General Assembly was convened to review
achievements of recent years and to deliberate on the way forward.
A decision was taken at that meeting to extend my contract and
services for an additional period of two years. I am pleased with
the vote of confidence in my leadership, and I have accepted this
offer to continue in the role of executive secretary of NSCC.
However, I must say that this is not about me alone. Alone, I
cannot do anything. I do all through Christ, who strengthens and
sustains me. All I am able to do is through the love, prayers,
support and encouragement of friends like you, and the many Christians
and peaceloving groups worldwide who put us here and help us as
we work for a just and lasting peace.
We need your prayers. We need your love and care. We need your
ongoing and even increased support to help the people of southern
Sudan, as the forces aligned against them are growing and becoming
more fearsome, intense, and destructive.
Most of all, we need you to mobilize and to advocate where you
are for the causes of justice, human rights and peace for the
people of southern Sudan. We need you, and your churches and organizations,
to pressure your governments and your non-governmental organizations
to effectively address the problems and to stop the war, genocide,
and human rights abuses. It can only be done through external
pressures from the world community.
As a final note, again I want to thank each and every one of
you for your prayers, support, and encouragement to me and to
my family. You are a vital part of our ministry and our lives.
Through your support for us you are participating in God’s
work of reconciliation and healing for the Sudanese. With your
continued support and advocacy we believe that God will heal our
country and bring our people into peace. Thank you.
Yours, in Christ,
Haruun L. Ruun
The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
37
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