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July 7, 2008

Mission in Darfur

A sheik’s invitation brings Christian teachers to a village

by Pat Cole
Associate for Mission Communications — World Mission

LOUISVILLE — As Lee Watenpaugh was preparing to depart Sudan’s Darfur region in late 2006, he received an astonishing request from a Muslim village sheik.

MISSION INITIATION: Lee Watenpaugh (right) was invited to help start a school in Darfur while working in Sudan with a relief organization. He is shown with a tribal leader.

The sheik asked the Presbyterian elder from Virginia to send teachers to start a school and to help people learn more about Jesus.

“All I could say is that I am going to make sure you have teachers,” recalls Watenpaugh, who before his retirement served the U.S. secretary of defense as an assistant for NATO policy. He did not know where to find teachers or the funds to pay them, but he returned to the States determined to make good on his promise.

Watenpaugh began making calls, and soon a coalition started forming to support the sending of teachers. It included Sudan Mission Network members, mission personnel, World Mission staff, a presbytery, congregations, and a partner church.  Thanks to funds provided by U.S. Presbyterians and teachers supplied by the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, a school opened in the village.

“In one day the people from the village built a two-room school,” Watenpaugh says. “The first day the school was opened they had 273 students enrolled. They have asked that the school be expanded so that adults can be taught.”

Watenpaugh, a member of First United Presbyterian Church of Dale City in Woodbridge, VA, had served in this war-torn region as a logistics specialist for an international relief organization. With the financial support of his congregation, he spent six months in Sudan, working mostly with medical clinics in Darfur, where a bloody conflict has raged for five years.

The war pits Arab militias against black Africans.  Arab militias, with the acquiescence of the Sudanese government, are attempting to drive black Africans out of Darfur, according to many Western observers.

The U.S. government has called the situation genocide, and casualty estimates range between 70,000 and 350,000. The United Nations says more than 2 million of the 6 million Darfurians have been displaced.

WAR ZONE: Janjaweed militiamen speak with Sudanese soldiers.  The conflict between Arab militias and black Africans has resulted in casualties estimated between 70,000 and 350,000.

The roots of the conflict are ethnic and tribal, not religious. Both sides are predominately Muslim.

Why are Muslims in Darfur showing interest in Christianity? Watenpaugh attributes it to the compassion shown by Christians who have served in the region.  One day a sheik told Watenpaugh that he was amazed by the dedication of Christians involved in the relief effort. According to Watenpaugh, the sheik said:

“You brought the clinic out to help us when nobody else would. We saw you get hit in the head with shrapnel. What is it about you Christians that you are out here ready to help us?”

Evangelism is restricted in Sudan and conversion from Islam to Christianity can result in serious legal penalties and ostracism from families. Watenpaugh, however, admires how some Christians in Sudan are able to subtly weave their faith into conversations. “While you can talk about Christ, you can’t go any further than that,” he says.

Watenpaugh also is impressed with the dedication of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, which is based in the capital city of Khartoum. Representatives of the church make frequent trips into Darfur carrying relief supplies. When asked to find teachers to work in Darfur, the Sudanese Presbyterians did not hesitate.

“They are going into a battle zone, but there is not a shortage of volunteers to go there,” Watenpaugh says. “We provided the resources and a little guidance, but they do all the work. It’s been a cooperative process from the very start.”
 
A spirit of cooperation and the PC(USA)’s long mission history and relationships have enabled this project to go forward, says Doug Welch, coordinator of World Mission’s Africa Office. “We were able to use our depth and breadth of experience to shed light on an opportunity and offer a means of engagement that was helpful to all of us.”

When Watenpaugh was seeking help to send a teacher to Darfur, he was referred to the PC(USA)’s Sudan Mission Network. The network sent Watenpaugh to Welch, who helped get the process rolling.  Soon Welch, Barry Almy, who until recently was the PC(USA) regional liaison in Sudan, and Dave Dawson, a longtime member of the Sudan network, were working on the project.

Dawson is the executive for Shenango Presbytery, which has had a partnership in Sudan for 12 years. The presbytery has provided support for Nile Theological College and the ministry of PC(USA) mission worker Ingrid Reneau.

Dawson says the project in Darfur is an example of the kind of cooperation envisioned by PC(USA) mission leaders who gathered in Dallas in January to hammer out core mission values.

“The mission initiator was a Presbyterian elder, but he knew he couldn’t do it without partners,” Dawson says. “The European-based organization (Watenpaugh worked with) can’t do this work—only the Sudanese can. He was able to find partners.”

Welch says his office will continue to help grassroots Presbyterians who are involved in mission. “It was a good opportunity and we would be happy to do something like it again.” 

So far, about $37,000 has been sent to the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church for the school project with funds coming from congregations and individuals. In addition to the Presbyterian teachers, village leaders have recruited local volunteers to expand the faculty.

“With our financial help and our sweat equity they want to add six more rooms,” Watenpaugh says.

Individuals interested in contributing to the project may send donations to ECO number E581402 here.