1. How is the Church responding to the Darfur crisis?
2. Has the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) been involved in the Sudan crisis?
3. What can I do?
4. How can I stay informed?
5. Where is Sudan and who are the people of Sudan?
6. What is the crisis in Darfur?
7. What issue is driving the current crisis?
8. Why haven’t I heard of this situation before?

1. How is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) responding to the Darfur crisis?

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has provided funds from One Great Hour of Sharing and designated funds:

• for the provision of shelter, water, sanitation and basic sleeping and kitchen materials to internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in IDP camps in southern and western Darfur;
• to provide supplementary food (50 percent ration) to children under the age of five and education for school-aged children in the population;
• for distributing non-food items and supplying clean water and sanitation.
• A special team of health advisers is providing medicine and nutritional advice and is working to reach the most vulnerable.

Additional information on the response is available as a downloadable bulletin insert.

PDA is working cooperatively and as a member of ACT (Action by Churches Together). Because of the magnitude of the crisis, ACT International and Caritas International have joined forces to respond to the ongoing humanitarian emergency in Sudan's Darfur Province. Both organizations are faith-based networks representing Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic churches and their related agencies across the world.

2. Has the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) been involved in the Sudan crisis?

We have a long history of mission in the Sudan; there has been a Presbyterian missionary presence in the country for about 100 years and were the first to translate the Bible into the Nuer language. Christianity is growing extremely rapidly in Sudan — some think faster than anywhere else in the world. There are currently vibrant and growing Presbyterian churches in the Sudan whose ministries we continue to support.

We have been working closely with the New Sudan Council of Churches as they began a long process of peace building in the South to prepare it for possible autonomy. For the past 10 years, the People-to-People Peace Process in the South has forged consensus where significant tribal differences were making a unified position difficult. The long civil war between the rebel movement and the government, the constant hard work of the council in advocating dialogue and preparing the people and the active encouragement of European and African nations and the United States resulted in the development of a Peace Accord this past year. The Accords — when fully signed and properly implemented — can bring peace, disarmament and, after a six year period, a referendum on whether or not to become an independent nation.

As the Darfurians began to see the success of the South, they took note of their own marginalization, and in 2003, a rebel movement began to also seek improvements in Darfur. For the Government of Sudan, this represented an opportunity to divert attention from and derail the Peace process in the South. Thus, that process has halted and Darfur has become the Sudan’s newest area of tragedy.

3. What can I do?

Pray. Prayer is what the Sudanese ask us for most often, and we know how effective prayer can be. We must pray for the Sudanese and that the hearts of their leaders will be changed.

Give. Humanitarian aid is essential and the needs are enormous. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is supporting the current relief efforts in the Darfur. The Sudan account is DR000044 - Darfur, Sudan Relief.

Advocate. Become informed and spread the news of the situation throughout the church and the nation. The Sudanese need us to keep the pressure on our government. We must continually let our own government know that we care about what is happening in Sudan and that we expect them to keep Sudan at the top of their agendas. As Christians, we can do no less.

4. How can I stay informed?

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has established a Sudan Mission Network that consists of churches, Presbyteries, and individuals with interest in the Sudan. They meet annually in Louisville to update one another and to learn, pray, and plan the overall ministry for Sudan. Information on the network meeting is available from the Ecumenical Partnership Office. Contact Lacey Gilliam. The network has developed a sub-group with a particular focus on tracking political issues and developments in the Sudan and helping people to advocate effectively on behalf of those who suffer. Contact Bill Andress or Bobbie-Frances McDonald.

5. Where is Sudan and who are the people of Sudan?

Sudan is located in Northeast Africa, just south of Egypt. It is the largest country in Africa and is roughly the size of the United States east of the Mississippi River.

Sudan is predominantly Arab in the North, with a broad mix of various African tribes in the South and West of the country.

6. What is the crisis in Darfur?

More than two million people have been directly affected (all six million in Darfur have been affected to some degree), and around one million people displaced, by the fighting between rebel groups, the Janjaweed militia (pro-Government) and Sudanese Government’s forces since early 2003. Statements by the UN Security Council, their representative in Sudan and Human Rights Watch have condemned the situation as one of ethnic cleansing through the use of mass rape, summary killings and a “scorched earth” policy. The UN and humanitarian agencies in Sudan have described the situation as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

7. What issue is driving the current crisis?

In its broadest sense, the key issue that has created two decades of civil war within the Sudan is the issue of marginalization. The current crisis is rooted in this long and protracted war in the south. The Southern and Western parts of Sudan, which are populated by black Africans, have been denied any infrastructure or development that would be seen as a major role of government in serving its citizens. For example, in the Southern part of the country there are essentially no roads. This marginalization drove the south to begin a movement for autonomy and control of its own resources and governance.

Other factors causing conflict include:

• resources (oil, land, and water);
• race, culture, and religion.

The southern part of the country is rich in oil. Currently oil taken from the south is funding the government and its struggle against its own citizens. In addition, the Nile River flows from the South to the North and has its source in the south. The fertile soil makes it the agricultural breadbasket. The North is desert, so control of water is a critical issue.

The North is predominantly Arab and Muslim; the South is African and a mix of Christian and animist religions. The West is African and Muslim. The current government has sought to extend Sharia law throughout the land and, to a large degree, seeks by force and policy to both convert the culture to Arab and the religion to Muslim. As you might expect this imposed change of culture and religion is unacceptable to the Christian population. In the West, the war seems to be driven by racism and greed, with African farmers and their families being the targets.

8. Why haven’t I heard of this situation before?

Sadly, the war in the South has gone on with only minimal attention from the general press. Over the years, it has created the displacement of more than two million people; some place the estimates at four million. The estimates of deaths are at least a million with some estimates as high as two million. Current estimates are that 2,500 are dying daily in Darfur because of war, starvation, dehydration, poor sanitation and treatable diseases. None of this is necessary; the government-sponsored militias are imposing it. In the deserts around the capital of Khartoum, hundreds of thousands of displaced Southerners live in terrible conditions. Often their refugee camps are bulldozed down and they are forced further into the desert. This has been going on for years.

In the South, there has been increased displacement and destruction of entire villages as a scorched earth policy has been followed to clear the inhabitants from the oil fields and allow unfettered access to the wealth of the country. The government has used men from the Darfur in its military incursions into the South.