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The president of Southern Sudan recently reaffirmed with an international ecumenical delegation that his government remains willing to work closely with churches.
Salva Kiir Mayardit, who was receiving representatives from the World Council of Churches, said his government “remain[s] committed to work side by side with the churches” last Thursday during a meeting in Juba, Southern Sudan, according to WCC.
"As the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SLPM) has always stood for the people, we have no problems with the churches," said Kiir.
"But our churches are very poor," Kiir added, "so they need the support of the international ecumenical family.”
The meeting took place at the end of an eight-day solidarity visit to Sudan organized by the WCC and the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) and hosted by the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) from March 26 to April 2.
Delegation members came from all over the world “to listen and to see what Sudan is going through at this time,” the Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, WCC’s general secretary, explained to Kiir.
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Kobia added that the international makeup of the team showed "how much the constituencies of the WCC and the AACC are committed to journey with the people of Sudan through the Sudanese churches and the SCC.”
During meetings, delegation members and local church leaders discussed how churches could help in building peace and reconciliation in the war-ravaged country.
The 21-year conflict between the predominantly Muslim north and the majority Christian and animist south has resulted in the deaths of some 1.5 million Sudanese. The war – the longest civil war in Africa – officially ended in 2005 with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, but there have been signs of the agreement’s unraveling with the South accusing Khartoum of not fulfilling its end of the bargain.
Besides the high death toll, the north-south fighting also destroyed at least 500 churches in southern Sudan. Franklin Graham, who heads the Christian humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse, has vowed to rebuild over the next several years.
Sudan is also torn by the conflict in its western region of Darfur which has led to what the U.S. government labels as genocide. The Arab-dominated Khartoum government is accused of unleashing Arab militia known as janjaweed on ethnic African rebels in Darfur.
Between 200,000 and 400,000 people have been killed in Darfur and about 1.8 million people have been forced to flee their home and another 200,000 Darfurians have taken refuge in neighboring Chad and the Central African Republic.
In addition to local church leaders, participants of the international ecumenical visit met the Director for Gender and Child Welfare Regina Ossa Lullo, and the acting Director for Religious Affairs Moses Telar Cindul, both from the Government of Southern Sudan.
Kobia also met with the Minister of Guidance and Endowment Hassan El Tinghani, whose office deals with Muslim and Christian affairs, in Khartoum.
