Mohammed Khidir Khalil Hassan, a Sudanese convert from Islam, has to be careful what songs he sings to his sons.

Nearly a year ago, after his wife left him and Christianity behind, a Sudanese court had ruled that as a convert from Islam he was forbidden to see his children, then ages 3 and 5. An appeals court overturned the ruling last October and allowed him visits, but he knows any pretext could be used to keep him from them.

During one recent visit, one of the boys asked him to sing a Christian praise song entitled "Hosanna," but he refrained – knowing his ex-wife and her Muslim family could use that as evidence that he was trying to convert the children to Christianity and automatically cancel his visitation rights. more >>

A mixed force of Sudanese police and national security officials have imprisoned three church leaders in Sudan; Mamedan Elia, Abdullah Said Balu and Stephen, who were serving in the "New Life Service" in Gideon College in Omdurman's Banet, in Khartoum.

The force resumed its campaign to imprison those who are part of Khartoum's Christian mission, including the Secretary of Student Services, Yousif Ali Said, and Administrative Director of the Church Father Barnabas Timothy.

It is unknown where the clergymen were taken. more >>

Having deported scores of foreign Christians and demolished several church buildings in the past few months, Sudan continued ridding the country of Christianity this week by raiding Christian bookshops in Khartoum and arresting Christians, sources said.

Men who described themselves as agents of Khartoum State Security on Monday (Feb. 18) confiscated books, films and archives from the Evangelical Literature Centre, part of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) denominational headquarters, church leaders said.

"They took everything – not a single sheet of paper was left on the shelves," said one church leader. "They took the cinema, old movies and tapes and archives. They filled a big truck with our stuff from the ELC." more >>

Evangelist Franklin Graham has agreed to hold an evangelistic event in South Sudan next month, answering a plea from churches in the violence-ridden region who believe that their only hope for their new country is a spiritual revival.

"The churches in South Sudan have asked that we come and hold an evangelistic Crusade so that people will hear the 'hope of the gospel' (Colossians 1:23)," wrote Graham last week in a statement from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. "They know this is the only message that can change lives for eternity and shape the course of their country's future."

South Sudan declared independence a little more than a year ago. Its capital, Juba, sits along the banks of the Nile River. Last May, the government of Sudan, a mostly-Muslim East African nation, began airlifting thousands of people to the mostly-Christian South Sudan, after all ethnic Southerners were dismissed from Sudan's civil service following the country's secession last year. more >>

JUBA, South Sudan – Authorities in Khartoum demolished two church buildings last week, days after confiscating three Catholic schools, sources told Compass.

Officials from the Ministry of Planning and Housing of the local government authority on June 18 sent bulldozers that destroyed a church building belonging to the St. John Episcopal Church of Sudan, in the Haj Yousif area, an area source reported by email. A Catholic church building in the area was also demolished the same day.

"The government wants to remove all churches from Khartoum," the source said. "Tell churches, all churches, to stand on prayer for the church in Sudan." more >>

The offices of the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) and the offices of relief organization Sudan Aid, both in the Darfur region, have reportedly been closed down by the Sudanese government without warning. Observers suspect Sudan's reported war on religious minorities, specifically Christians, may have been motivation for the closures.

Given the context of the Muslim government's reported animosity toward non-Islamic groups, the news coming from the SCC has attracted widespread criticism from the Christian community.

The Sudan Council of Churches' offices are located in Nyala, the main city of Southern Darfur state. The SCC officials told the press last week that on April 22, just as they came to work like on any other day, agents from the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) showed up, ordering the staff to hand over keys to the premisses as well as company vehicles. Then, the authorities ordered SCC staff to leave immediately, without providing explanation, the organization said. more >>