Sudan Update: The Crisis Continues
A Message from the Sudanese Support Team of the Presbytery of Des Moines
Though we hear little of it in our daily news broadcasts, the three-year war in Sudan rages on. For many of us here in the United States, it is easy to go on with our lives, unaware that on the other side of the world, a horrific humanitarian crisis continues to unfold.
A recent report from PBS Newshour provided an update on the current situation, where people continue to endure unspeakable suffering from violence, displacement and famine.
The PBS report, dated February 13, was an interview of American journalist Ann Curry, who was in South Sudan, near the northern border of the country.
Curry stated, “I think that there is a real wish that the world will know that people here exist and will care about their suffering, even in this time when we are distracted by so much else in the world, that we will know that these people matter.” She reports that there is acute famine in many of parts of the country – it is expected that more than 50% of the children may not survive in some areas. A massive gap exists between the tremendous needs and the available aid. Funding cuts for humanitarian assistance from the United States have caused increased suffering.
Curry said, “So hope is hard to find. But the ultimate hope is in us, is in the people in the outside world and whether we have the capacity, the compassion still within us to care for people who are suffering… in the largest humanitarian disaster in the world.”
We in the Presbytery of Des Moines have a connection to the Sudanese people through our sisters and brothers in Christ at First Arabic Presbyterian Church, most of whom have family and friends still living in Sudan and South Sudan. Please keep them all in your prayers. If you would like to donate to First Arabic Presbyterian Church, you can make a donation to the presbytery and in the “Note” box, type in First Arabic Presbyterian Church.
