[Today’s Prayer] Ethnic cleansing in Sudan, Africa, including massacres and kidnappings

In Sudan, Africa, where warlords have been waging a civil war for over seven months, voices calling for the international community's attention are rising as the tragedy of 'ethnic cleansing' recurs, with certain ethnic groups being killed or kidnapped and sold into slavery on a large scale.

According to the British weekly The Economist on the 16th (local time), armed members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) raided a refugee camp in the Darfur region of western Sudan for three days early this month, killing approximately 800 to 1,300 Masalit men. Local residents reported that they were hunted down and killed.

One video showed corpses scattered around the streets of the area, frightened people being dragged to genocide burial sites and people being beaten by RSF militants.

The Arab-led RSF, led by Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has been engaged in bloody clashes with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's government forces since mid-April, resulting in more than 10,000 deaths.

(omitted)

In this place, Mahdi, a 16-year-old boy, was kidnapped by RSF militants along with his brother. He was sold as a farm laborer, with his hands and feet tied with a rope and blindfolded, and spent ten days there.

He later told CNN that he managed to escape to the relatively safer neighborhood of Chad, but that his brother was killed by the RSF.

It is reported that their atrocities have reached their worst since the RSF occupied El Junayna in mid-June with the support of the Russian mercenary company Wagner Group.

Khalid, a teacher at a school in El Junayna, told CNN that he saw more than a dozen shackled women screaming while being whipped and dragged away by RSF militants.

He also added that he saw armed militants forcing women into a classroom at gunpoint, and then heard sounds of torture and sexual assault.

Human rights groups in Sudan said RSF kidnapped dozens of women from the Sudanese capital Khartoum and sold them to RSF strongholds in Darfur.

According to a report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) last August, RSF sexually assaulted dozens of women and girls in El Junayna from late April to late June.

(omitted)

Meanwhile, as the Sudanese economy is bankrupted from its foundations, including the financial system being paralyzed due to the prolonged civil war, material supply is disrupted and food prices are soaring.

As a result, about 20 million people do not have enough food, 6 million are close to starvation, and tens of thousands more are at risk of starvation if support is not provided in the coming months, The Economist warned.

However, government forces controlling the Sudanese port, which is a food import port, are blocking the passage of relief workers and food imports into RSF-controlled areas, making food aid difficult.

Especially, as RSF gradually took control of the capital, Khartoum, nearly three-quarters of hospitals and medical facilities there were closed, and the few hospitals operating in RSF-controlled areas were depleted of food and medical supplies due to the government military blockade.

(omitted)

Source: Yonhap News

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Say also: “Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. (1 Chronicles 16:34-35)

We are hearing the unfortunate news that due to the civil war between warlords in Sudan, Africa, certain ethnic groups are being persecuted to the extent of being kidnapped, sold as slaves, or killed, to the point of being called 'ethnic cleansing'.

In addition, Sudan's economy is in ruin due to the prolonged civil war, causing disruptions in material supply, and tens of thousands of people are said to be at risk of starvation if there is no support in the coming months.

Lord, how many souls are groaning in pain because there is no leader to rule Sudan.

Please allow the rule of Jesus Christ, who is good and kind, upon the land of Sudan and allow the gospel of life to enter the souls who are going through hell every day.

God of salvation, we truly desire for you to allow Sudan to live through your saving grace. May the Lord, who rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, still work in Sudan now and may we see miracles that will bring to the people to salvation.

May you wipe away the tears of those who are experiencing such heartbreaking events at this time, and help the global churches unite and pray together for the day that God will reigns in peace with His eternal kingdom.

Would you help them to be supplied with the materials, food, and medical services that are practically lacking through the prayers, and may you provide the sufficiency for the Sudanese people to share the grace they have received and spread it among all the nations.

Therefore, may the nation of Sudan become a nation that gives thanks to Your holy name and exalts Your glory to all nations!