Monday 23rd August

Sudan Pop: 43.8 million Islam 91%

In 1956, gained independence from the . Decades of civil war followed, with the country divided by ethnic and religious differences.

Though fewer in number, northern Arab Muslims controlled the government with little regard for the Sudanese majority who occupied the south. , populated mainly by Christians and animists wanted freedom from the Arab Muslim north. In 2011, South Sudan voted for independence from the north of Sudan.

As a result of the north-south civil wars, it is estimated that 1.5 million people were killed. A continuing conflict in the western region of alone has led to 2.5 million people leaving their homes and 300,000 dead.

The violence has displaced some within Sudan, but many have fled to neighbouring countries, mainly South Sudan, , and .

In the province of Waddai in eastern Chad official estimates say there are 500,000 refugees from Darfur, although the number could be up to three times this figure.

In the northeast of South Sudan there are four refugee camps where the total official population together is over 130,000. Most of these are from the Blue State of Sudan. In north central South Sudan there are estimated to be at least 90,000 refugees from the Nuba Mountains in the southern area of Sudan.

There is a great spiritual hunger in these refugee camps. In South Sudan, where there is freedom of religion, the church is a powerful institution. There is freedom to proclaim the gospel leading to a great opportunity to reach Sudanese Muslims with the good news. The hope is that one day, Sudanese Muslim background believers will be able to return to their country and reach their communities with the gospel.

Today, the majority of Sudan's inhabitants are Arab Sunni Muslims. As the ruling majority, their influence over law and government is strong. There are restrictions on what is broadcast on TV and radio and the state influences what is published in the private press.

Thankfully, the new Sudanese government scrapped the death penalty for those leaving Islam, but believers in Sudan still face strong persecution. Christians comprise a very small minority. This has meant that many Muslims in Sudan remain unreached with the gospel and many workers are needed. Christians are able to enter Sudan, but are not allowed to proselytise.

Watch this short 90-second video about Sudan: https://vimeo.com/43975085 Sudan remains a spiritual and physical battlefield.

• In this nation ravaged by war, let’s pray for peace in Sudan.

• Praise God for government reform scrapping the death penalty for apostasy. Pray for government leaders to rule with integrity and justice.

• Pray that God would fan the faith of Sudan’s small community of believers to join Him in establishing His church among Muslims.

• Pray for the church to grow spiritually strong despite intense suffering and persecution.

Source of some material: http://prayercast.com/sudan.html

Tuesday 24th August

No one to send

God has a heart for the nations. There are over 5,000 Bible references to the nations by name including Greeks, Babylonians and Moabites or by allusion through tongues, tribes and nations. On average, that’s about five references per chapter, according to research done through Biblegateway.com.

In Matthew 28:18–20, Jesus commissions us to join Him in making disciples of all nations. He loves Muslims. He has a heart for Sudan. Yet we know that the vast majority of Muslims there have not yet met a follower of Jesus.

Not only do we have a mandate to make disciples of all nations, we also have an incredible opportunity to reach Muslims from Sudan living as refugees in other countries. In his book Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby says, “Find out where God is working and join him.”

Christians are reaching out to Sudanese refugees with the love of Jesus and the message of hope and life. Thousands who have received the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus now carry a burden for their people.

Workers are needed in Sudan, but it is not an easy country to move around in. A Frontiers worker who visited Sudan in 2017 with an Egyptian friend, said they had to go first to the capital Khartoum to register with the authorities and when they travelled outside the city, they had to register with the local police wherever they went. His Egyptian friend was struck by the harshness of life in Sudan. It is a desert country with tribal conflicts. There are tensions between the and non-Arabs. Although Arabic is the official language, some people groups do not speak this language and within their own language there are local dialects. In fact, there are over 90 different languages spoken in Sudan. The Bible is available in Arabic, but not in all the other languages spoken in Sudan.

Despite all the difficulties and obstacles, we are called to pray for the Sudanese people and to go to them with the gospel. One Frontiers worker was asked by a Muslim leader if Christians could be sent to the Sudanese refugees to teach them about Jesus, such was the need.

It was heart-breaking to tell him that there was no one to send who was able and willing to work in this part of the world. • Let’s cry out to God that He will call people to go to Sudan and proclaim the gospel to those who have not yet heard the good news of Jesus.

• Non-Arabs in Sudan are open to the gospel, as they struggle against the majority Arabs and so against Islam. Let’s pray that God will reach them both through dreams and visions and through believers who are there.

• Thank God He is beginning to do amazing things among Sudanese refugees. Let’s pray more workers will have a heart to go them while this opportunity exists.

Wednesday 25th August

Let’s praise God and cry out to Him for Sudan.

Listen to Matt Redman’s song, ‘Can a Nation be Changed’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rleUS9YPmt0

Let’s pray:

Our Father in heaven, have mercy on the people of Sudan enduring war and comfort them. Protect the vulnerable – orphans, widows and elderly. O Lord, shine your light in the midst of darkness. Comfort those who are mourning. Lord, wipe away their tears and embrace them in your loving arms. Strengthen the weary and afflicted. Only you Lord can give rest to one’s body as well as one’s soul. Provide for the homeless and hungry. Help them to find shelter and safety under your wings. May they say with confidence: “The Lord is my refuge and my salvation.” May they say with faithfulness: “The Lord will give His angels charge over us.” Lord, convert the heart of the oppressors to your will and bring an end to the war and suffering. Bless those who have reached out to the needy through prayer, giving and compassion. May all who endure suffering and sorrow, trust in the Lord and experience the power of the resurrection both in this world and in the world to come. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: Adapted from a prayer from Aid to the Church in Need, inspired by Psalm 90 and 91.

Thursday 26th August

Guhayna people Pop: 2,122,000 Religion: Islam (94%)

There are three major groups of Arabs who live in the Sudan: the Guhayna, the Gaalin and the Kawahla. The Guhayna (or Juhayna) are a collection of many Arab tribes that all have cattle herding in common. The heritage of Guhayna Arabs is found in the tribes of the deserts of . The Guhayna are a large collection of people of Arabic origin in Sudan who find their commonality in the language of Arabic and the religion of Islam.

The single thread of a common culture binds these Guhayna Arabs with other Arabs from around the world. A nomadic lifestyle is common for the Guhayna. Aspects of pure Arab life, such as rigid codes of honor, loyalty and hospitality, have remained in the Guhayna culture. The role of men in the Guhayna society, as in all other Arabic cultures, is extremely important. They are the keepers of the cows, goats and other animals. Children, and especially male children, are highly valued. Women are in a subservient position but are more liberal and dress more freely than many of their counterparts around the world.

Islam is the religion of the majority of Arabs, and most Sudanese Arabs likewise embrace the Islamic faith. It is common to find them stopping and bowing to pray whenever the call to prayer is heard, whether they are on the roadside or in their shop or business. They also practise the other four pillars of Islam, including the ritual fasting and the to the holy city of .

The historical link between Arabs and the Muslim religion is still strong. There are few Sudanese Arab Christians, and conversion from Islam to Christianity is not well-accepted and often comes with severe consequences. While there have been Christian workers in Sudan for many years, most concentrate on reaching the southern Sudanese and neglect the country's Muslim majority.

• Pray for creative means for church planters to live and work among the Guhayna • Pray against the many obstacles that hinder the word of God from the nomadic Guhayna. • Ask the Lord of the harvest to bring his glory to the families of central Sudan.

Friday27th August

Fezara people Pop: 381,000 Religion: Islam (92%)

The numerous Baggara tribes of northern Sudan share many cultural characteristics and claim a common ancestry. All of them speak an Arabic dialect known as Baggari that can be understood by both Arabic and speakers. Their name comes from the Arabic word bagar, which means “cow,” and refers to the various Arab tribes in Sudan (and surrounding nations), who herd cattle.

These Baggara tribes live in the plains of Sudan’s Darfur, North , and South Kordofan provinces. The Fezara have traced their origin back several centuries to the days before Mohammed. They claim to be connected to the Juhayna of the (region of north-western Saudi Arabia). Different groups tend to be concentrated in certain regions, but there are no purely Fezara areas.

Most of the Fezara tribe are herdsmen. Their herds are comprised primarily of cattle, although they do raise a few sheep and goats. Camels are kept for riding and as pack animals.

The nomadic Fezara live in camp units called furgan. Members of the furgan generally belong to one or more family line. The Fezara live in simple, dome-shaped tents, which are portable structures that can be easily packed and moved with the herds. The tents are built by placing saplings into holes in the ground, then bending them over and tying them at the top. Smaller branches are tied into the frame, then covered with thatch or canvas mats. The tents are arranged in a circle, into which the cattle are brought for the night.

Although most Fezara tribes are nomadic, there are some that live in farming communities or towns. Their houses are built of mud bricks and have thatched roofs. Corrals for the young animals are built inside the compounds. Grazing land is usually shared, but farmland is owned individually. The Fezara tribes are almost completely Muslim. Eight of the groups are Sunnis, while the others belong to the Malikite sect. All of them faithfully observe the “.”

• Pray that God will raise up long term workers to join those who have already responded. • Ask God to encourage and protect the small number of Fezara Muslims who have become Christian believers. • Pray that the Holy Spirit will complete the work begun in their hearts through adequate discipleship. • Ask God to raise up prayer teams to begin breaking up the soil through worship and intercession. Pray that the Christians living in Northern Sudan will be stirred with vision for outreach and a genuine burden to reach out to the Fezara tribes.

Saturday 28th August

Khartoum

Crosswalk.com states: “Community transformation is when a culture is impacted by the presence of God. His supernatural power flows into the city and affects every level of society. Cities are filled with spiritually homeless people who don’t know who they are or where they are going. There is emptiness without God and we must invite Him into our cities. Our communities are looking for identity and God’s presence is our identity. We must believe that revival and transformation will affect everything. We need a sense of purpose and the authority of God in our cities. Only Jesus can change a city and a nation. Jesus told His disciples: “Without me you can do nothing.” One day God will rule the whole world because He is God of all (Ezekiel 48:35, Isaiah 62:4).”

Khartoum is the capital of Sudan. Spiritually it is a desert place. Physically it lies at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers, where the two rivers unite to form the River Nile. It is a metropolis made up of three cities; Khartoum proper, Khartoum North or Bahri which is the third largest city in Sudan and which is the second largest city in Sudan. The total population of the three cities combined is estimated to be 5 million. Refugees fleeing war in the country live in poor settlements on the outskirts of the city. It is believed that hundreds of different cultural groups now live in Khartoum.

Originally an Egyptian army camp in 1821, Khartoum grew into a garrisoned army town. The Mahdists besieged and destroyed it in 1885 and killed Major General Charles George Gordon, then the British governor-general of the Sudan. Reoccupied in 1898, Khartoum was rebuilt by Governor- General Lord Kitchener and served as the seat of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan government until 1956, when the city became the capital of the independent republic of Sudan.

Historically, Khartoum had the highest concentration of economic activity in the country, but this has changed over the years, especially since the oil fields located in South Sudan were lost when the country divided in 2011 and since when economic activity has developed elsewhere in the country.

Nonetheless, with so many diverse people groups coexisting here and because it is a strategic city in Sudan, Khartoum still has a significant influence in this country. Imagine if people from each unreached people group and culture became believers, who then spread the good news to their families and out to their communities.

• Only God can change a city and a nation. Let’s ask God to transform Khartoum; that He will impact every person and this transformation will spread and change this nation.

• Let’s ask for God’s supernatural power to flow into Khartoum, bringing change to this city and then to this nation.

• Let’s pray for the authority of God to rule in Khartoum and ask that righteous political leaders would recognize and serve the true needs of the nation.

Source of some material: https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/prayer/how-to-pray-for-god-s- transforming-power-in-your-city.html