January 7, 2010, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada:
Further to the December 20, 2010
Prayer Alert, the EFC’s Religious Liberty Commission is
calling for urgent prayer this weekend as Southern Sudan
will go to the polls on Sunday, January 9 in a referendum to
determine whether the South will seek independence from the
North.
The referendum’s results, and
reaction to those results, could push the country to the
brink of civil war and undo the fragile peace agreement
signed five years ago. Additionally, should the result be
independence for the South, the North has indicated that it
will not only become an Islamic state, but will not assist
Christians in returning safely to the South. There is
enormous potential of a rise in violence and bloodshed, but
also potential for an increase in the persecution of
Christians in both the North and the South.
In
light of this weekend’s impending referendum, the
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s Religious Liberty
Commission has released a
report titled
Religious Freedom in Sudan: Referendum on the North/South
Divide.
The
report shines a spotlight on the widespread discrimination
against Christians in Northern Sudan and how this
discrimination has contributed to the pitched ideological
divisions between North and South. Following the widely
noted expectation that secession of the South will be the
result of the referendum, the report then examines the
issues likely to impact negotiating post-referendum
practicalities, and reviews possible scenarios that might
follow internationally-recognized secession by the South.
Referendum on the North/South Divide
also surveys current
international political efforts toward a peaceful transition
to two states, and discusses the potential role of the
Church in these efforts. The report concludes by
recommending that the Canadian government continue its role
in regard to the referendum’s logistical needs, maintain an
active, sustained diplomatic presence to help improve the
plight of religious minorities in the North and standards of
governance in the South, engage with UN peacekeeping
initiatives if required, and support the work of NGOs in
developing the impoverished communities of the South.
Underlying the report is the assertion that the impact of
religious persecution in Sudan’s recent history requires
that religious freedom be a human rights and political
priority in order to secure a peaceful transition after the
referendum.
The
January 6, 2011 report is available on the EFC website at:
http://files.efc-canada.net/si/rfi/sudanreport-rlcv0106-3.pdf
Prayer
Points:
- Pray for the peace
of Sudan.
- Pray for a free and
democratic vote in this referendum, that the results
be supportable by all in Sudan.
- Pray that
international governments, including Canada, will be
able to support the results of the referendum,
encouraging the Sudanese leadership to hear and
accept the voice of their people.
- Pray that all the
people of Sudan would be free from violence and
suffering.
- Pray for the
Christians in Sudan, North and South, and for church
leaders – that they would, without hesitation, be
examples of the peace and the heart of Jesus to
their country.
Learn about religious freedom and human rights in Sudan
from:
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
Voice of the Martyrs
Open Doors
