Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, addressed a small crowd of his supporters yesterday in Darfur's capital of al-Fasher saying that he would not be cowed by his indictment on genocide charges nor would Sudan bow to the threat of international sanctions. A defiant al-Bashir charged that his indictment by the International Criminal Court's prosecutor is simply an attempt to foil his government's efforts to "restore peace in Africa." He asserted, "we will only bow to Allah, who is the sole provider."
The International Criminal Court filed ten charges against al-Bashir earlier this month for masterminding a campaign of genocide, extermination, and rape specifically targeting three Dafur tribes. The U.N. says about 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been uprooted over the past five years. These war crimes are startlingly documented in a film, New Seed of Sudan, produced by one of the new breed of missions organizations, New Seed of Hope.
More significantly, both the film and the organization affirm the reality that the future of Africa does not rest in the hands of brutal Muslim warlords like al-Bashir, or even in the courts of the international tribunals, but in the hearts of young men, like the returning “Lost Boys,” determined to forge a future of hope for their children and their children’s children.
Dr. Grant, thank you for posting this. This must be spread. It begs the question however; when will the church in America wake to action on a large scale realising that this is more than mere genocide but persecution against our brothers and sisters?
ReplyDeletePlease note I'm not demeaning genocide. Rather, I believe that using such a term tends to make it viewed as a political situation alone and slights the truth of religious persecution.
Dear Lawrence:
ReplyDeleteYour question could be more brief:
"When will the church in America wake?"