Sudan Christian Leaders Condemn Destruction Pentecostal Church

By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

KHARTOUM (Worthy News) – Christian leaders have condemned the recent destruction of a Pentecostal Church building in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, calling it part of an increase in persecution against Christians in Sudan.

“We urge all Christians to pray so that this strengthens us in this persecution, and pray for the church in Sudan,” area Pastor Juma Sapana stressed.

He spoke after Worthy News reported earlier that civilians backed by Sudanese security forces destroyed the compound of the Pentecostal Church in East Nile, one of Khartoum’s largest suburbs.

Witnesses said bulldozers and trucks watched by police and troops were involved in demolishing the church building in the El-Haj Yousif area of East Nile at noon local time on July 8.

“It was shocking,” one eyewitness reportedly said.

Christians said the church, part of the Sudan Pentecostal Church denomination (SPC), constructed the building in the early 1990s.

AUTHORITIES DENY WRONGDOING

Officials initially gave no reason for demolishing the complex, which included a worship hall and administrative offices, sources said.

Authorities later told church officials the building was destroyed as part of a drive to remove “unregulated” buildings throughout Khartoum state, Christians recalled.

“Last month, Rafat Samir, a church leader and the chairman of the Evangelical Community Council for Sudan, warned that the future of the church in Sudan remains precarious under the [Sudanese Armed Forces] SAF’s de facto government,” explained Christian advocacy group Open Doors.

“They will target all churches in the outlying areas of the main cities and demolish them with a direct attack,” Open Doors quoted the church leader as saying. “As for the large churches within the city centers, they will target them by using other apparently lawful reasons to destroy the church buildings.”

Christians have urged the Sudan Council of Churches, an ecumenical body, to take notice of the latest religious freedom violation in Sudan, an Islamic nation.

Open Doors ranks Sudan 5th on its annual World Watch List of 50 nations where it says Christians face most persecution for their faith in Christ.

CHURCHES OCCUPIED

Besides ongoing destruction of church properties, “More than 100 churches, Christian buildings, and even private homes belonging to Christians have been forcibly occupied during the country’s ongoing conflict. There has been a spike in the abduction and killing of Christian men by radical Islamic groups,” noted well-informed Open Doors.

“Church leaders are targeted by false charges, including terrorism and apostasy, despite the apostasy law being abolished in 2020. Converts from Islam face violence, imprisonment, forced marriage, rejection, sexual violence, disinheritance, and losing custody of their children,” Open Doors stressed.

“Many are forced to flee their homes, or feel that staying is unsustainable. Christians are also experiencing exceptional hardship in the hunger crisis because local communities discriminate against them and won’t give them support.”

Warfare has added to anxiety among Sudan’s estimated 2 million Christians, who comprise roughly 4.5 percent of the African nation’s mainly Muslim population of over 43 million people.

Sudan plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a struggle for power between its army and a powerful paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

It has led to a famine and claims of a genocide in the western Darfur region, raising concerns in the United States government over human rights abuses.

MANY DEAD

More than 150,000 people have died across the country in the armed conflict, and about 12 million have fled their homes, aid workers say.

The United Nations has called it “the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.”

This week, Sudan’s military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan flew into Khartoum’s main airport. It was his second visit to the capital city since his troops drove out RSF fighters in March.

However, observers said General Burhan remains based in the eastern city of Port Sudan, suggesting that he “is still not confident” about permanently returning to devastated Khartoum.

Christians, who are often in the crossfire, face potentially more difficulties as Sudan’s oil-rich Kordofan region has turned into a new front line in the war between the army and rival paramilitary forces.

Both sides try to gain the upper hand over that area after attacks killed hundreds of civilians earlier this month.

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