Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)
Nov 09: Sudan
Sudan
Republic of Sudan
Africa
See Prayer Information
Geography
Area: 2,503,890 sq kmAfrica’s largest country. Desert in the north, merging into grasslands and mountains in the centre and tropical bush in the south. Straddling the Nile Rivers. Nuba Mountains in the centre.
Population: 43,192,438 Annual Growth: 2.22%
Capital: Khartoum
Urbanites: 45.2%
HDI Rank: 150 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)
Peoples
Peoples: 246 (56% unreached) All peoplesUnreached Peoples Prayer Card
Official language: Arabic and English Languages: 134 All languages
Religion
Largest Religion: Muslim| Religion | Pop % | Ann Gr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christians | 11,277,546 | 26.11 | 4.8 |
| Evangelicals | 6,336,018 | 14.7 | 6.4 |
| Muslim | 26,511,518 | 61.38 |
Challenges for Prayer
Less-evangelized peoples are many in the west, east and north of Sudan. Also, some peoples in the Nuba Mountains and in the south are still largely unreached. Pray especially for these:a) Darfur Province was Christian a millennium ago. Though one of the least-evangelized areas in the world, there are now handfuls of believers in many of the peoples of this region. The Daju, Fur, Masalit, Midob, Tama/Kimr and Zaghawa all number among the least-reached peoples in Africa. Pray for outreach to them in this most difficult of areas. Tearfund, Operation Blessing and the major denominations in Sudan minister through relief and aid; pray that the love of Christ might also be shared.
b) The Beja on the Red Sea Coast were famed as the “Fuzzie Wuzzies”. They were once Christian, but now practice folk Islam. There is limited ministry among them. Only a few Christians are known.
c) The Nubians of the Nile valley – an ancient people with great kingdoms – were Christian for 1,000 years. Relentless Muslim pressure led to their Islamization 600 years ago. There are only a handful of believers today. Several Christian agencies have ministry to them.
d) The nomadic and semi-nomadic Baggara tribes in the central belt of the country are numerous, but few have had much exposure to the gospel, and little is done to reach them. They speak three to four major Arabic dialects, but many are of non-Arab origin.
Missionary activity is seeing a dichotomy in its fortunes. Pray for these:
a) Ministry in the north. The government expelled 13 NGOs in 2009, drastically reducing not only the number of those working but also the capacity to deliver aid. Agencies are allowed to operate in the north but find working under the government’s thumb very difficult. Many indigenous ministries, especially connected to the churches, work in and around Khartoum, but they focus mostly on Christians. Outreach to unevangelized peoples is quite limited.
b) Burgeoning activity in the south, especially since the CPA in 2005. Many ministries work in south Sudan but retain offices in Kenya. Besides notable expat-originated missions – such as CMS, SIM, AIM, Pioneers, Tearfund, Open Doors, Frontline Fellowship and others – there are also cross-organizational groups such as ACROSS and Sudan Partners, which collaborate to develop the indigenous church’s capacity to do mission and ministry.
c) African missionaries to Sudan, increasing in number and stature. Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya and other nations send workers and entire teams to work with both Christians and the unreached.
d) The calling and preparation of indigenous and expatriate workers to evangelize the many peoples of the north who have never heard the gospel. Presbyterians and Baptists have recently seen a burst of missions vision and desire for collaborative ministry.
For an additional 11 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
