Over the past year, Canadian Baptist Ministries’ partner the Faith Evangelical Baptist Church (FEBAC) of South Sudan, has been responding to the humanitarian crisis resulting from the brutal conflict that erupted in December 2013.
Attempts at reconciliation among the South Sudanese leadership have continued to be a struggle. Just days ago on November 2, President Kiir withdrew his negotiating team from peace talks being held in Ethiopia. With ongoing violence and displacement within South Sudan, thousands of refugees have continued to flee to camps in Uganda and Kenya.
The largest group of South Sudanese refugees is gathered in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Northern Kenya, where over 90,000 Sudanese people are now living, they are over half the population of the camp that has grown to 180,000.
Sadly, the conflicts and ethnic divisions of their country have followed these families into the camps. Over this past weekend, sexual assault accusations against one Dinka man led to mass unrest, as thousands of Nuer and Dinka refugees fought and by Sunday evening, 20 people were dead. This latest conflict is not the first within Kakuma. Only a week prior, a violent clash led to the deaths of 8 other men, among them was Athiei Machol, a relative of our friend Rev. Saphano.
Kenyan police moved in and restored calm, but this is a fragile peace.
Please pray with us for the people of South Sudan and especially for the countries leaders, that they might each make the courageous and sacrificial steps critical for peace. Please remember the church of South Sudan as we pray for the pastors and lay leaders of FEBAC who are seeking to restore trust and compassion across tribal identities in transforming conflict to lasting reconciliation.
So when the shoe fits
the foot is forgotten,
when the belt fits
the belly is forgotten,
when the heart is right
“for” and “against” are forgotten.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
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