Those who persecute Christians in Sudan believe that Christianity is an alien faith in that country. In reality, during the time of the Emperor Justinian (AD 527-565), Nubia (modern-day Sudan) was a center of Christianity. Today, most of the small minority of Sudanese who are Christians are Roman Catholic or Protestant, and there is also still a small number of courageous Greek Orthodox Christians there. Click here for information about Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Khartoum.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in Sudan, see here.
“Christian Leader in Sudan Flees Kidnapping Attempts,” Morning Star News, February 15, 2023:
JUBA, South Sudan (Morning Star News) – An evangelist in western Sudan has gone into a hiding following attempted attacks by Muslim extremists, he said.
Ahmad Adam Mohamad, 49, of North Darfur state went into a hiding after his Muslim uncles accused him of apostasy earlier this month. He disciples about 25 Christians of Muslim upbringing, which has angered his relatives, he said.
Family members on Thursday (Feb. 9) sent a group of Muslim extremists aboard a vehicle to search for him, but he was not at home, he said.
“Again on Saturday, Feb. 11, another group was sent to my house with a mission to arrest and kidnap me,” he said, adding that he narrowly escaped.
Relatives had come to his house on Feb. 6 and threatened him, saying he must renounce Christianity and return to Islam, he said.
Mohamad, who put his faith in Christ 10 years ago, said relatives have been monitoring his house.
“The situation is extremely difficult – I am not safe at all,” he said. “I urge all the brothers to pray and help me get out from this area to a safer place.”
He has been moving from house to house to avoid being arrested or kidnapped by Muslim extremists.
The church leader said he has missed meals because he was unable to go to the local market to work.
“I have not eaten for almost two days now,” he told Morning Star News on Monday (Feb. 13).
Christians in Sudan, and Darfur in particular, are increasingly experiencing persecution from Muslims extremists. Similar cases have occurred over the past months in the region.
In Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Sudan was ranked No. 10, up from No. 13 the previous year, as attacks by non-state actors continued and religious freedom reforms at the national level were not enacted locally.
Sudan had dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in six years when it first ranked No. 13 in the 2021 World Watch List. The U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report states that conditions have improved somewhat with the decriminalization of apostasy and a halt to demolition of churches, but that conservative Islam still dominates society; Christians face discrimination, including problems in obtaining licenses for constructing church buildings.
The U.S. State Department in 2019 removed Sudan from the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) that engage in or tolerate “systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom” and upgraded it to a watch list. The State Department removed Sudan from the Special Watch List in December 2020….
