News

Sudan: Temporary worship structures burned, Christians threatened

January 4, 2021

Persecution of Christians in Sudan: Sudan is a majority-Muslim country, although the area that is modern-day Sudan was long ago a Christian stronghold. Most Sudanese Christians today are Roman Catholic or Protestant; there is still a small number of Greek Orthodox Christians there. As incidents such as this indicate, Christians of every faith tradition are vulnerable.

May Almighty God protect the Christians of Sudan, alleviate their suffering, and allow their community to grow.

For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in Sudan, see here.

“Worship Structures in Sudan Burned, Christians Threatened,” Morning Star News, December 22, 2020:

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Muslim extremists in Sudan who have burned down a church’s worship structure five times threatened to kill congregation members if they put up another tent and continue worshipping, sources said.

Police this month arrested nine of the 14 radical Muslims who burned down the temporary worship structures of the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) in the Dar El-Salam area of Omdurman, across the Nile River from Khartoum, said the attorney representing the Christians, Shanbago Awad Mugadam.

Saying they didn’t want a Christian presence in the area, the extremists have burned down the structures on Jan. 19, 2019, and this year on Jan. 4, Jan. 19, Jan. 28, and Aug. 7, Mugadam and a Christian rights advocate told Morning Star News. The church decided to report the attacks to police after the Aug. 7 arson in spite of the threats.

When police refused to file a case, the church hired the attorney whose court actions resulted in police registering the case earlier this month and arresting the nine suspects. Five of the suspects remain at large.

After the Christians reported the attacks to police, one of the suspects told a church leader, “The presence of the church will destroy our generations,” Mugadam said.

The church has worshipped in the area since it began on Dec. 24, 1993. After the church’s building was burned down last year, the 150-member congregation set up tents to use for worship, with each one reduced to ashes along with Bibles and prayer books, sources said.

A Muslim extremist reportedly incited his son and 13 others to burn the church structures, according to the rights activist. Church members identified some of the 14 assailants.

The pastor of another SCOC church, the Rev. Kuwa Shamal, said the attacks were directed by Muslim extremists associated with the former National Congress Party (NCP), which was led by former President Omar al-Bashir.

“Radical Muslims have attacked the church more than one time, and the case has been filed against the attackers,” Pastor Shamal told Morning Star News….