Dear Prayer Partners,
The appended communication from the Roman Catholic bishop of El Obeid reminds us once again of the desperate need for prayer for those cut off and suffering in the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile and Darfur in Sudan. Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile are being constantly bombed. It is civilians that are being targeted. Any evidence of human habitation is attacked. We are constantly reminded that women and children are the particular targets of this aggression. No help of any sort is being alllowed in. No journalists are allowed anywhere near these places. The one team (Daniel Bogado and Adrian Hartley)who managed to penetrate into the area and come back with footage have just received a Rory Peck Award for outstanding journalism http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20551724.
We need to pray. Have we forgotten these people? It feels like that to them because no-one seems to be doing anything to help them. We must pray and ask God to help us discover what we can do - what we should be doing - and then do it, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.
Blessings,
Trevor
Bishop Gassis writes:
NUBA, November 30, 2012 (CISA) -The people of Nuba Mountains in Sudan are calling on the church to remember them in prayer following the ongoing bombings in the area.
“The bombings are carried out on daily basis and what saddens me most is that even the universal Church seems to have forgotten us, the people of the Nuba Mountains. At least remember us in the prayers of the faithful during Sunday Masses.”
This was said by Bishop Macram Max Gassis, of El Obeid Diocese, in whose territory falls the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan State of
Sudan where for a long time a war has been going on between the government in Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Army-North
(SPLA-North).
“The first victims of this war are civilians, especially women,children and the elderly,” said the Bishop. “Recently the church of Heban was bombed, which thankfully reported limited damage. In the month of November, Khartoum launched 330 bombs, which caused 36 deaths, mostly women and children, and 22 injuries. 30 homes and crops were destroyed.”
“No humanitarian organization is present in the Nuba Mountains and the Church is the only presence of hope for these people, with our sisters
and four doctors and surgeons (2 Americans, a German and English). The only medical facility in the area is the hospital which I founded, with a capacity of 80 patients and now has over 500.”
“Many priests walk the paths that lead from the Nuba Mountains to our structure in South Sudan in Yida in Unity State, to take supplies and medicines. The journey takes 16 hours and under the threat of Sudanese bombers. I was abroad and asked the international community to implore the regime in Khartoum to stop the bombing on civilians, and to allow food and medicine to be brought to the exhausted people.”
