About Sudan

Sudan is a country in north east Africa that is composed of three distinctive regions. Northern Sudan has a mostly Arab population and is controlled by an Islamic government which is headed up by President Omar al-Bashir. He currently has arrest warrants for crimes against humanity issued against him by the International Criminal Court and is the only current sitting head of state the ICC has even indicted. He recently won reelection in polls that no western nation has endorsed as free and fair.

The Darfur region in north west Sudan has been in the midst of a civil war (which lead to a genocide) since 2003 between the Arab and African residents of the region. The conflict is very complicated due to the mass amount of non-governmental armies that are involved in the fighting. Bashir’s ICC arrest warrant stem from his role in the Darfur conflict. It is estimated that around 300,000 people have died since fighting began. Recent peace talks have helped stabilize the region, but the humanitarian need there is still great.

In Deed And Truth Ministries operates in South Sudan, a semi-autonomous state whose population is mostly Africans with a mix of Christian and indigenous beliefs. South Sudan has spent forty of the last fifty-five years entrenched in a civil war with the northern government. The war was responsible for the deaths of two million people during its last two decades. With the enemy primarily consisting of Muslims, Christians in South Sudan have seen intense persecution. Over five hundred churches were burned down during the war, and thousands of Christians were martyred.

January 2005 brought new hope for South Sudan when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed. Fighting ended and the people of South Sudan were able to set up their own government with limited influence by the main Sudanese government. Stability has allowed for much greater foreign investment and the people of South Sudan to work towards building normal lives again. Even though issues with the North over control of the oil rich border region, incorrect distribution of government funding, poverty and crime remain issues for the the South, the people as a whole have a much better life than they did 10 years ago.