Sudan 52 Week Prayer Guide

Week 11: Ministries - Multi Media (Jesus Film, Broadcasters etc.)

Week 12: For Called workers

Week 13: Spiritual Warfare.

Week 14: Forgiveness and Healing

Week 15: Mothers - their influence in the home

Week 16: Unreached Peoples groups - Arabs

Week 17: Children/Youth - Street Kids

Week 18: Woman - Farrah

Week 19: Islamic Sects - Taqfik wa Hijrah

Week 20: Social/Humanitarian Missions (Leprosy Mission, Street Kids etc.)

Ministries
Week 11 Multi-Media: (Broadcasters, Jesus Film, Worship Music production and distribution)

It was as far from civilisation as you can get. After 2 days of hard driving through desert terrain, some missionaries stopped to visit a family. Wanting to honour their guests, they fed them the best they have. After the meal, they pulled out chairs and beds under the stars. Then they fired up the generator, pulled out the television and satellite dish, and treated them to American television shows for the evening.

Technology knows no boundaries. People download music off the internet all over Sudan. Pirated movies fill the markets. Internet café's are everywhere in the capitol. Satellite dishes dot the landscape anywhere you go. Sudan, it seems, has fallen in love with technology.

This is an ideal environment for spreading the gospel through multimedia. The Jesus film can be put on CD and travel all over the country. Radio stations pick up Christian broadcasting. The next step though is to train local people in the development and distribution process, so that local languages can be used.

Would you pray with us that:
Translation projects of Multimedia would be finding enough staff. Writers and translators are needed. Native language speakers are needed. Skilled production personnel are needed.

Distribution could happen smoothly. It's one thing to have materials. It is another to get them into the hands of those that they can touch.

Production could happen at a local level. Equipment is available is some places, in others it isn't at all. There is little maintenance and fewer people who know how to repair broken materials.

Creative projects would be written locally, that are culturally sensitive but are powerful and purely evangelistic in content.

Labourers/ Workers
Week12 For CALLED workers.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!" And He said, "Go..." Isaiah 6:8-9a

For a Western missionary, used to a comfortable lifestyle at home, Sudan can be a very difficult place to live: It is hot. It is dirty. The electricity is expensive and bad. The government is full of red tape and rife with corruption. You and your family are likely to suffer from any number of illnesses: giardia, amoeba, malaria, etc. The food is strange. If a missionary lives outside of Khartoum, there will not be good schools for his children. On top of this, there is a spiritual darkness. Sudan is a fundamentalist Islamic state, that wants to continually remind the world that Muslims are the superior outcome of religious evolution and that Christians and others are to be patiently tolerated, only as inferior subjects.

What all of this means is that there are serious footholds that Satan can use against missionaries in Sudan. If missionaries do not have a strong sense of call, if they do not know that God has put them in Sudan, they will not stay. They may, in fact, do more harm than good. The converse is also true, that if God has truly called a missionary to live in Sudan, He will provide a way for the missionary to be there, and give the missionary grace to live among and love Sudanese people.

Please pray not only that God will call missionaries to Sudan, but also that those who go will be the ones He calls. Pray that people whom God is calling will have a clear unmistakable understanding of that call. Also please pray that God will give them grace to live in a difficult place.

Spiritual Warfare/ Supernatural Occurrences
Week 13 Dreams and Visions
Dreams and Visions.

He is blind. As far as I know, he has never seen another human being. Yet, that night in his dreams, he saw someone. This person was surrounded by light and spoke words of comfort and love. He didn't recognise the man in the vision, but from the description, we knew immediately that he had seen Jesus.

If logical reasons were enough, Muslims would simply abandon Islam en masse. Like the apostle Paul, their faith is rooted so deep though that many who might otherwise acquiesce to the need for Jesus as Saviour can not overcome that final barrier to reject Islam because of their preconceived ideas. Others are simply blinded to any possibility of truth outside of Islam. To reach these people, our Lord sometimes appears to them in dreams and visions. There are many stories from Sudan like this.

Would you pray that the Lord would increase His direct intervention in the lives of the Sudanese people by visiting them in dreams and visions? Pray specifically that they might receive Jesus as their Saviour as a result of their dream or vision.

The Local Church: raised up for Kingdom purposes.
Week14 Forgiveness and Healing/ Deliverance
Healings and Deliverance.

It was supposed to be just a simple meeting but when the praises started, Fatima fell to the ground and started writhing. Noises like a hissing angry cat started to come out of her mouth. The believers gathered around, prayed, and the Lord delivered her. The pastor said that there are still some problems. The lady has been coming to church and going to witch doctors to find solutions to her problems.

Healing and Deliverance were an essential part of the Jesus' proclamation of the advent of the Kingdom of God. Thousands were healed and delivered. In this country, both are dire needs. Malaria and other diseases affect many. Outlying areas are some of the least accessible to medical professionals in the entire world. No one knows how many are afflicted with AIDS. Because of the nature of the way AIDS spreads, it would cause great shame in this Islamic nation to admit the existence of the problem. Thousands live in need of the touch of a healer's hands.

The possessed are also here. You see them on the street at times. Other times, they will come in and disrupt church services. Families sometimes hide them away from the public eye. The Sudan is steeped in Sufi-ism, the mystical pagan side of Islam that deals much with demons, spirits and the otherworld. You can't go anywhere outside the capital without seeing the tombs of Holy Men. Sufis hold festivals where they whirl around and work themselves into a demonic frenzy.

Jesus had no tolerance for the influence of the demonic in people's lives.
1. Pray that workers would have the authority of Christ and the boldness to cast out demonic spirits, and to lay hands on the sick and see them recover.
2. Pray that these displays of power would lead to conversions, not just to people coming to see the power of God displayed.
3. Pray that those who are delivered would clean up their lives and not continue to mix Christianity with pagan practices.

Leaders
Week15 Mothers - their influence in the home. / Primary nurturing role.

While it is true that Islam tends to be easier on men than on women, it is also true that in Sudanese society women are playing an increasingly visible role. Twenty years ago it was uncommon to see women drivers - now they are everywhere. In the universities the majority of the students are now women. Women are even cracking into the mans' world of politics. Sudanese Muslim women are very diverse. There are liberal Muslims who resent Islam and its teachings and fundamentalist women who are so conservative that their veils are veiled - and everything inbetween.

Sudanese mothers play a crucial role in the family. They are the primary source of influence in childrens' life. Grandmothers are known to be a source of local wisdom and traditional culture. It is in the home that children spend the bulk of their childhood and Sudanese mothers have an equal if not stronger voice in that haven than the men.

· Please pray for Sudanese mothers. They often do not have as much exposure to the gospel as the men. Pray that they will come to Christ and influence their progeny likewise.
· Pray for some initiatives that have recently been launched to reach Muslim women. Pray for creativity and protection.
· Pray that radio programming and Television broadcasting will be developed that is interesting and convicting to Sudanese mothers and women.

Unreached People Groups.
Week16 Arabs

"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous." Matt 5:44-45

There are at least 16 million people in Northern Sudan who would call themselves or their tribe Arab. Arabs run the government and the war with the south is often described as Arab against African. Despite use of the name Arab, most Arab tribes in Sudan would not have originated in the Arabian Peninsula but are actually Arabised Africans. These tribes at some time in the past were converted to Islam, adopted Arabic as their primary language and began to try to imitate Arab culture. Today, it is part of the Islamic agenda to arabise all Northern Sudanese. As a result tribes like the Beja, Fur, and Nubians are being seriously eroded and their people converted to Arabs.

There are, today, at least 10's and perhaps 100's of Christian believers among the Northern Sudanese Arabs. Good evangelism tools, such as the Jesus Film, exist in the Northern Sudanese Arabic dialect and there are missionaries actively at work among the Arabs.

Pray for the Arabs of Northern Sudan that their hearts will be softened to the Gospel. Pray that God will use the Islamic pressure applied by the government as a means of bringing openness to the Gospel. Pray that the missionaries, both foreign and Sudanese, will have a bold and effective witness. Pray for Sudanese Arab Christian believers: that God will protect them; that they will find good fellowship and be formed into churches; and that they will have a bold and strategic witness to their families and neighbours.

Youth / Children
Week17 Street Kids

Her name is Mariam. During the day she goes to school. At night, she begs in front of an Ice Cream parlour frequented by foreign workers. She carries her baby sister on her hip to get more sympathy. His name is Ahmed. He should be in school, but he has been orphaned by the war. His begging is filled with urgency. If he doesn't meet a quota, the man who controls the street kids in his neighbourhood will beat him. And of course, he doesn't get to keep the money he gets from begging.

No one knows how many street children there are in Khartoum. Tens of thousands is a low estimate, most would put the number in several hundred thousand. They roam the street, sleep in the gutters, steal, beg, and fight to stay alive. They have no medical care. Periodically, the government will round them up and take them no one knows where, perhaps to fight in the South. The amazing thing is that most of these kids are addicted to the lifestyle. If you take them in, they will be gone within days.

Would you pray for the street children of Sudan that:
People would have compassion on them. There is very little patience for these street dwellers. They too need to hear the message of salvation.

People would reach out to them. Giving them money is usually not the solution. Giving them love often is.

Groups working with these children would see results. There are several groups in town that reach out to these children.

Women
Week 18 Farrah

Farrah prepares herself for her annual trip to her homeland in eastern Sudan from the capitol Khartoum. Every day, for weeks before travelling, she sits above the dukhkhaan, a hole in the ground used for burning incense that will perfume the skin. She makes a trip to a kind of sauna and has a friend paint beautiful designs on her arms and feet with henna. She spends lots of time picking a new tobe, (the four-meter long cloth that Beja women wear) new sandals, and even nail polish to match. Pray that Farrah and other women like her will know the love of Christ and devote themselves to inner beauty with as much effort as they give to beauty treatments for the outer self. "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewellery and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful." 1 Peter 3:3-5

§ Refugees
Fred and Maggie and their three children are Sudanese living in a western country. Fred hopes to return to Sudan after two years, the amount of time required for citizenship. Both Maggie and Fred are well educated and before moving were open to talking about God. Maggie takes care of the children and the whole family is taking English classes. The adjustment is difficult, but they are taking it day by day. Pray for Fred and Maggie as they raise their children. Pray that God will open their eyes to His love and guidance. Pray that they would be able to raise their children in the knowledge of the love of Christ, and be the mother and father of Proverbs 1. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck." Proverbs 1:7-9.

Islamic Sects
Week 19 Taqfik wa Hijrah

A woman covered from head to toe walks into the electricity office in Khartoum. Her eyes watch the world from behind a one way screen. She does not even greet men much less shake their hand. She glides silently to the front of the line - and all the Sudanese men waiting patiently part their ranks to allow her immediate access to the teller. She is an obvious member of Takfir wa Hijra.

The Takfir wa Hijra sect is possibly the most extreme of all Sudanese Muslims. Their name suggests their bias: Takfir comes from the word "Kaffir - unbeliever" and the word "hijra" is connected to leaving/being separate. Basically the sect Takfir wa Hijra believe everyone else (including other Muslims) are unbelievers and they must come out from among them and be separate.

While there are obvious challenges in reaching this sect, there are also some great opportunities. Many of these Muslims have a sincere desire for holiness and truth. Their arrogance and pride in works is a tremendous barrier, but not one that is impenetrable to grace. In contrast to other fundamentalist groups with political leanings, Takfir wa Hijra has no great desire to engage in the political sphere. They are a holiness and legalistic movement within Islam.

· Please pray for members of the Takfir wa Hijra sect in Sudan. The desire for holiness is God birthed. The chains of legalism are humanly shackled. May the Lord fan the fire of holiness and expose the vanity of human effort to be pure. Pray that this widening discrepancy drive members of Takfir wa Hijra to search for answers in Jesus.

· Pray that the Lord of the Harvest sends workers to specifically work among the fundamentalist sects of Sudan. Because of the imposing nature of their social interactions, they are not an easy group to be trusted by. Pray that missionaries and local Sudanese Christians would have greater acceptance and favour in these extreme communities.

Ministries
Week 20 Social/ Humanitarian Missions: (Leprosy Mission, Street kids, Christian NGO's: Med Air etc.)

If there is a problem in the world today, it is most likely represented in the Sudan. Guinea worm has almost been eradicated from the world. Yet the numbers in Sudan are ten times greater than in any other country. It was once thought that the Jazeera in eastern Sudan would feed all of Africa, such is its potential. Yet relief organisations struggle all over the country to keep people from starving to death. Donations of wheat keep people alive. Major cities run out of water and don't have adequate electricity, aren't connected to the rest of the country by tarmac roads.

Into this wasteland of need, relief organisations have stepped in. Many are Christian, and are doing a wonderful work in the areas where they minister. However, because of restrictions from the Government, the face many problems. Fighting continues in areas all over the country, not just the south. Displaced people can't be reached because of the security situation. Government bureaucracy makes it difficult for these organisations to travel around the country.

Finally, the humanitarian needs are so great, the staff often have no time for sharing a Gospel witness, so overwhelmed are they by just keeping people alive and managing their daily workload.

Would you pray that:
More Christian organisations would be granted access to Sudan and the areas the need help.
The Government, particularly the office that handles relief and development, would not make life so difficult for those trying to help the people. Those who minister would not be so exhausted by the work that they wouldn't have the energy to share Jesus with people.