SOUTH SUDAN CELEBRATES SECESSION

8/7/2024

SOUTH SUDAN CELEBRATES 13th ANNIVERSARY
of
SUCCESSFUL STRUGGLE for SECESSION

Self-determination leads to Independence
9 July marks a monumental answer to prayer as South Sudanese celebrate the 13th anniversary of their successful struggle for self-determination and secession from the Arab North. It was a major victory against the oppressive Sharia law of the National Islamic Front government of Sudan.

How South Sudan became an independent country on YouTube

Date with Destiny
9 July, in South Sudan, marks a date with destiny. It celebrates the culminative effect of many years of intensive prayer, worldwide publicity, international pressure and missionary partnership with courageous persecuted Christians in South Sudan and the Nuba Mountains.

The Youngest Country in the World
The longest war, in the largest country in Africa, was concluded with an independent and free Southern Sudan which separated approximately one third of Sudan’s land surface into a new and independent State on 9 July 2011.

Celebrations in Juba
The main celebration events take place in the capital of South Sudan, Juba. This involves their Declaration of Independence, Flag Raising Ceremony and Parades. The flag of South Sudan, a six-coloured flag, was the official flag of the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army. The National Anthem was chosen through a nationwide competition and the Coat of Arms bears an image of the African Fish Eagle. Their currency is the South Sudan Pound.

The Newest Country in Africa
South Sudan became the 55th country in Africa and the 196th country in the world. The official name is the Republic of South Sudan (RSS). Salva Kiir Mayardit has for the last 13 years been the president of the Republic of South Sudan, based in the capital of South Sudan, Juba.

Self-Determination
Independence on 9 July 2011 concluded the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005, signed by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and the government of Sudan. The CPA provided for the people of Southern Sudan to exercise their right to self-determination through a Referendum which was held in January 2011. 98.83% voted in favour of Secession.

Violence in Abyei
The Republic of South Sudan welcomed and helped settle South Sudanese who wished to return from displacement camps in the North. The government of South Sudan stated that they would recognize all legally acquired property rights and land ownership in the South. Some critical areas in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement remained unresolved, such as the final status of the oil-rich Abyei province, which has continued to be afflicted by violence from the North. The arrangements for the Nuba Mountains people of South Kordofan and others, in the Blue Nile, who still want to be part of the South, have yet to be resolved.

The Rocky Road to Democracy in Sudan
Following the successful secession of South Sudan from Sudan on 9 July 2011 the dictator of Sudan Omar al-Bashir was overthrown on 11 April 2019. Al-Bashir was placed on trial for corruption and genocide. A Transitional Military Council (TMC) was established. Massive protests resulted in a massacre on 3 June 2019 of around 100 people and a “march of the millions” on 30 June, which brought much of Khartoum to a standstill. Weeks of negotiations resulted in a power sharing agreement which sought to lead to eventual civilian rule. An 11-member Sovereign Council was established in which 5 civilian and 5 military members would work together with a civilian chairman elected by consensus and led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. At least 246 people died in this Revolution in Khartoum. Civil war has since broken out in the Arab north of Sudan.

Sabotage and Subversion
Opponents to the transitional government blocked the Red Sea ports to bring about shortage of fuel, wheat and essential medicines, to sabotage the attempted move towards freedom of speech, freedom of movement, freedom of conscience and abolishing Shari’a law, flogging, amputations and executions for, amongst other things “Apostasy.” Speculation within Sudan is that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have, with the Muslim Brotherhood, worked to undermine the transition to civilian rule in Sudan.

God’s Law or Chaos
Friends in Sudan have requested urgent prayer for their country is in this volatile time of transition.

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the Law.” Proverbs 29:18

Firm Foundations
By God’s grace, Frontline Fellowship used the window of opportunity provided by the ceasefire and unprecedented peace in Sudan to deliver and distribute thousands of Bibles and New Testaments and audio Bibles and tens of thousands of Christian school textbooks. This, along with leadership training programmes is laying solid foundations for the future.

Pray for Sudan
Pray for the many Christians caught up in this unstable situation in Sudan; that they would be steadfast and courageous during this time of uncertainty. Pray that what man means for evil, God will use for good (Genesis 50:20).

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

An Island of Christianity in a Sea of Islam
Pray for the many Christians in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan who have enjoyed an unparalleled time of peace during which many schools have been built and churches rebuilt. Unless the Islamists and Jihadists are frustrated in their attempts to return Sudan to Shari’a law, the Nuba Mountains could well experience a resurgence of hostile attacks.

Mobilise Prayer for the Persecuted
Please mobilise your congregation and prayer group to lift up our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in danger in Sudan.

You can view our Missions to the Nuba Mountains of Sudan video here

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ and members individually.” 1 Corinthians 12:26-27

Pray for South Sudan and the Nuba Mountains

Please join in with us in fervent prayer that the sufferings of our Christian brethren in South Sudan and the Nuba Mountains become known to the Church worldwide and that the persecutors be exposed and opposed.

Let us pray that peace with justice be firmly established in independent South Sudan and in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan.

Faith Under Fire in Sudan

Frontline Fellowship has delivered and distributed many hundreds of thousands of Bibles and Christian books in 24 languages, in 15 different regions of Sudan and South Sudan.

For the incredible testimonies of how Christians have endured centuries of persecution in Islamic Sudan and how courageous Christians in South Sudan won their freedom, read Faith Under Fire in Sudan (320 pages, 200 pictures) and see
Sudan: The Hidden Holocaust
and
Terrorism and Persecution – Understanding Islamic Jihad

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

View Behind Enemy Lines in Sudan

Video Interviews

Cush will submit itself to God.”
Psalm 68:31

Overcoming Scepticism
Initially, even the leaders of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) were sceptical that the map could ever be redrawn, as the African Union had resisted any changes to the borders delineated in the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885. I argued strenuously with Colonel John Garang, the leader of the SPLA and Commander Silva Kiir, the second in Command of the SPLA, that only independence for South Sudan could secure their future and freedom. Anything else would mean the continuation of oppression by the Arab North, as they would be a minority in their own country. Although Blacks are a majority in South Sudan, they were a minority in the whole country in Sudan. Missionaries had pleaded with Great Britain in 1955 not to include the Black Christians and animists of the South into an Arab ruled Sudan. Suggestions were made to incorporate Equatoria into Kenya or Uganda, but to no avail.

Islamisation and Arabisation
From the very first day of independence, 1 January 1956, the Arab North sought to Arabise and Islamise the South with brutal oppression, great devastation and loss of life. I showed from Sudan’s history and from the teachings of Islam, why the only way to be free of Shari'a law and Arab oppression was to fight for full independence and sovereignty of South Sudan and the Nuba Mountains.

South Sudan is Now an Independent Country
Although they were highly sceptical that it was at all possible, today South Sudan is an independent country and Silva Kiir has been its first president since 9 July 2011.

Purchase A Case for Secession from Christian Liberty Books