SOUTH SUDAN CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY of SECESSION

SOUTH SUDAN CELEBRATES 14th ANNIVERSARY of SUCCESSFUL STRUGGLE for SECESSION
by Dr. Peter Hammond
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9 July marks a monumental answer to prayer as South Sudanese celebrate the 14th 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. When I began to minister in Sudan over 30 years ago, the situation was most severe. Sudan, then the largest country in Africa, was in the grip of the longest war in African history, under a radical Jihadist dictatorship, which enforced Islamic Sharia law on all.

Genocidal Scorched Earth
No missionaries were allowed; the government of Sudan were waging a genocidal scorched earth campaign against the Christians of Southern Sudan and in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan.

Serving the Suffering
Yet, by God’s grace, we succeeded in smuggling in hundreds of thousands of Bibles and Christian books, we helped to establish over 100 Primary schools and a high school, a number of Bible Colleges and Medical clinics and provide them with thousands of Christian textbooks.

Freedom for South Sudan
On 9 July 2011, South Sudan was recognized as an independent state and its secession from Sudan internationally recognized.

Please continue to pray for the Christians in Sudan and for ongoing mission projects in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan.

“Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have Faith.” 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2  Since 1995, I have been involved in the campaign for South Sudan’s independence. From 1995 to 2002, I conducted 27 missions to Sudan, delivering over half a million Bibles and books in 24 languages throughout Southern Sudan and the Nuba Mountains. During this time, I conducted over 1,200 meetings in Sudan and over 1,000 meetings, radio and TV programmes internationally, to campaign for South Sudan’s independence. This involved writing the book Faith Under Fire in Sudan, the third edition being three times the size of the original 1996 edition. I brought in filmmakers, such as Pat Matriciana of Jeremiah Films, to produce Sudan the Hidden Holocaust and Terrorism and Persecution and also assisted Samaritans Purse with their first films on Sudan and helped establish them in the hospital pioneered by Dr. Fraser in Lui.

Independence is Essential for Future Peace and Freedom
Initially, even the leaders of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) were skeptical 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.

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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 skeptical 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.

The Nuba Mountains of Sudan
Today we continue to campaign for freedom and independence for the Nuba Mountains, which is an island of Christianity in a sea of Islam. The courageous Nuban Christians continue to resist the Arabisation and Islamisation policies of the Khartoum government in South Kordofan. Redrawing of the map is absolutely essential to recognise ethnolinguistic, demographic realities and to avoid further loss of life and future conflict.

A Case for Secession is a timely Handbook for Self-determination, Freedom, Productivity and Prosperity. Drawing on over 4 decades, travelling across 42 countries and working in 38 countries, on 4 continents, missionary Dr Peter Hammond, presents eyewitness insights on numerous successful secession movements and presents the Biblical, historic, legal, constitutional, economic and practical case for self determination, secession and independence, with 23 examples of successful secession movements and examples of excellence that can provide a future and a hope for our children and grandchildren in the Cape of Good Hope. 

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