Today, my church participated in the Weekend of Prayer and Action for Darfur which was sponsored by Evangelicals for Darfur. I was given the honor of sharing about how our church could participate:
Before I begin sharing with you today about the situation in Darfur, I would like to read from the book of Isaiah chapter 58, the second half of verse 9 through verse 10:
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday. “The prophet Isaiah speaks quite a bit more eloquently than I ever could as to why the gospel compels us to care for the poor and the oppressed in this world. And certainly, by any standards, the suffering people of Darfur, Sudan, qualify as the poor and the oppressed.
In your bulletin, there is an insert entitled “Background on the Crisis in Darfur”. When you get a chance, please read this as it will give you more information about the genocide which is taking place there and how you can be praying in the following days and months. As an overview, since 2003, there has been a deadly conflict going on in western Sudan. This conflict has killed more than 400,000 people, and led to 2 million refugees. Thousands have been made widows and orphans. Thousands more have been sexually assaulted and brutalized. Unfortunately, despite a peace agreement signed in May of this year, the violence has only been getting worse. The displaced population from Darfur has been dependent upon international aid for survival, but now the violence has become so bad that even this lifeline is being pulled from them. The situation has seen a marked deterioration in the last two weeks, and has even spilled over into neighboring Chad where many of the refugees from Darfur are now confronted with the possibility of facing displacement, rape, and murder yet again.
Today we have a chance to play a small, but important, role in seeking an end to the genocide which has engulfed Darfur. A few weeks ago, an advertisement was placed in several national newspapers calling on President Bush to do whatever he can to get a more robust peacekeeping mission in Sudan. It was sponsored by an organization called Evangelicals for Darfur, and signed by over 20 of our nation’s leading evangelical leaders from across the political spectrum.
Now, as Martin Luther King said:
“When evil men plot, good men (and women, I might add) must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love.
Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice.”
So today we’re going to get together and do a little planning on behalf of the suffering people of Darfur.
First and foremost, we’re going to spend some time praying. We know that God is the only one who can bring salvation to the suffering people of Darfur - both from the injustices being perpetrated and into eternal life. And we also know that we are powerless to do anything about it unless he is behind us. So our action must be under-girded by the power of prayer.
But we are also Jesus’ body here on earth, and that means we have a responsibility to take action in response to our prayers. As a starting point, I want to recommend that we all follow the lead of the Evangelicals for Darfur organization and call the President’s comment line expressing our concern for the people in Darfur as well as our support for the President in pursuing an international peacekeeping force. If you go to the Evangelicals for Darfur web site, you can also sign an online email petition. However, in politics, phone calls are listened to more than emails, so please do both!
There is a box on the back of this paper with all of the information you need in order to make this call. This is a tithe of but ten minutes of our time, but it will show the world that the body of Christ is standing with the people of Darfur in this dark time. I would also encourage us to remain engaged in this issue - in prayer, and in action, in the weeks and months ahead. There are some great resources on the Evangelicals for Darfur website, including a link to the Save Darfur Coalition, which can help you to get involved.
Thank you all for letting me share this with you. Let’s pray with hope in God’s power to bring miraculous salvation from the injustice being inflicted on the people of Darfur.
If you are an American, please join us in calling the White House comment line (202-456-1111) to encourage the President to do more to stop the violence in Darfur. If you’re not an American, call your leaders with your concerns. The future of a whole generation of God’s children is at stake.
Update: Apparently, the day of prayer was moved at the last minute to December 10. Oh well, I guess we just got a head start!
