April 14, 2010
By Matthew Davies

Episcopalians in the Diocese of Missouri have been in deep prayer for their brothers and sisters in Sudan since the African country's first national elections commenced on April 11.

The election was scheduled to conclude on April 13 but Sudan's Election Commission extended voting by two days to compensate for delays in delivering ballots to polling stations; so the Missouri diocese has extended its 24-hour prayer vigil too, with individuals being asked to sign up for one-hour prayer slots.

The prayer vigil is available at http://diocesemo.qlubb.com/qlubbs/show. Log-in instructions are available from Beth Felice, diocesan communications director, e-mail bfelice@diocesemo.org, or call 314-255-1387. The invitation to participate is extended to those inside and outside the diocese.

The Diocese of Missouri entered into a formal companion relationship with the Episcopal Church of Sudan's Diocese of Lui in 2006 following several mission trips. As well as building friendships across continents, the partnership has enabled the diocese to build infrastructure, such as digging wells to provide clean water, after the 21-year civil war devastated the nation, claiming some 2 millions lives and displacing about 7 million people.

"The first visitors from Missouri diocese traveled to Lui in 2003, while the civil war was still active," said Lisa Fox, former chair of the Companion Diocese Committee. "The constant refrain of the Moru people then was, ‘We thought you had forgotten us, but now you have come.' That has been the refrain through the establishment of the covenant between Lui and Missouri in 2006, and to the present day. Now, our friends in Lui are asking our prayers [during] this anxious time in the life of their nation."

A recent announcement from the American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan acknowledged the complications and concerns surrounding Sudan's first democratic elections in 24 years. "Many Sudanese will have to walk for hours to cast their votes in an extraordinarily complex set of elections. International concerns center around voter registration lists, ballots, vote tabulations, the access of international observers to the polls, and the peace and security of the country during these days and following."

In the north, voters will be choosing their next president and members of the 450-seat National Assembly. In the south, voters also will elect a president of the southern Sudan government and members of its 171-seat assembly.

Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in January 2005 by the two warring parties – the Government of Sudan in the north and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in the south – bringing an end to a 20-year civil war.

Among the major terms of the agreement are the equitable distribution of oil revenues, drawing of fair borders, and the development of democratic governance throughout the country. But the northern government's failure to live into these terms and a recent increase in violence have threatened to undermine the election.

The peace agreement also set the date of 2011 for a special referendum in which southerners can vote whether to secede from the north or remain a unified country.

Fox said that prayers should be offered for free and fair elections in Sudan and for peace in the aftermath of the elections.

"As we pray, let us remember that the Episcopal Church of Sudan comprises the entire nation of Sudan – not just those in southern Sudan, but also those Episcopalians living in the Muslim-dominated states in northern Sudan," she said. "Let us remember all the other Christians in Sudan. Let us pray for people of all faiths in the Sudan."

Episcopal News Service
Matthew Davies is editor and international correspondent of the Episcopal News Service.