December 22, 2010

GENEVA – The General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Rev. Martin Junge has called for prayer and assistance over Christmas for the people and churches of Sudan in anticipation of the 9 January referendum on autonomy in South Sudan.

"Our hope is that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 between the respective Sudanese parties will hold, that the people of South Sudan will be free to vote in the referendum and free to choose the future direction for their region, and that whatever the result of the vote the consequences will play out in a way that is peaceful and respectful of human dignity," Junge said in a 21 December letter to LWF member churches worldwide.

"The situation in South Sudan and with Southern Sudanese in the North is tense. Many people are fearful. The already serious humanitarian challenges in South Sudan have been confounded by the movement of tens and tens of thousands of Southern Sudanese from the North to the South," Junge added.

While some of this movement is voluntary, Junge noted that much of it comes because of fear and intimidation. Many people have no place to stay as there are no organized reception centers. In addition, many people who want to move to the South have been unable to do so and remain in the North.

Junge urged Lutherans around the world "during this special time of Christmas" to pray for the people and churches of Sudan and to assist those in countries where the South Sudanese in diaspora are entitled to vote – Australia, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States.

"I urge you to reach out to those Southern Sudanese among you to help support them so that they may freely exercise their democratic rights," Junge wrote.

The LWF general secretary expressed gratitude to the LWF member churches for their continued support to the organization's work in Sudan mainly through the Department for World Service (DWS), its humanitarian relief and development arm.

Over several decades, DWS work in Sudan has included massive emergency airlifts of food and other supplies; assistance to refugees – particularly those in neighboring countries such as Kenya and Uganda – and support for so-called "Lost Boys" and girls in LWF-managed camps, and then with their resettlement. Through its re-established office in the South, DWS Sudan addresses the acute and long-term needs of returning refugees and internally displaced persons, and provides services to host communities. The program adopts an integrated approach emphasizing peace building, capacity building, disaster mitigation and preparedness, food security, water, sanitation and education.

The general secretary underlined the importance of collaborative work through the Sudan Ecumenical Forum and the Ecumenical Center-based ACT Alliance and World Council of Churches (WCC). The LWF does not have a member church in Sudan.

He expressed his backing for a similar call for prayers and support issued recently by the WCC General Secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in a letter to the organization's member churches.

"I wish you a blessed Christmas. May there be peace in the New Year throughout our world, and especially in Sudan," Junge concluded in his letter to the Lutheran communion.

More about LWF work in Sudan at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/lwf/index.php/themes/dws-country-programs/dws-sudan.

Lutheran World Information