Release International

A Sudanese bishop has called on the international community for help after guerrillas crucified seven Christians.

Militants from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) ambushed and murdered six of the Christians in a forest near the town of Nzara in Western Equatoria State near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. The seventh was snatched from a church in Ezo.

The LRA, a Ugandan rebel force influenced by Islam and the occult, has been terrorising southern villages for years but stepped up its attacks at the end of last year – training its sights particularly on Christians.

In their raid on Ezo, guerrillas ransacked a church and abducted 17 people who were mostly in their teens and early 20s. Thirteen of them are still missing. A further 12 people were abducted from a village close to Nzara. The LRA is known to conscript youths by force and to enslave captives.

Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio diocese has spoken out about the atrocities. He says the Sudanese Government has not done enough to tackle the problem – and is calling on foreign governments for help. 'Nobody is coming to our aid,' he says.

The bishop recently helped organise a three-day prayer vigil which culminated in a silent protest at government inaction, when about 20,000 people walked barefoot in sackcloth and ashes for two miles to Yambio. Thousands of people in Western Equatoria State are said to have fled their homes because of recent LRA violence.

(Sources: Sudan Tribune, The Catholic Herald)

• Ask God to strengthen His church in Western Equatoria State to stand against fear.
• Pray that officials will do more to protect southern Christians and rout the LRA.

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