South Sudan

South Sudan

A New Nation Is Born By Eron Henry

B

aptists and other Christians in South Sudan are among those rejoicing at the founding of the world’s newest country. The

Republic of South Sudan was offi cially formed on July 9 after its citizens voted overwhelmingly for independence in a referendum held in January of this year. Independence was achieved after decades of war and bloodshed,

costing some two million lives and dislocating approximately four million more. Civil war broke out in Sudan in 1955 over political representation

and regional autonomy. With the formation of the South Sudan Liberation Movement in 1971, separatist guerilla groups joined a unifi ed command for the fi rst time in the long lasting confl ict. This led to the inauguration of the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region in 1972 under the Addis Ababa Agreement, which ended the First Sudanese Civil War. The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983 after the

president of Sudan abolished the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region and declared Sudan an Islamic state under Shari’a law, ending the Addis Ababa Agreement. This war lasted until 2005

Above: Members of the Agar Lmarol group from Lake state in Rumbek perform a traditional celebration dance during preparations for the

Independence Day ceremony in Juba, South Sudan, July 6, 2011. (REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya, courtesy www.alertnet.org)

with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the government of Sudan, setting a timetable by which Southern Sudan would have a referendum on its independence. The referendum was held January 9-15, 2011, with 98.83 percent of the more than 3.8 million voters casting their vote in favor of independence. Baptists, like other Christian traditions, have a strong presence

in South Sudan. However, the Sudan Interior Church (SIC), a BWA member body with approximately 40,000 baptized members in 225 churches, straddles the north-south Sudan rift in a hotly contested area of Sudanese oilfi elds. When war erupted in 1983, members of the SIC scattered to refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya and to areas of displacement throughout Sudan, particularly in the north. As a pragmatic attempt to minister to a church divided by war, the SIC formed administrative centers in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan in the north, and in Nairobi, Kenya, known as SIC-North and SIC-South. Though divided, for the next two decades SIC Christians worked to maintain ministry amidst situations of war, displacement and extreme poverty. With Baptist World Alliance funding, the Executive Committees

of SIC-North and SIC-South met for the fi rst time in April 2007 and agreed to pursue a course of reunifi cation, constituting a united

OCTOBER/DECEMBER 2011

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