Southern Sudan Referendum: January 2011

        	              

January 12, 2011


From the EFCA ReachGlobal Ministry Team Leader, Southern Sudan




Southern Sudan villageIn 2005, after twenty years, the civil war in Southern Sudan came to an end. The peace agreement between the north and the south included a referendum to take place in January 2011. The referendum would be a vote to determine if Southern Sudan would secede (separate) from Northern Sudan and become an independent country or if the two would remain as one country. The polls indicate that the south will vote overwhelmingly to separate from the north.




As the EFCA ReachGlobal Ministry Team Leader for Southern Sudan, I have been in contact with our Evangelical Free Church of Sudan (EFCS) pastors since before the voting began and continue to talk to them daily. The current situation is calm and peaceful with the exception of the Abyei territory where fighting has broken out and threatens the stability of Southern Sudan.




The Abyei territory sits on the undefined border between Northern Sudan and Southern Sudan, and its people want to separate from the north and become part of Southern Sudan. However, the north does not recognize them as a southern state. Northern Sudan believes that Southern Sudan is encouraging the Abyei villagers to become part of the south. On the other hand, Southern Sudan believes that Northern Sudan is keeping the Abyei villagers from voting for freedom, resulting in the current outbreak of violence.




Please pray for Abyei and the villages along the north/south border in the midst of any conflict resulting from this referendum. The EFCS pastors are still cautiously optimistic that the election will bring a peaceful separation and the birth of Africa’s newest country, Southern Sudan. Their main concern is that the north may not respect the decision to separate if the majority of the South does vote this way. Pray that Northern Sudan’s President Bashir will accept the wishes of the people of Southern Sudan and that this referendum will end peacefully.



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