God is at work in a Sudanese IDP camp

“Where is God when bad things happen?”

It’s a question that Christians have asked since the beginning. When wars, disease, crises and disasters strike, followers of God often join with the Psalmist as they ask: “Why have You forgotten me?” (Ps. 42:9).

The war in Sudan inevitably begs this question. The fighting that started in April 2023 has given way to the world's largest displacement crisis—and, as a result, the world's largest hunger crisis. The situation appears hopeless.

Yet, in southern Sudan we met Alia*, a displaced Sudanese Christian who reminded us that God has not forsaken His people. Her faith, independent of her reality right now, is a resounding reminder to fix our eyes on Jesus, author and finisher of our faith, even when it seems He is absent.

‘How many ways can I tell you we are hungry?’

“… It is the war that forced us to come here”, says Alia a mother of two, who fled with her family to a camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in southern Sudan. “We arrived on April 22, 2023 and up to now, we are going through hardship. The hardship includes war itself because we lost a lot of things. We lost some of our children and our houses.”

Alia is one of the millions of Sudanese people who have been displaced since the start of the war, which has been labeled the world’s largest displacement crisis.

“We lack everything … because we lost all things in Khartoum [the capital of Sudan],” Alia says, holding one of her children.

At the time we spoke to Alia, the camp where she and her family are staying was home to 20,000 registered IDPs. All have fled the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces.

But her situation isn’t limited to Sudan. A displacement crisis is occurring across the continent. Though the actors, setting and persecution narrative that often drives displacement in parts of sub-Saharan Africa differ, the conclusion is much the same.

“As we speak now, we are really hungry. We need food … All these children here, they are all hungry … It’s hunger that brought them here,” Alia says of the group of children who have flocked around the Open Doors partners.

The situation is dire and with any outsider that comes to visit the camp, there is a desperate hope that the visitors have brought food.

“Since the establishment of this camp, there has never been adequate food,” Alia explains. “They bring little and people don’t get satisfied at all.”

Hunger punctuates every sentence Alia speaks: As we are in these tough times, we are praying that God will bring His goodness and also help you so that you will be able to help us ...”

“Sometimes the food on the farms around here tempt us, and if the farmer would find you, it would be an added challenge,” Alia admits.

Being caught between the hungry cries of your children and possible beatings if you are caught stealing is a difficult place to be for any parent. It’s even more difficult if you are a believer hoping—trusting—that God will somehow make a way so you can feed your children without having to steal.

Looking around at the dry and desolate area, agony hanging thick in the air and in the eyes of those who mill around, it’s understandable why many Sudanese Christians that have fled the war feel that the global church has abandoned them.
Challenges and needs

As with many IDP camps Open Doors teams have visited in the past year, sickness is widespread. Coughs echo throughout the camp. “There are many diseases, we fall sick, we need medicine to cure us and our children,” Alia syas. “We have so many challenges and pray that what I say, God will hear and see my tears due to this situation and war.

“… we need water. We also need to be helped to have latrines. So that every house would have a pit latrine.”

Alia uses the opportunity of conversation with an outsider to highlight their many needs—and who can blame her? The utter desperation has made her bold.

“We also need schools for our children,” she says. “We don’t have enough schools but at least we have [some]. We still request if we could be assisted with more schools, hospital and water … The coming generation should not be the same as this generation. There should be positive changes. These children need to be taught to be good citizens. The school will instill in them education as well as discipline, this will help them in their future. They will be organized in their lives.”

Like so many parents in IDP camps, Alia wants a better life for her children. She wants them to go to school, to be productive and good citizens, live peaceable lives and freely worship God.

Now God is their only hope

“Without patience one would not endure, but we thank God we are still alive,” Alia says. “We are enduring and we have put God first to help us. We have not forgotten about God because He is with us always, day and night.”

Alia says it so matter-of-factly that you half expect Jesus to exit one of the makeshift tents. Her conviction that God is with them in this situation seems baffling. Yet, that is the wonder of God, and the lesson we learn from the persecuted church time and again—He uses the difficulty in our lives to draw us deeper into Him, so that we may call on Him with the same confidence as a child who calls on their father in the middle of the night for a glass of water.

“We haven’t stopped asking and praying to God,” Alia says. “And we know the challenges are heavy. I don’t have much and I couldn’t have been able to say much without God. Without God, we will do nothing. Without God, human beings will not be able to move from one place to another. We believe that God is the one who moves people from place to place.

“We’ve put everything to God, the Creator of heaven and earth. We are hopeful that God will bring blessings ... we also pray for you, that God may use you to help us … because we are defeated, and our hearts are broken.”

It’s perhaps the answer to the question “where is God?” Suffering and tragedy is a great mystery–but we can be sure that the Savior of the world suffers alongside us, including with the people in this IDP camp. Through our suffering, He draws near to the brokenhearted and brings hope where there shouldn’t be any.

Help to the most vulnerable

Delivering relief aid to those that have fled the war has been nearly impossible. In many parts of Sudan, intense fighting, general insecurity and restrictions on humanitarian agencies have prevented the delivery of relief aid. In January 2024, Open Doors—with the support of local church partners—were able to deliver life-saving relief aid to 3,000 families made up of 20,640 individual believers, including Alia and her family.

Each household received 5 kg (11 lbs) of sorghum, 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of salt, 2 bars of washing soap, 2 liters (about 2 quarts) of cooking oil and a small amount of financial support to enable them to address some of the unidentified needs.

please pray

To Alia, praying is sustenance. “In Romans 10:10 it says everything that you ask God, He will provide it for you,” she says. “And that is what we always talk about. I am still crying out, on behalf of my brethren. We pray that God will bring us peace. May God bring peace and console those who lost their loved ones.”

Pray for an end to the war and that both sides of the Sudanese civil war will lay their differences aside to enter peace talks.
Pray that God will make a way for humanitarian and medical aid to reach displaced people.
Pray for displaced Christians who often stand last in line when it comes to receiving relief aid. May God provide for them in all their needs.

GIVE TODAY

Will you support persecuted Christians in Africa by sending a gift today?

Every PHP 1,200 could provide emergency shelter to a Christian driven from their home.

Every PHP 2,000 can sustain a displaced believer with food, clothing and medical care.

Every PHP 4,350 could provide a month of education to a displaced child, to give them a future.

GIVE A GIFT

God is at work in a Sudanese IDP camp

‘How many ways can I tell you we are hungry?’

Now God is their only hope

Help to the most vulnerable

Will you support persecuted Christians in Africa by sending a gift today?

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