In Response to the Terrible Horrors Occurring in South Sudan, the Global Church Must Mobilize Itself Like Never Before

By Manal al-Tayyar

News

Kidnapped at gunpoint, Bakhita was recruited by force to be a slave within one of South Sudan’s rebel groups. She was raped repeatedly over the course of two years. If she resisted having sex with one of the soldiers, she would get beaten and punished with additional chores to carry out.

Released at the age of 14, Bakhita is one of 311 children who were handed over to the United Nations in February 2018. This was the largest release of children by armed groups since 2015. Bakhita was not the only young woman in this group. In fact, about a third of the children released that day were female.

Some of the children, as they were being abducted by an armed group, were handed a gun and told to kill their own parents. Others were coerced into having sex with their own grandparents to stay alive.

Analysis

Forced into such cruel acts, these children are left with no parents to return to, a disfigured psyche and are burdened by traumatic events they will carry with them their whole life. The UN panel on human rights violations has documented “unspeakable cruelty against civilians, not just limited to wide-scale, brutal massacres and sexual violence but extending to individuals trying to defend themselves or their families [having] their eyes gouged out, their throats slit or being castrated.”

Although UNICEF is planning to provide the 311 recently released children with “civilian clothes, counseling, food assistance and vocational training as it tries to reunite them with their families,” many either have no families to go back to or are unable to trace them as a result of the hostilities.

Additionally, as if the situation itself was not grave enough, UN peacekeepers were themselves accused of sexually exploiting women in a protection camp late in February.

The question that lingers is this: to whom does one turn for help, security, and hope?

Theological Reflection

The situation in South Sudan is absolutely devastating. We are a sinful generation. As in most conflict situations, there exists neither a “good camp” nor a “bad camp.” Whether factional militia or UN peacekeeper, people are capable of carrying out atrocious acts. So we weep over the pain of a fatherless generation. Having been “set free” by the armed groups, yet this newfound freedom is the least of the problems these children now face.

In a March 2017 blog post, our colleague, Jesse Wheeler, states that,

Jesus […] rightly warns us, in a passage I am convinced is a first-century euphemism for the horrors of child abuse, that: ‘If anyone causes one of these little ones … to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea’ (Matthew 18:6, NIV).

In this passage, we perhaps get a glimpse of the heart of God and learn that our rage may be justified. But we must pray that this “righteous anger” might guide all who would call themselves followers of Christ toward the care, protection and well-being of those most vulnerable in our societies.

Some comfort comes from the fact that God, although silent He may seem, has surely seen the affliction of His people and given heed to their cry, for He is aware of their sufferings (Exodus 3:7). He will come down to deliver them and to bring them to a good and spacious land (Exodus 3:8).

Recommendations

Amidst the chaos surrounding us, we dare call upon all within the South Sudanese churches, those skilled as well as those who feel – like Moses – as though they lack adequate training and skills or feel unqualified for the job. All those who have or may lack the gift of public speaking, and all those who fear the oppression of modern day Pharoes. We dare call on all those who, in their inadequacies, are passionate about the pursuit of justice and mercy. May the churches in South Sudan play a role in facilitating a process of trauma counseling, reconciliation and forgiveness amongst such broken people and communities. And may the global Body of Christ stand beside their brothers and sisters in faith. May we take our shoes off and stand together on God’s holy ground, asking Him to speak to us about how He can use us to bring healing to this aching land.