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Spiritual food for starving Sudan Christians

Dorothy Siebert

Christian believers outside their burlap home in a Sudanese refugee camp

Thousands of Christian believers eke out a perilous survival in Sudan’s refugee camps, mere collections of dusty hovels lost in vast stretches of desert. Civil war tearing up the country for decades has left 5 million people homeless and cost close to 2 million lives. In February, Samir Youssef, producer of Arabic-language radio programs with Family Life Network (a ministry of the Manitoba MB Conference), sat in suspense in the military headquarters at Khartoum, Sudan. He hoped for permission to visit three refugee camps.

Samir Youssef (l) and a Khartoum church leader inside the van that housed 15 people during their visits to three refugee camps

On the application form to answer why he wanted to go to the camps, Youssef wrote, “I want to see the people. I love them so much.”

The soldiers laughed in his face. “You answer like that, and your application will be thrown out.”

“But,” Youssef reports, “I was granted an audience with a Muslim official, who asked me what I would do in the camps. I knew God would bless me only if I told the truth, so I said, ‘I will go and preach there. I have a special message for these people.’ It was a miracle. These Muslims allowed me to visit three different camps in northern Sudan and to take 14 church people with me. There were no water or toilet facilities; we took food and water along and slept in our vehicle. It was very hot.

“As soon as we arrived, the people clamoured to see the Arabic Jesus film, and they insisted I preach five times each day. I found many that love Jesus and are going through great suffering and persecution. Many more came to Jesus through the messages. These Christians have nothing, neither food nor medicines. ‘How can they live?’ I wondered. They are given the option of receiving food in return for embracing the Muslim faith. Most refuse. They were so happy for the medicines and clothing I brought from Canadian donors.”

In the city of Khartoum, Youssef preached in Christian churches. The persecution in this Muslim country is unique. Christians are allowed to gather publicly and are not openly threatened. But they are prohibited from holding jobs or receiving medical treatment. It’s a slow torture. “One Christian professional,” says Youssef, “has managed to keep his job. He supplies medicines and food to many people. His salary is not for himself; he feeds many Christians.

“We sat down, 12 men around a table, and I was asked to pray for the meal. I saw only a lump of hard cheese and some flat bread. Well, I thought, the meal will come after I pray. But that was the whole meal. And the women wait to eat what the men leave.

“Over and over in their meetings, they sang the chorus ‘Jesus is Number One’. I thought: ‘Why don’t they say food is number one?’

“I left my belongings in Sudan,” says Youssef, a native Egyptian now living near Vancouver. “I came back just with what I wore on the plane. As a speaker, I’ve always travelled with two pairs of shoes, one black and one brown. God showed me I only need one pair of shoes. Now, each time I sit down to a plate of food, I first pray for these people.”

Samir Youssef frequently travels to encourage the listeners to his Arabic radio programs, which reach into 18 countries throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Australia and Great Britain. Youssef is jointly employed by MBMS International and Family Life Network. This article was distributed as a Family Life Network news release.

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Last modified June 22, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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