Member of Embattled Church Freed!

Morning Star News 19 May 2016

Telahoon Nogose Kassa
Photo: Morning Star News

Telahoon Nogose Kassa, head of discipleship at the embattled Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church, was released after Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) arrested him without charges on December 13th, 2015. While it's unclear why Telahoon was released, according to Human Rights Watch, NISS can hold detainees for up to four-and-a-half months without judicial review.

During the night of December 13th, NISS agents went to the home of the 36-year-old Christian leader, ordering him to report to their offices. Upon doing so the following day, officials arrested Telahoon and took him to a detention centre in Khartoum.

No reasons for the arrest were given, though Telahoon was questioned for five consecutive days about his relationship with a foreign missionary who had attended a discipleship class. Sources believe that he was targeted for his Christian activities and his opposition to government interference with the church.

Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church has fought a government takeover of its property. Telahoon's arrest came four months after two South Sudanese pastors, Rev. Peter Yein Reith and Rev. Yat Michael, were released following eight months in prison on false charges of capital crimes due to their attempts to defend the church against the illegal sale of its property.

Although we are praising God for the safe return of Telahoon, and for the previously granted release of the two South Sudanese pastors, we do ask for prayer on behalf of a pastor from another church who is still in detention. Authorities arrested Rev. Hassan Abdelrahim Tawor at his home on December 18th. While no charges have been brought against him, NISS officials were said to have objected to his Christian activities.

More information about this case, as well as other reports on persecution in Sudan, are available at our Sudan Country Report. It is important to note that Sudan was recently subject to a United Nation's Universal Periodic Review on human rights abuses.

Country Information
Population
49,197,555 (2023 est.)

Ethnicity (%)
Sudanese Arab (70), Fur, Beja, Nuba and Fallata (30)

Religion
Sunni Muslim, small Christian minority

Leader
President (to be determined)
Transitional military leadership in place

Government type
Presidential republic

Legal system
Mixed legal system of Islamic law and English common law

Source: CIA World Factbook
Pray for Sudan
Pray that Christians throughout Sudan will continue to entrust themselves to Christ and preach the Gospel boldly, knowing Jesus is the ruler over the kings of the earth (2 Timothy 1:7-12, Revelation 1:5).

Pray also that peace, justice and religious freedom may be firmly established.

Sudan News

Church Building Destroyed While Authorities Watch

A demolished Pentecostal church building in Khartoum.
Photo: CSW

On July 8th, approximately 30 individuals equipped with heavy machinery demolished a Pentecostal church in the El Haj Yousif area of Khartoum as police officers and military personnel looked on without intervening. By the time the demolition was finished, the worship hall – which had been constructed in the early 1990s – was reduced to rubble, along with the church's administrative offices, guest house, and other adjoining buildings.

Read more...
Church Leaders Face Violence from Multiple Sides

A church in Sudan.
Photo: Flickr / David Stanley (cc)

The bishop of the El-Obeid diocese in Sudan recently suffered a harrowing ordeal at the hands of both members of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and those of the opposing rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF). On December 1st, Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali reported that he was travelling with a deacon named Joseph. The ministry team had just arrived in El-Obeid when they were suddenly stopped and harassed by the SAF. The troops seized the small sum of money in U.S. dollars that the bishop was carrying, claiming that it was forbidden currency. During the robbery, the soldiers also physically harmed the two men.

Read more...
Displaced Christians Driven From Their Homes

A group of people in Sudan.
Photo: Wikipedia / Nina R (cc)

Residents of the Al-Makniya area of Sudan's River Nile state drove 34 displaced Christians from their homes on October 19th. Those responsible for the displacement explained that they did not want any Christians nor black people in the area.

Read more...
Military Officers Arrest Christian Refugees

Photo: VOMC

Amid the ongoing civil war in Sudan, a group of over 100 Sudanese men, women and children travelled to the city of Shendi on the banks of the Nile River in search of refuge from the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary group, RSF. There, the refugees – most of whom are members of the Sudanese Church of Christ – sought shelter in an affiliated church building.

Read more...