Have you all seen this? Sudan Declares State of Emergency as Clashes Continue
I don’t really have much more to say about that.
In April of last year, we wrote more than twice as many
posts than we have written this month. I think it is just difficult to know
what to say when there is no good news. My mind is overwhelmed with it. I
really like to write to process what I am thinking, but I have nothing to say
now. Maybe three months from now when I am sitting in my sun-filled apartment
in Boston drinking coffee I will have something to say. But not now.
A friend wrote me an email to ask what people here were
saying about the conflict, so let me just copy and paste part of my response to give you an idea of what we are seeing and hearing here:
In answer to your question about what people in Juba are
saying... Well, I think many people are very guarded right now as they wait to
see what the North will do next. What has been striking though is how few
advocates for peace there are here. When I asked a friend of mine who works for
a peace program if the military was recruiting people to join, he laughed and
said that if the North continues in this way, they won't have to recruit. He
said he would join himself. Even in the church, pastors and bishops seem united
in their desire to fight, which is really unsettling. Their formal position is
that they want peace and that is what they pray for on Sunday morning, but I
heard one say sure, he would go to the war zones with Bibles, but only if he
were backed up with an army ready to fight!
A friend in Tonj even told us that street kids are showing up to the SPLA compound in droves, ready to become soldiers, just like their fathers did at about the same age. And that's what really gets to me. It is one thing to see adults make bad decisions, but to see kids get swept up in this mania and sign up for the same lives that have traumatized their parents... it is just too difficult to even think about another generation being destroyed in that way.
Prayers welcome.
-Stephanie
Not to make light of the situation, but I think you're right about 3 months from now in Boston -- that's approximately the only time of year in which any apartment there IS sun-filled . . . (Sorry, John, I know I'm not supposed to say bad things about Boston, but I gave you the boost on long-distance before, so I have to right the balance now)...
ReplyDeleteOn a more serious note, I've been listening to book-on-CD What is the What, and I think the most disturbing part of it to me is the way that the characters (novelized versions of real Sudanese kids) see joining up with the war effort as the only way to get the North and al-Bashir to back down. Tell me again why there isn't someone else trying to support this new country's sovereignty? And why have peace agreement negotiators not learned that leaving a border vague and undefined is a recipe for disaster?
I guess all I can say is, I'm glad you and John are there to show that SOMEone, SOMEwhere cares about the situation in Sudan. Prayer is definitely forthcoming, both on behalf of peace and on behalf of life.
I was wondering if "light-filled" was an appropriate way to describe our future apartment, but I decided to be optimistic...
DeleteJohn is totally going to have to buy me a light box to sit in front of all winter.