Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 2:02am
Ecumenical team to visit Sudan
An international ecumenical team of church representatives will visit churches and ecumenical organizations in Sudan from March 26-April 2. The team led by the WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia will split in four groups to visit Darfur, Khartoum, Rumbek and Yambio before joining Sudanese church leaders, women and youth for a three-day conference in Juba, WCC news service reported Thursday.
The visit aims to express solidarity with the Sudanese people and listen to the churches in the country. Through visits to local Christian communities, civil society organizations, internally displaced people, humanitarian agencies and political representatives, the team will learn about their concerns, hopes and needs.
Organized by the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC), the visit is hosted by the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC). The ACT-Caritas Darfur Emergency Response Operation will facilitate the visit to the Darfur region.
A 20-year civil war between the north and south of the country killed some 2 million people and left more than 4 million internally displaced, ending with a peace agreement in January 2005. Since early 2003 western Darfur has seen an ongoing conflict between rebel groups and government-backed militias that killed between 200,000 and 400,000 and displaced an estimated 1,8 million while 200,000 fled to neighboring countries.
The visit aims to express solidarity with the Sudanese people and listen to the churches in the country. Through visits to local Christian communities, civil society organizations, internally displaced people, humanitarian agencies and political representatives, the team will learn about their concerns, hopes and needs.
Organized by the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC), the visit is hosted by the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC). The ACT-Caritas Darfur Emergency Response Operation will facilitate the visit to the Darfur region.
A 20-year civil war between the north and south of the country killed some 2 million people and left more than 4 million internally displaced, ending with a peace agreement in January 2005. Since early 2003 western Darfur has seen an ongoing conflict between rebel groups and government-backed militias that killed between 200,000 and 400,000 and displaced an estimated 1,8 million while 200,000 fled to neighboring countries.