On 20th May 2011 the Northern Muslim army dressed rebels in SPLA uniforms, with an SPLA flag and singing SPLA songs they marched into Abyei, a town of 120,000 in South Sudan of mainly Christian Dinkas. They mingled amongst the civilians and then opened fire killing many people while others ran for their lives. The Arab army came in behind and have completely wiped out and destroyed the whole town. All the churches are completely destroyed, all the schools destroyed, the hospital destroyed and every single house and building destroyed except one. The Muslims only left one building untouched, the mosque. This is now being protected by the UN. Around the mosque are so called Arab traders who the pastors say are really Northern soldiers who have taken off their uniforms.
This is the third time the Muslim North have burnt and destroyed the church. They are trying to claim that Abyei belongs to them and that it is Muslim territory because of the oil, but that is untrue. The land belongs to the southern Dinkas and they are mainly Christian. Will you stand with them?
Many of the Dinkas ran to the village of Agok 35 km away. On the Sunday I visited, there were over 1000 adults at church. The people and pastors want to go back to Abyei and build the church and pastor’s house again but most of them ran for their lives taking nothing. They cannot afford the cement or zinc sheets for the roof. If they take the risk to go back and start to dig the foundation and make bricks will you take the risk to help them buy cement and zinc sheets for the roof? May Jesus once again be proclaimed and worshipped in Abyei.
