The Church in Sudan has called for urgent prayer for the country in the run-up to its historic referendum on Sunday 9th January 2011. The referendum will decide if southern Sudan will secede from the north and form a separate country. While it is a time of hope that could bring peace, there is also great fear that it could propel the country back into civil war. Over two million lives have already been lost in 21 years of brutal conflict.

Because the referendum is set to take place on a Sunday it provides a great opportunity for churches to focus on Sudan during their service, if they so wish.

To encourage your church to pray for Sudan at this time, AIM has prepared some material which you may find helpful. Here is a link where you can download a short PowerPoint presentation with a few prayer points to inform and focus our prayers: www.aimint.org/eu/files/explore/prayForSudan/prayForSudan.ppt

We also have a video interview with Sudanese Bishop James Lagos Alexander, which you can find here: www.aimint.org/eu/prayforsudan. It has been separated into smaller 2-3 minute clips should you like to use any of them at any stage. If time is limited then it is possible to select from the video clips and from the PowerPoint; whatever best suits your needs.

Revd Lagos stressed in his interview that God’s Universal Church is not separated by geographical or racial boundaries, but we are to continually pray for each other, and no more so than now with such an important date approaching.