“They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11:37b-38).
While in Sudan recently, I noticed shrapnel everywhere.
It is not uncommon to see the devastation caused by bombs and artillery shells when working in war-ravaged areas, but there was something distinctly different this time.
The targets were different.
In fact, according to the Geneva Convention of 1949, the targets were illegal.
Hospitals are being actively targeted by the Khartoum government, under the influence of Omar al-Bashir.
I visited two former hospitals that were targeted by the government of Sudan this year and have since been abandoned by foreign medical aid organizations.
One hospital had been targeted for aerial bombardment twice in the last eight months. Following the most recent attack, when 12 bombs were dropped on the hospital, the NGO operating the hospital decided to pull out of the Nuba region.
The Voice of the Martyrs and Persecution Project Foundation are now the primary providers of medication in the region. I visited the bombed-out hospital and met with the site manager. He told us that many people survived by climbing into a foxhole just outside the ward while two bombs exploded inside the compound.
There were several occasions when I had to jump into foxholes myself, or hide in caves, because of bombers overhead. I’ll share a more detailed story about that soon.
In this short video, you will hear a hospital worker describe patients scrambling for their safety in foxholes surrounding the hospital. Near the end of the video, you will see children running for foxholes and hear the drone of a bomber overhead.
These are not reenactments. This is reality for our dear brothers and sisters who live in the Nuba Mountains. Will you remember them in your prayers today?
Dr. Jason Peters oversees Global Partnerships and travels frequently to meet with our persecuted sisters and brothers. He has ministered in 39 countries, as diverse as Cuba, India, Sudan, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia and Nigeria. Jason ministered as a military chaplain for more than 18 years, with assignments at the Pentagon, the US Air Force Academy and as a faculty member of the Air Force Chaplain Corps College, where he directed Crisis and Trauma training. Jason and his wife Kimberly lived overseas for several years, where two of their five children were born.
Comments