RELIGIOUS LIBERTY PRAYER ALERT!Church Alliance for a New Sudan (CANS) Asks for Prayer for Peacebuilder in SudanFaith McDonnell August 20, 2009
We just received the following prayer request from our good friend and fellow Sudan advocate, Bill Andress of the Sudan Advocacy Forum in Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):
Bakata Peter Martin Bakata Peter Martin is a member of the Mundo tribe, a Psychosocial Training officer on the staff of RECONCILE, a ministry of the New Sudan Council of Churches. Bakata, who is the father of three small children, just lost his niece who also lived in Yei. He is a member of the Episcopal Church of Sudan and an experienced peace builder. Illustrating his sacrificing servant leadership and the depth of his faith, Bakata has just reached Lekwongole in the heart of the Murle who are embroiled in tribal warfare with the Lou Nuer. (Let me interject here to explain that the National Congress Party regime in Khartoum has done all that it can to escalate every tribal conflict and has supplied militias with weapons. Most recently we have learned that the NCP has distributed 79,000 AK-47’s in the hopes of wrecking South Sudan’s chance for peace. They have probably funded the militias generously, as well.) Bakata really struggled to get to Lekwongole, as there was no motor boat or road transport available so he spent 25 hours in a canoe to reach there - through a crocodile infested river. Who among us, with a young family, would have gone into such an area as a tribal foreigner, when horrible conflict is ongoing and braved such a journey to complete the mission? Had we started, I think most of us would have given up. Pray for the Lord's blessing on the peace-building workshop he is conducting there and for safety for him and God's peace on him and those he reaches! In His Service, Bill Andress Sudan Advocacy Action Forum
Bakata Peter Martin is a member of the Mundo tribe, a Psychosocial Training officer on the staff of RECONCILE, a ministry of the New Sudan Council of Churches. Bakata, who is the father of three small children, just lost his niece who also lived in Yei. He is a member of the Episcopal Church of Sudan and an experienced peace builder.
Illustrating his sacrificing servant leadership and the depth of his faith, Bakata has just reached Lekwongole in the heart of the Murle who are embroiled in tribal warfare with the Lou Nuer.
(Let me interject here to explain that the National Congress Party regime in Khartoum has done all that it can to escalate every tribal conflict and has supplied militias with weapons. Most recently we have learned that the NCP has distributed 79,000 AK-47’s in the hopes of wrecking South Sudan’s chance for peace. They have probably funded the militias generously, as well.)
Bakata really struggled to get to Lekwongole, as there was no motor boat or road transport available so he spent 25 hours in a canoe to reach there - through a crocodile infested river.
Who among us, with a young family, would have gone into such an area as a tribal foreigner, when horrible conflict is ongoing and braved such a journey to complete the mission? Had we started, I think most of us would have given up.
Pray for the Lord's blessing on the peace-building workshop he is conducting there and for safety for him and God's peace on him and those he reaches!
In His Service,
Bill Andress
Sudan Advocacy Action Forum
If you would like you may pray along with me for Bakata in this manner:
Father God, we thank you for your grace in the life of Bakata Peter Martin. We thank you for the heart of forgiveness, mercy, and reconciliation that you have given to him. Please protect him as he seeks to teach forgiveness and reconciliation through the power of the Cross, to the people of Lekwongole. We ask that your holy angels would surround him and do battle on his behalf in the heavenly realms. We know that your word says that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. We ask you, who defeated those powers and principalities and spiritual rulers and wickedness, to send your Holy Spirit to that place to bring such transformation in the lives of the Murle and the Lou Nuer, that all of Sudan would take notice and praise you for your mighty acts. Bring Bakata Peter Martin home safely to his family. In the name of the Prince of Peace! Amen.