ENI – Despite the daily challenges in Sudan, the church – as it is in many parts of Africa – is growing. But they must contend not only with a nation that is rebuilding after two decades of civil war, but also with the presence (and growth) of Islam. Churches complain of rumoured conversions to Islam based on inducements of scholarships, money and material goods.
In South Sudan, the Episcopal Church of the Sudan with the help of the American evangelical organization Samaritan's Purse, recently opened 10 churches in one month. Where buildings do not exist, the church meets under trees.
Gatherings of 1,500 people or more are common at the Dinka-language service in the city of Rumbek, the capital of Lakes State, in the South Sudan region. A total of 5,400 faithful attended the outdoor Easter Sunday service.
Down the road, the Roman Catholic Holy Family church in Rumbek recently added a 7:30 a.m. English-language service to take the burden off the other three Sunday services (held in English, Arabic and Dinka languages). Bishop Caesar Mazzolari, an Italian-born bishop whose tan reveals his 27 years in the African sun, says in a country where Islam is always an appealing alternative, his church suffers from the lack of proper Christian formation. “If we don't have catechists who are mature, we can give only surface knowledge. Then, as Islam comes along, [Muslims] can easily punch through that superficial knowledge.”
