In Africa’s war-torn country of Sudan, the Darfur region has been facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Since fighting broke out in April 2023, markets have collapsed, millions have been displaced, and over 25 million people now face severe hunger.

NBC News recently reported, “Sudan is facing what the World Food Program has called ‘the humanitarian crisis of our time,’ as tens of millions struggle through sieges, blockages and aid shortages that have pushed entire cities into famine. What began as a power struggle between rival generals has since plunged Sudan into a brutal civil war that has killed more than 150,000 people and driven millions from their homes, while mass killings have increased.”

Sudan’s present conflict is not altogether a religious one; it is primarily a struggle for control — both military and political — between two hostile armed factions. However, both Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have devastated places of worship, arbitrarily detained members of religious minorities, and created a pervasive climate of fear.

USCIRF recently reported, “Indiscriminate attacks on Christian churches has been a recurring feature of both forces’ operations, reportedly forcing the closure of over 165 churches and severely limiting many others’ activities. In April 2023, just days after the war began, RSF fighters seized the Anglican cathedral in Central Khartoum for use as a military base, vandalizing the property as well as assaulting and forcibly evicting over 40 civilians who were taking shelter there.”

USCIRF states that the present conflict in Sudan is not predominantly religious; it is mostly a military and political struggle between two rival, armed factions. However, both SAF and the RSF have utterly decimated places of worship, while arbitrarily detaining members of religious minorities. This has resulted in a pervasive and dangerous climate of fear and insecurity. USCIRF’s report explains, “Such targeting, and the particularly chaotic nature of the conflict in which it takes place, has contributed to destroying Sudan’s social fabric and institutions of governance — a mere six years after the Sudanese people had ushered in a period of unprecedented hope, renewal, and systematic improvements in their country’s freedom of religious belief conditions.”

For over two years, as these attacks have continued to destroy lives, homes, and places of worship, Shai Fund has worked with trusted local church networks to deliver emergency food aid, shelter, and medicine to people across Darfur to reach remote areas cut off by violence and facing famine.

Meanwhile, the violence has escalated beyond belief.

El Fasher Falls

The city of El Fasher, the last major urban center in Darfur not under militia control, has fallen to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the group once known locally as the Janjaweed, meaning “the devil rides on horseback.”

The RSF has carried out house-to-house executions, revenge killings, and massacres of civilians targeting ethnic and religious minorities. Satellite imagery shows mass graves and trench-like formations. Thousands are fleeing through the desert on foot or in overloaded trucks, many dying along the way.

Shai Fund’s contacts on the ground describe unimaginable horrors: “Thousands have been killed within days. Many believers are hiding in underground caves. Some have been captured for ransom; others executed in groups. There is no food left — even traders were killed. The scene is too terrible to describe. Yet we have not lost hope in Christ.”

Another local pastor shared at least three Christians were killed in El Fasher, but the number may be higher with many still missing. There were more than 350 Christian families there.

“Millions of people have fled the hell of war in Darfur,” a pastor in the local underground church network remarked. “They are displaced and facing severe shortages of food, medicine, and shelter. Children are suffering from malnutrition, mothers are powerless to save their little ones from death, and countless families have lost their fathers. Thousands of minors have been separated from their parents.” 

According to the U.N. Human Rights Council, nearly 13 million Sudanese civilians have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety, and they have been displaced within the country or are living in neighboring countries such as Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia.

The Church under Fire

Amid this ever-increasing violence, Darfur’s underground church continues to serve. Pastors and local leaders risk their lives to care for Christians and neighbors alike.

The pastor continued, “The support you are giving — it has changed their lives and their children’s lives. Not only Christians, but even the community has been blessed. This has created a positive picture of the church among Muslims; as a result, we are recording hundreds of Muslims leaving Islam and joining Christianity.”

Through Shai Fund’s local networks, emergency food, medicine, and shelter continue to reach families in need, and faith remains a source of hope amid profound suffering.

Charmaine Hedding is the president of Shai Fund.