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Worship Songs Close Sudan Church

by | Wed, Jun 29 2022

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Two Christian leaders in Sudan have been arrested following a complaint over their church’s worship songs.

The pastor and evangelist were in the middle of a Bible study at a Baptist church in the city of Omdurman when police officers detained them.

The Christian Post reports their arrests were triggered by a Muslim neighbour who lives close enough to the church to hear the singing.

When he heard his own children singing the worship songs he feared they might convert to Christianity, so he filed a complaint with police.

A court charged the pair with violating public order and ordered the closure of their church.

The leaders were released on bail, but if convicted, they could be jailed for up to three months.

In a website statement about the persecution of Christians in Sudan, the US Open Doors advocacy organisation says:

“Since the 2019 coup that ousted Omar al-Bashir who ruled Sudan for 30 years, the situation for Sudanese Christians has somewhat improved.”

“The government has changed its policy of considering Christians enemies and agents of the West. However, social attitudes about Christians have not shifted and the society is still majority-Muslim and suspicious of any other faith.”

“The government has not put real protections into place for Christians and other religious minorities. Even with the change in official status, confiscated churches and lands have yet to be returned to their Christian owners. Trying to build new churches is extremely difficult.”