MISSIONARY TRIP TO SUDAN—Reported by Emil Hagamu, August 24 – 30, 2010

My visit to Sudan was occasioned by two years of communication and correspondence with Mrs. Elizabeth Nyanaut, National Coordinator for the Family Commission in the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sudan. I had dearly wanted to visit this country, the largest in Africa (geographically), with a population of about 35 million people. I wanted to see and understand the state of the family and the battle for life, particularly in light of the wars that have been raging there. War has devastated western Sudan, the Darfur area, which has borne untold suffering and displacement of its inhabitants; as well as the south, where the African people are demanding independence from the Arabic Khartoum-dominated government.

Northern Sudan is Arabic and Muslim, while southern Sudan is inhabited by people of African descent. During my trip, I stayed in the northern city of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, where Islamic religion and culture are clearly identifiable from the many mosques decorating the region, to the official Arabic language, the way people dress, and the Islamic calls to prayer that permeate the city.

Business begins

I began my missionary activities with a brief presentation of my pro-life ministry to 36 workshop participants who had been meeting to learn natural family planning methods. The participants came from all the different regions of Sudan to meet at St. Paul’s Major Seminary, which is situated on the banks of the beautiful Blue Nile River. The Blue Nile merges with the White Nile in Khartoum; the waters of these two rivers form the lifeblood of the city’s residents.

I presented on the cultures of death and life, explaining what John Paul II affirms in The Gospel of Life, that “an international conspiracy against life” is being waged by Western population controllers. Though abortion is still illegal in Sudan, many abortions are taking place, particularly among young women. Fortunately, Sudan is among the only five countries in Africa that has neither ratified nor acceded to the pro-abortion Maputo Protocol legislation – along with Egypt, Eritrea, Tunisia and Botswana. Use of contraception in Sudan is very low, despite the many population control groups trying to push it on the people. Muslims in Sudan simply want to multiply their numbers; contraception and abortion are considered great crimes against Allah, their God.

My two-hour presentation was followed by questions and recommendations. Participants expressed their desire for a nationwide pro-life program to empower people to reject Western population control policies hidden in their government’s development programs and proposals. They exclaimed to me, “Imagine! This vast country has only 35 million people, and yet we are told to adopt contraceptive family planning practices and are encouraged to have small families of two children.”

Seminarians

My next pro-life presentation was made to 56 Seminarians of St. Paul’s Major Seminary. The vice rector, Fr. James Pab was present. My two-hour talk centered on how seminarians as future priests can be effective agents of the culture of life. During the talk, critical issues of a pastoral nature kept coming up and were discussed – such as how priests should deal with discordant couples; how they should handle cases of marriages where one spouse had been displaced as a result of the wars; and the question of mixed marriages between Christians and Muslims.

A few seminarians seemed to have succumbed to the idea that when death poses a serious threat, the baby should be aborted to save the life of the mother. At this point, the vice rector made a clarification using moral theology teachings on “good intentions and good results on the one hand, and bad intentions and bad results” on the other hand. I emphasized the fact that a medical doctor who is treating a pregnant woman should always take into consideration the fact that he is treating two people, the baby in the womb and the mother carrying that baby. The doctor’s intention should be to save the lives of both the mother and the baby. If he were to make a decision to kill the baby in order to save the life of the mother, he would be acting out of bad intentions and be responsible for willful killing.

Journalists

My third pro-life engagement was a three-hour meeting with 16 journalists who represented different media houses.  Media information in this country is highly censored, so giving a talk to journalists is a sensitive matter. I focused on discussing abortion and the Maputo Protocol.

To add weight to my words, I showed the journalists several abortion videos that HLI distributes, The Silent Scream, The Genocide in the Womb, The Slaughter of Innocents and The Hard Truth. Seeing these videos, the journalists understood the atrocities being committed against innocent and defenseless unborn babies. At one point, when watching The Slaughter of Innocents, two women (journalists) could not control their feelings. Crying silently, they stood up and went out of the room! They came back later only after the show ended. “Abortion,” they said, “is a horrible reality.” One journalist remarked that if these films were shown to a great number of people, especially young people, incidences of abortion would decrease drastically. Another participant said, “If our president, Al Bashir, were to order us to lock indoors all minors and let the adults watch these films through the national television, there would no longer be women who would go for abortions. Abortion thrives on ignorance. If women were to see how they are being humiliated, how they are being injured, how they are drawn into brutality, abortion would have no place in our society.”

Talking about the Maputo Protocol, participants praised their government for not ratifying and acceding to it. They said that the Maputo Protocol is a projection of yet another form of modern imperialism which is driven by commercial interests of Western population control groups to control the economies of developing countries.

Meeting Bishop Antonio

On Sunday, August 29, I was privileged to meet His Excellency Bishop Antonio Menegarse, Apostolic Administrator to El Obeid Diocese, who has been in the country for 53 years. He was the head of the Pastoral Commission of the Episcopal Conference of Sudan, which facilitated my visit.

In our meeting, he explained the difficulties the Church in Sudan faces on a daily basis. In short, he said the Church in Sudan is a “suffering Church.” He gave the example of how many Church properties have been either demolished or confiscated. My host, Mrs. Elizabeth Nyanaut, took me around and showed me a vast number of these properties. I saw one church that had been turned into a government museum. On a different property, St. Comboni had been buried in the church there; after demolition of this sacred site, a Mosque was erected in its stead. I was shown yet another area which once belonged to the Church but was taken by the government; the statutes and crosses were all destroyed. One sad story related how a government officer had ordered a statue of Mary, the Holy Mother of Jesus, to be thrown into the Nile River. (Only two weeks later, this officer died in a plane crash in southern Sudan.)

Plans for the Future and Lessons Learned

My visit to Sudan was a great success. All the groups I met expressed the need for continued help; I was asked to return with even more intensive training to equip them to fight the culture of death, which is slowly and steadily penetrating their society. One participant suggested the Bishops’ Conference should arrange for me to travel to each of Sudan’s dioceses to conduct pro-life training. A youth group proposed I return to train youth groups throughout the country. From such expressed desires, I realized HLI is very much needed in Sudan. And I strongly believe HLI’s presence will make a big difference. Given the people’s present positive pro-life mentality, HLI could help build a solid foundation for the culture of life in this country.  And a strong pro-life base would be a critical spiritual counter to the wars and killing that continue to devastate Sudan.

I trust that God will intervene in Sudan’s conflicts and bring a lasting solution – a peaceful co-existence of all who inhabit this country, the largest in Africa. I am deeply indebted to HLI Central, who provided the necessary funding for this trip. I especially extend my esteemed thanks to all HLI supporters and donors. Their financial and material support for my work is very crucial in defeating the culture of death in the region. I also extend my deep gratitude to my host in Sudan, Madam Elizabeth Nyanawut, who warmly welcomed me and made all the necessary preparations for my visit. The welcoming hand of the Bishops Conference and Sudanese people was a key factor of the mission’s success. I want also to thank my wife and children for their understanding and patience during my times of missionary work, when they miss my presence as husband and father of the family. I pray that the Almighty God will continue to shower His blessings on all that we do for His glory.