Christians in the Southern Sudan have suffered hunger, famine, starvation and death. The present war is no longer just a civil or political war, but also a religious war between Christians and radical Muslims. The current Islamic government in the Northern Sudan insists that it has a natural right from Allah (God) to impose Islamic laws and a religious state. In the south we, as Christians, feel we have the right to our own religion and a secular democratic state.

Why are Christians suffering in Sudan? Because of their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. They are dying and starved to death because they refuse Islam. Children are abducted, women are raped, civilian areas in the Nuba Mountains and the town of Rumbeck in southwestern Sudan have been bombed, crops and livestock are destroyed. Despite all this, Christians in the south stand firm in their faith because they believe that Jesus honors faithfulness, and that he is fighting with them.

Christians are resisting genocide as radical Muslims are determined to impose the Islamic religion upon them and to turn the south, which is rich with natural resources (gold, gas, and uranium), into an Arabic state. The suffering of the Christians in the south has been worsened by the support of China, Iran and Iraq for the central government.

For example, the government of the north is using food, instead of bullets, as a weapon. Large numbers of people are killed by deliberate starvation.

Children, separated from their parents when everyone is running for their life, are taken to the north and sold as slaves, even young girls. They are forced into Islamic learning centers. Muslims provide food to children who learn Islam. There is food at the center, but children have to be taught from the Koran before they can eat. Children who do not learn can be arrested because their parents did not send them to the center.

In the city of Khartoum, Christians cannot build. There are two settlements on the outskirts, Jarbarona and Jabel-awuliya, where Christians build little houses. They have no electricity, no food and no water. The United Nations provides food for them, but it must go through the government. The government takes the food and sells it in the market.

In 1991, when I was a student leader at the University of Juba, a crisis took place. The current military government of Omar Hassan Al-Bashir came, with policies of Arabization and Islamization. Five colleagues and I who taught Christianity to school children at Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, were detained for two months in the military headquarters because we opposed policies harmful to the Christians. We were tortured and finally released because of pressure from Amnesty International. A few months later, secret police tried to detain me. Thank God I was able to flee the country.

I ran for my life.

After bribing the police, I took a bus from Khartoum to Kasala, a border town between the Sudan and Eritrea. Afraid of being sent back and "disappearing," we paid 5,000 Sudanese pounds (about $3) to residents to guide us around government check-points and to Zalambassa. We waited there for a bus to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. At that time, Ethiopia detained Sudanese to send back, so we request asylum. It was granted and we were told go to the Jama refugee camp. There was no food in Jama camp and locals attacked for any food or money. There were criminals and non-criminals in camp. There were recruiters for Sudan Liberation (rebel) Army; that was our last choice. We prayed to get out. God heard our prayers and a friend from Khartoum came with 9,000 Ethiopian bil (money).

Our friend bribed us out and paid our bus to Moyale, border town with Kenya, where we destroyed our passports. We again bribed police and rode eight hours in a truck to Masabit, where we were detained; then to Isolo, where we were detained and finally to Mio. In Mio, we were sentenced for illegal entry, but because we had kept University of Juba identification and I speak English, I explained our reason. The judge was a very good person and sent us to Nairobi for camp money and documents, then to IFO refugee camp.

The camp is not safe in itself. Life in the camp is unceasing misery from lack of food, water, security and education. Everyone in the camp thinks that this is the end of life, and for some people death is inevitable.

There are Somali refugees, who are Muslim, also in the camp. Somali refugees cannot live with "infidel" Christians. A Somali girl told her father that she had been raped by a Sudanese man and that she had bitten the man's hand. The Somali refugees, who have brought guns into the camp, came to take the Sudanese leaders to UN representatives. Each Sudanese man had to stand in line while his hands were checked. No bite marks were found.

In another incident, Somalis claimed that the Sudanese ate their donkey. It caused a lot of fighting and the UN intervened and sent Kenyan soldiers.

The Kenyan police treat people badly. Refugees cannot go into Nairobi, even for medical attention, without a UN permit. Sometimes, even with permission, the Kenyan soldiers take permits and say refugees crossed the border illegally unless they are bribed.

I was deeply concerned about my future in the refugee camp when, fortunately, a gift of God came through resettlement to the United States. I was interviewed by an Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) officer and found eligible to resettle in the United States. I was excited when I realized that the trial of suffering in the refugee camp was at an end.

On my arrival in the U.S., I did not know where to go. As an Episcopalian from birth, I went to a nearby Episcopal Church in San Diego. With help from the Rev. David Montzingo, rector of St. Luke's, I was assisted with spiritual and material needs.

I received the following from the Rt. Rev. Edmond L. Browning: "The notion of welcoming a stranger is the most fundamental in the Christian life. Christians from the earliest days have understood that as we offer hospitality, we do it in the name of Jesus Christ."

Even though I am now comfortable and safe, the suffering of my brothers and sisters in Christ, and the inevitable hardship and bloodshed they face, offends my sense of human dignity.

Awan Tiop, a Sudanese refugee living in San Diego, has said, "The Christianity that was brought to us is now killing us. We are forgotten, starved to death, enslaved, and killed by radical Muslims."

I am, therefore, appealing to Christians everywhere to pay more attention to what is going on in the Southern Sudan. In the words of St. Paul, "So then, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith" (Gal. 6:10). o

Majur Samuel is a Sudanese citizen who has indefinite refugee status in the U.S. He lives in San Diego, Calif., where he is a member of St. Luke's, North Park. He works at the St. Luke's Refugee Network.