Ministries Partner Together in redeeming slaves in Sudan
Coral Ridge Ministries Partners with Christian Solidarity International to Redeem 2,000 Enslaved Women and Children in Sudan
The “Free the Slaves” Drive to be Announced on The Coral Ridge Hour
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA (November 8, 2000 — Author, minister, and Christian broadcaster, Dr. D. James Kennedy, is launching a campaign in November to liberate women and children held under brutal conditions as slaves in Sudan.
The “Free the Slaves” drive will be announced on The Coral Ridge Hour, Dr. Kennedy’s weekly nationwide television program, on Sunday, November 12, 2000-also designated as the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.
Coral Ridge Ministries (CRM) is partnering with Christian Solidarity International (CSI) who freed 4,435 black African slaves with support from CRM between September 5-11, 2000. The slaves returned to their homeland in Southern Sudan through an “Underground Railroad” involving local black African community leaders, seven networks of Arab retrievers and CSI. Since 1995, 38,418 slaves have been liberated by CSI’s Slave Redemption Program.
“Some people say we should not make this effort,” said Dr. Kennedy, president of CRM. “But Christ’s compassion compels us. I cannot walk on the other side and ignore my brothers needs. In all of my years in ministry I have never faced such a situation-the chance to express the compassion of Christ in such a profound way-for this is literally a matter if life and death for those who have been forced into the vicious life of slavery,” he added.
The drive will raise funds to purchase the freedom of 2,000 black Africans, many of them Christians and traditionalists who have been forcibly taken into bondage by government sponsored raids that sweep into villages. During the raids, men are killed; village elders are hacked with machetes and left for dead; the village is burned and devastated; and women and children are captured.
The slaves were captured by the Government of Sudan’s armed forces, in particular the Popular Defense Forces (PDF). The slave raids take place in the context of the Government of Sudan’s declared jihad (Islamic holy war) against black African minorities. Returning slaves told of having been subjected by their masters to systematic physical and psychological torture, including gang rape, beatings, death threats, genital mutilation and forcible conversion to Islam.
“Christian Solidarity International praises the members of Coral Ridge Ministries and Dr. Kennedy for putting their faith into action in this national drive to free thousands of slaves in Sudan,” said CSI Executive Director, John Tayloe. “They are not just willing to stand by and watch the radical Muslim government of Sudan continue their practice of genocide and slavery. Their quick action will save the lives of many women and children and reunite families. For this we are grateful,” he added.