Campaign for Peace

As a January 9^th vote for Southern independence looms in the distance future, many in Sudan are resorting to prayer. Split along Muslim and Christian lines, Sudan's troubled halves are seeking peaceful dissolution to end the civil war and genocide that has left the country reeling. Amnesty International reports an estimated 6.5 million displaced persons and 2.3 million dead in the violent aftermath. Support for Southern separation, however, is not uniform throughout the country. The affluent North has filed six court cases to resist the referendum vote.

With legal pressures mounting and the fate of Sudan hanging in the balance, the religious community has engaged in a worldwide 101 day campaign for peace, headed by Catholic Relief Services. Looking for peaceful resolution through prayer, the campaign includes marches in local villages, letter writing, and a plea for donations. At the center of the campaign lies prayer, hailed as an advocate of peace and unity. Under the banner of the campaign, hundreds of Sudanese villagers march through their towns praying, led by a single lantern symbolizing hope for an end to violence. As armies on both sides stand tensely on opposite sides of what might become a new international border, hopes are high for a peaceful resolution.

Sudanese prayers aren't alone. The faithful around the globe are engaging themselves in the referendum vote by lifting up their own supplications and requests in favor of the Sudanese people. University students and local church members have passed resolutions and raised funds to help support the referendum voter registration, which relies heavily on international support spiritually and financially.

A call to prayer can be a motivating international force. By asking people to set aside political differences and simply pray for the well-being of a country, peace prayers can be a powerful tool for positive change by creating a sense of unity among a people. Websites dedicated to prayer, such as Prayables.com, can unite individuals within a community or across the globe on faith-based issues. Scholar and theologian, Philipp Melanchthon, once said "Trouble and perplexity drive me to prayer and prayer drives away perplexity and trouble." By drawing together in prayer over the troubling issues facing Sudan, the international community can shape the direction of the country's future, driving away concerns over military tension.

Prayer communities can also bring personal peace in difficult times. Through prayers of serenity and the PrayPal community, Prayables.com offers members a place to find support and share their faith. Let prayer be a rallying point for personal change in your own life. Focusing on daily prayer and meditation with one's higher power can bring calm regardless of whatever storm is wreaking havoc in our lives.

Sudan's instinct to turn to prayer as a non-violent measure to support political change poses a lesson we can all learn; inner peace is contagious. Let prayer bring peace into your life and perhaps you can bring peace to others.