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7B RELIGION/QQiit 4C|atl«tte Thursday, January 8 2004 Bittersweet homecomings in war-tom Sudan Continued from page flies, the pounding sun and the lack of electricity. He was of marrying age, but he couldn’t flirt with women. Not without asking the girl’s father to set up a supervised tea on market day, he lamented, his eyes rolling, his head shaking. As many as 4 million Sudanese have been dis placed in 20 years of fight ing. Now, with a peace accord apparently within reach, hundreds of thou sands are returning to homes across southern and central Sudan that they fled beginning in the late 1980s. In the Nuba Mountains alone, an estimated 150,000 people have made the jour ney back from Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda since a cease-fire was declared in the region last year. The future of Sudan can be seen in the triumphs and challenges of those who have come home. Like Badradin, some are finding the return as disorienting as the exo dus. The battles of the war — for control of commerce, reUgion and culture — are reflected in the stories of those who are trying to return to a Hfe they don’t seem to recognize. “It’s nothing like Nairobi,” Badradin said recently as he watched the market scene: barefoot women collecting water from a muddy stream, a camel strutting past a goat, a goat lounging in the lap of a drunk village elder. Badradin adjusted his baggy jeans and took out a ciga rette. A few days after he returned, he said, he sat down in the soft grass, placed his head in his hands and began to weep. He was home. But it was unrecog nizable. Two cultures Behind Sudan’s war is the story of two cultures trying to share one country, of peo ple as different as chalk and cheese, as the Sudanese hke to say. 'They reflect Sudan’s unique place between black sub-Saharan Africa and Arab North Africa. Even the landscapes seem to clash, almost as different in appearance as the inhabi tants. Southern Sudan’s flat, bushy terrain is populated with some of the darkest- skirmed tribes on the conti nent: the tall, willowy Dinkas and Nuers. In the northern desert, where the capital, Khar toum, is located, the govern ment has been dominated by Arab ehtes, most of them light-skinned, who have backed a policy that treats southerners like second- class citizens, limiting their access to jobs, education and development. Although fighting has gone on for all but a decade since Sudan’s independence in 1956, the current civil war began in 1983, when a group of southerners formed the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) to fight the northern government and its imposition of Islamic law. About 2 miUion people are estimated to have died, many of starvation and dis ease, during the past 20 years. The government bombed civilian areas in the central and southern regions and backed the killing of local officials believed to be supporting the rebels, according to huinan rights groups. Soldiers on both sides were accused of raping and looting. The SPLA is still the main rebel force in the war and controls large areas of the south. The government holds some of the major southern towns and cities. Caught in the crossfire are the Afncan people of the Nuba Mountains, a buffer area between north and south. Some are Christian. Some are MusUm. Many fol low traditional beliefs. But all believe they represent a distinct and rich culture, famous for wrestling and an isolated lifestyle in land locked vfllages. In 1992, the government declared jihad on the Nuba, taking land and conducting Church news: Mass choir auditions Continued from page 8B The Charlotte New Covenant Mass Choir hosts interviews and auditions for the newly formed mass choir at 4 p.m. at Silver Mount Baptist Church at 501 W. Arrowood Road. For infor mation call (704) 583-2341 or (704) 535-1066. January 24 The District III Ushers will hold its quarterly meeting at 10 a.m. at Reeder Memorial Baptist Church at 3725 Beatties Ford Road. ‘ February 9-10 Liberty Baptist Church at 3000 Sam Wilson Road will hold its revival conference at 7 p.m. Continued from page 8B are fat and continue to overeat come down front” or “Those who didn’t pay their bills on time come down for prayer because you are a cheat.” I think the most unloving thing I have heard a preach er say is keep having sex out side of wedlock. There’s some diseases out there that will stop you. Can you beheve that? I have never heard this minister say to his obese and gossiping following keep on eating hke you do — heart disease or diabetes will stop you. Or warn if you keep lying somebody may shoot you. If you listen to people, Jesus forgives a multitude of sins except sexual sins. I’m a hving witness that God wfll even pardon a sin the rest of the world thinks is unpar donable. Not only wfll God forgive you, he wfll protect you in the physical if you trust Him. Just hke he has saved the fives of many Uars, cheaters, thieves, gluttons and murderers who once felt hke they corfldn’t stop. For my clarity and the sake of others like me I request Christians let me know how you feel about sexuafify. tions or offices? • If a woman is single, pregnant and holds a posi tion in the church is she removed from office? • Do you believe HIV/AIDS is God punishing fornica tors? E-mail youi' conunents to artellia.burch@thechar- lottpost.com or fax answers to (704) 342-2160. Greater Mt. Moriah Primitive Baptist Church will host its 'PauntA. Atttuuii SmUttan. Friday, January 9, 2004,6;30pm and Saturday, January 10, 2004, 9am - ^cUwUii^ - Pastor, Guest Lecturer: Rev. Larry Covin^t Ebenezer United Church of Christ • Bunin and on Buffington, NC Pastor, Guest Speaker: Rev. Timothy Lyons tor. Exodus Progressive Primitive Baptist Church Pilot Mountain, NC Ptcoit- ‘ 747 W. Trade St., Charlotte, NC 28202 Rev. Thomas W. Samuels, Pastor There’s a secular song that’s called “21 Questions,” in which the artist asks a female a series of questions about her loyalty. Since sex uality is such a taboo issue in the church, I have nine ques tions for Christians about sex and the Christian single. • What do you do about a person that is active in the church but is also sexually active? • Do you inform the single adult conununity about safe sex? • If a person is single and having sex can they get mar ried in your church? ' • Would you pass out con doms at your church to adults? • Do you think people who are having sex are saved? • What do you say to a sex ually active person who is praying for deliverance? • Are homosexuals in your church allowed to hold posi- 2004 JANUARY 22-24, 2004 Courtyard Marriott • Remount Rd. Gastonia, NC • (exit 20) Contact: Evangelist Janice Wilson 704-747-5059 or Sister Jeanenne Fontenot 704-451-3831 |E!B!S1511P!KS9BH j Pastor Joecilyn Alexander I Friday Night 7:00pm Dr. Lorraine Peeler Saturday Symposium 9:00am includes Lunch $15.00 Dr. Renee Gilmore Elder Joylette McCray Minister Diane Morgan Bishop Anthony Ray. Saturday Night 7:00pm Dr. Lorraine Peeler Covenant Truth Center Dr. Lorraine Peeler slave raids. People were rounded up and put into camps, where they were forced to convert to Islam and give up African customs. A recent round of talks in Kenya has brought the coun try close to peace. Under pressure from the United States, the two sides have agreed that the south will vote for self-determination after six years of rule by the central government. After a peace deal is signed, millions of southern Sudanese — from inside the country and from its neigh bors — are expected to return to their homes in a new Sudan. Standing out ‘You want me to marry, who?” James Badradin protested. He had been home for 10 days and had already been introduced to four girls. But his hipster jeans and his music, items that would appeal to women in Nairobi, caused no ripple here in the isolated Nuba Mountains. And there was another problem: None of the girls could read or write. “No,” he said, recounting his argument with his father. “I just can’t many someone who doesn’t know words.” “Don’t you want a woman who win carry water?” his father asked him. r RINCE OF PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH '^Tellins and Living the Good News of Jesus Christ*^ - Outreach & Nurture Ministries For All Ages - Spirit-led Sunday Worship: 11 am Sunday School: 9:30am Wed. Prayer, Praise & Bible Study: 7pm Radio Ministry: Fri. 10am, WGSP 1310 AM - Rev. Quentin G. Poulson, Pastor - 3001 Beatties Fd. Rd., Charlotte, NC 28216-3731 Phone: 704-392-6098 • E-mail: POPAX@bell.south.nel Wehsite: www.LutheranO.utreach.org/Prince of Peace, htm ^ God's Meeting Place Christian Fellowship Sunday Morning Worship...9:45am Temporary locationrStede Creek Elementary School 4100 Ciallant lane • Charlotte. NC For Information Call: 704-825A017 Rev. Charles Wesley Reid, Founding Pastor “It's Your Time - Walk Into Your Season" REEDER MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH L Come and share "The Journey" with us. Sunday Morning Worship - 8 am and 10:45 am Sunday School -9:30 am Tuesday Bible Study-7:3fl pm A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY MAKING CONNECTIONS WITH YOUR FUTURE 3725 Beatties Ford Rd.* 704-398-2914 Fear won’t always deter sexuality
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