to sudan with love:: part 2

Those that came to the event were asked to sign a banner to the Embassy of China, pleading with China to do their part to stop the genocide in Sudan. Also, we encouraged people to sign petition letters to our NC senators and President Hiu of China.






Everyone that came into the square was given a name of someone from Darfur who has died in the genocide. During the lighting ceremony we had a moment of silence to reflect on the personal name that each of us held.


Here is Kayla speaking, she did an amazing job of introducing John Prendergast...I was so proud of her and the job that she did to make the day happen.


John Prendergast, the main speaker of our event. He is a well known activist and author. His latest book, "Not On Our Watch", was co-authored with actor/activist, Don Cheadle (Hotel Rawanda, Crash).


Jamie and Jacob. Jacob is one of the 40+ Charlotte Lost Boys. The Lost Boys that were able to make the event were our guests of honor. Not only did we want to educate people on the Sudan genocide but the event also raised funds for the Sudanese Scholorship Fund. This fund is for the 40+ Lost Boys that are seeking an education here in Charlotte.


Our friends, Steve and Rachael and Daniel to the left.

Elie Wiesel, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, once said, “Remember: silence helps the killer, never his victims.”

About 3 months ago our friends, Steve and Rachael, invited a few of us to their place. They poured out their heart about the injustice that was happening in the Darfur region of Sudan and a dream to do something about it—the “Charlotte Torch Rally”. We all listened intently, cried together and prayed that God would help us do something to help those in Sudan.

Since then and because of Steve and Rachael’s dream, Daniel and I have educated ourselves more on the people of Sudan, their history, the atrocities and the now genocide that is happening as I type these words. Every 5 minutes someone in the Darfur region dies due to the inhumane conditions! In a nutshell (and you can read my past blogs) there was a civil war that began 20 years ago between the Muslim Northern Sudanese and the Christian Southern Sudanese (mostly of the Denka people group). Since then oil has been found and is now the countries greatest resource. The capital city (part of the north) has essentially paid the Muslim extremists groups to kill, rape, torture, and drive out the Southern Sudanese from the oil so that the government can have all profit. They pay these people that pillage the land with weapons from China, their biggest oil customers. Hence the reasons for a “torch” rally to use the ’08 Olympic games in Beijing as a platform for this attention—to stop the China/Sudan relationship of human lives for the sake of oil money. For centuries now, the Olympic games have been welcomed by the world in the name of “peace”. Ironically, communist China is hosting the 2008 Olympic games with the world watching.

Today was an incredible day. Our event started at 1pm in the center square of Uptown Charlotte, ironically called Independence Square. As Lamont (a modern abolitionist band) played a group of walkers (mostly Lost Boys who are refugees to Charlotte from Sudan), walked with an Olympic torch from outside the center city into the square where a larger Olympic torch was lit. Our speakers through the event were: Taryn Hofert, Steve Cook (our friend and founder of the event), a few of the Lost Boys (a name given to Sudanese refugees that were orphaned during the war days and walked hundreds of miles to safety of UN refugee camps) as well as David Johnston, a local photo journalist of Darfur, and John Prendergast, a well known author and human rights activist.

This was a day that we will never forget, one that starts the beginning of an incredible journey (emotionally and physically) and one that was deeply honoring to God. Jesus said, “Whatever you do to the least of these you do unto Me.” Certainly those that are living in refugee camps unprotected and displaced are the least of these.