03/09/2020 Sudan (International Christian Concern) – Amidst Sudan’s new religious freedom initiative attempts, Sudan’s Minister of Education, Mohamed Al-Amin Al-Toam told church leaders that the government is considering excluding Christian holidays and Sundays in national exam scheduling. Even prior to al-Bashir’s 30-year Islamic rule, Sudan had scheduled exams for schools on Sundays.
Sundays in Sudan are considered working days with Fridays and Saturdays being public days off. In July 2017, al-Bashir’s government ordered Christian schools to stop regarding Sunday as a public day off. A second consideration Al-Toam reported was the potential appointment of Christian teachers in public schools to teach Christianity nationwide.
In response to this recent development, many Sudanese Christians are hesitant and skeptical. Pastor Nalu of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church told Morning Star, “We are tired of such promises from the government. We need action to show the good motives from the government.”
Most recently, the new Sudanese government appointed a Roman Catholic to the head of the Ministry and Labor and Social Development. This cabinet-level Christians joins a Coptic Christian in the Sovereignty Council as the two high ranking Christians officials.
In December 2019 Sudan was removed from the U.S. State Department’s Countries of Particular Concern list for the first time since 1998 over the religious advances that have been taken in the past year. Sudan’s Christians are still highly skeptical and persecuted, ranking 7th on the Open Door’s World Watch List.
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