This mother and her five children fled their home in Sudan. Describing the situation, she said, “The planes were shooting. . . and people were dying.”

Sudan Civil War 

Millions fleeing for safety but finding hunger. 

  • A power struggle between two rival military generals erupted into civil war in April 2023. 
  • 10 million people (one in five) from Sudan have fled their homes. 
  • Half of Sudan faces acute hunger. 

Soldiers! Yousef’s* brown feet pounded the dirt, racing for cover. But it was too late to hide. A deafening burst of weapon fire rent the air. Bodies pitched forward, thudding into the red dirt. Pain exploded in Yousef’s arm, leg, and back as four bullets ripped through his flesh. He kept running. He’d already lost seven of his brothers in the conflict. He wasn’t going to become number eight. 

Yousef’s life as a food merchant was forever changed in April 2023 when Sudan erupted in civil war. Neighborhoods became battlefields as two military factions bombed, shelled, and shot at each other for control of the nation. But in Yousef’s area, the civil war turned into ethnic cleansing as armed groups attacked his tribe.  

“Everything was happening—murder, abuse, burning homes, stealing,” he told our staff. 

With four bullet wounds, Yousef went into hiding. When the conflict cooled, he fled with his family to a neighboring country where medics cleaned and bandaged his wounds, the first medical attention since he was shot 45 days before. 

When the family was placed in a refugee camp, they were not given a tent immediately. For weeks, he and his family sheltered under a tree in the scorching summer heat. It became too much. One of his children died. 

Severe hunger 

Gnawing hunger torments Yousef and thousands of refugees around him. One refugee camp official shared that several children die in his camp every day from malnutrition. Some refugees who fled Sudan have returned saying they’d rather die quickly from a gunshot than a slow death from starvation.

Shelter 

Refugee camps provide some shelters, but the vast numbers of refugees have overwhelmed their resources. New refugees must build their own shelters with whatever materials they can find.  

What can we do? 

Our contacts in Sudan and surrounding countries reach out to Sudanese refugees with God’s love as they provide food, tarps, mats, and medical care. If possible, we hope to greatly expand this work due to the severity of the need. Heavy fighting continues today, resulting in ever-greater numbers of refugees in need.

*Name changed for security reasons 


If you would like to help provide food, medicines, tarps, literature, schooling for refugee children, and other aid, click the donate button to give a gift.