Seventh-day Adventist churches in the Abu Garajil and Juruf districts of the Darfur region of western Sudan have been destroyed during the escalating humanitarian and security crisis unfolding there, church leaders say.

"Our members have been displaced. They are without food, clothing or shelter to sleep under," reports William Kabi Oliver, a pastor and district leader for the Adventist Church in the area.

In spite of their difficulties and constant threat to personal security, Oliver says that the members are eagerly gathering for worship services. "Since the forest there is not thick, they find it difficult even to shelter under the trees for services. Instead they prefer to worship in the evening when the sun goes down because during the day you cannot bear the hot sun."

Paul Yithak, secretary for the Adventist Church's regional headquarters in northern Sudan, explains how the situation in Darfur has been tragically excluded from the peace talks currently underway to end decades of civil war between the governing authorities of the North and South. "May 27 was a remarkable day in the history of Sudan. The two warring parties have signed very important protocols for power sharing. These agreements are major steps toward lasting peace in Sudan. But we still have the war in Darfur, which is considered to be the worst human tragedy on the face of the earth at the moment."

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group confirms this assertion. In their May 23, 2004 report, they state, "A month after the international community solemnly marked the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide in April 2004 with promises of 'never again,' it faces a man-made humanitarian catastrophe in western Sudan [Darfur] that can easily become nearly as deadly."

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), the humanitarian arm of the Adventist Church, sent a crisis assessment team to the region April 24 through 30 this year. Observations published in their May bulletin are equally grim: "In general, all internally displaced people are living in miserable conditions, having lost all their belongings and all their livestock except for one or two starved donkeys. Crops and houses have been burned down and agricultural land is inaccessible due to insecurity."

ADRA's initial response will be centred on the area of water and sanitation with the overall goal of improving the health of the people.

Responding to the news from Darfur, Pastor Peter Roennfeldt, responsible for the Adventist Church's Global Mission evangelism projects in the Trans-European region, incorporating Sudan, said, "This is an extremely difficult and tragic situation for our people. Of course we are saddened to hear of the destruction of these church buildings--however, we are even more concerned about the injury and death suffered by the people." [Editors: Alex Elmadjian and Paul Yithak for ANN/APD]