Concern is mounting over the increasingly desperate humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan, according to Paul Yithak, secretary for the Adventist Church in Sudan.

"Thank God no one [among our church members] was killed or injured; however, they are in a dire and desperate situation."

In a July 8 e-mail to the church's regional Middle East headquarters, Yithak expressed his anguish that Adventists from the church in Nyala province "have no access to help." Around 50,000 people from Nyala have been displaced and moved to Matarik. Nearly 100 Adventists were among the thousands who spent 17 hours aboard slow-moving trains headed for this distant area, making them even less accessible.

The only way of accessing these Adventist believers, whose church building was destroyed by militias in May, is a three- to four-day train journey from Khartoum, where the church's regional office is located, or a three-hour flight.

Adventists have lost two churches in this recent conflict.

Recent expressions of international concern over the crisis in Darfur -- including visits by United States Secretary of State Colin Powell and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan -- are bearing some fruit: the Darfur region has opened up to international humanitarian agencies and human rights groups, but far more intervention is needed.

With the sketchy information available from the Matarik Refugee Camp, Adventist administration in Sudan have learned that there is only enough food for one month and no medication or clothing is available.

"We had initial plans to use the tents we have for evangelistic meetings, to accommodate our members on the Sabbath day for worship, however the needs are much more severe than having a place of worship. We have lost contact with our members and it is getting impossible to have direct access to the new camp that was set up. Plus we have no funds to help and assist our members in that region," says Yithak.

The situation in the Darfur region is grim. The Church's emergency relief agency, ADRA, is hard at work distributing tents, food and medicine and will begin drilling wells in the region shortly.

Church leaders in the region describe the conditions in Darfur as "an extreme situation," hoping that "fellow Church members from around the world would extend a helping hand of support to alleviate this most difficult crisis."

The Adventist Church in Sudan has a membership of nearly 5,000, almost all of whom are displaced due to decades of war in the country. [Editors: Alex Elmadjian and Michael Porter for ANN/APD]