Evangelists Hunt for Souls

The two German missionaries are strutting around the stage like pop-stars. Even though they find the local language a bit difficult to master they are quite clearly enjoying themselves. So is the crowd on this sweltering hot afternoon in Juba.

With the Arabs packing up to return to Khartoum, what better time to spread the gospel to the Christians in the South, says Peter Franz who is the brain behind Gospel Fire International.

"Here in Sudan you find many Christians and many traditional believers, all kinds of religions, really. But what we find is that people have not grasped the gospel in the way we understand it."

For their crusade in Juba Franz and his German compatriot Werner Nachtigall have fenced in a huge area next to the popular Customs Market. Food and soft drinks come free of charge. "Jesus will save you tonight", they announce to an ecstatic crowd.

Religion - one of the few growth market

Established in 1998 in Southern Germany, Gospel Fire International has grown into a major player in the scramble for souls, on a continent where religion today is one of the few growth markets.

Franz and his outfit have toured Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda – and now Sudan. Five nights in a row the Germans draw a crowd of 3000 with their "easy fix" promises of love, health and wealth.

Two kilometres across town, Archbischop Paolino Lukudo Loro is eyeing the visitors with suspicion.

Outside the window of the Catholic church children are preparing for Holy Communion, chanting the traditional hymns handed down from their grandparents. But more and more people are turning their backs on the established churches, now that peace has come.

"Mistakes were made"

"They must be discouraged... Anybody who is preaching is not necessarily a good person."

For 21 years Loro and his colleagues stood their ground as the Islamic regime in Khartoum infringed on the religious freedom of Southerners, pushing the dreaded sharia laws onto them. Yet, Loro concedes, mistakes were made.

Not long ago, a prominent figure in the Council of Churches who used to be a fierce critic of the government was bought over by Khartoum. It was a PR disaster for the Catholic church.

North-South divide

This kind of infighting was not what lawmakers had in mind when they sat down recently to draw up a new constitution for the New Sudan.

While the Muslim North continues to be governed by sharia, people in the South are enjoying religious freedom for the first time in many years, says James Wani Igga, the speaker of parliament.

"In Khartoum if you are a Christian and you open a bar that alone is illegal," Wani Igga explains. "So definitely those who are in the North and are non-Muslims are very unfortunate, but here in the South we have no sharia and people really feel for the first time that there is real freedom in many aspects of life. Last night there were 3000 people talking, singing and praying."

The crowd is back tonight. The two German preachers have advertised a "night of healing".

"Last time we cured a deaf and dumb, a young man who hasn’t heard or spoken a word in his life. Granted, if you look at it from a medical point of view then of course something like that is impossible. So let me put it this way: HE who created man can heal man."

Whether healing the wounds of 21 years of war is part of their crusade, the Germans don’t say.

Ludger Schadomsky

© Deutsche Welle 2006

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