The past weekend was a "Weekend of Prayer for Darfur" and there was an interfaith service in Croton, as well as a letter-writing opportunity at our church.
Here is an ominous look at the fact that something long feared is now happening – the violence is spreading into neighboring African countries –
Darfur crisis crosses borders | csmonitor.com
The crisis in Darfur has exploded in recent weeks, and now threatens to drag fragile neighboring countries into a regional war.
Both Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) have become engulfed in fighting that involves a toxic mix of rebel groups, government forces, armed militias, and civilians.
"It’s not a steady deterioration," Jan Egeland, the outgoing UN humanitarian chief, told reporters last week. "It’s a free fall, and it includes Darfur, eastern Chad, and northern Central African Republic."
In the past month alone, nearly 60,000 Darfurians have been forced from their homes to escape massacre at the hands of Arab militias known as the janjaweed. Aid workers, UN personnel, and independent observers say the janjaweed are backed by Sudan’s government, but Khartoum has repeatedly denied this charge.
In eastern Chad, hundreds of aid workers have been evacuated due to increased hostilities between military forces and anti-government rebel groups, while Arab militiamen have ventured deeper into the country to conduct assaults, resulting in the displacement of nearly 100,000 Chadians.
The bloodbath is spreading.
If you’d like to send a letter to your congressman, hit the link below for the form letter we used to contact our new Congressman, John Hall. He doesn’t have office space set up yet, so we sent the letters to his campaign headquarters. We’ll certainly be one of the first (if not the first) lobbying effort to approach him. Or at least the first that’s not asking for something for ourselves.
to see it click below "continue reading…"