Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

From The Community of the Hands and Feet

Christians from across the British capital joined together to pray outside the Sudanese Embassy in London on Sunday to honour a call for solidarity with the people of Sudan.

Members of the Community of the Hands and Feet joined with Anglicans from the dioceses of London and Southwark in response to the request of Bishop Andudu Adam Elnail, of Sudan's Diocese of Kadugli for Sunday 26th June to be set aside as a day of prayer and fasting for the beleagured country.

The group gathered in front of the embassy and kept a short vigil for the end of the violence in Sudan.

Angela Rayner from the London-based lay Community of the Hands and Feet said "If we believe that "though we are many, we are one body", then we cannot ignore the threat of genocide. Christians must not be complicit in violence by our failure to speak up. We do not know how to be peacemakers when our own body is under attack, so today we prayed for daily bread in Sudan in the hope that if bread is plentiful, enemies might eat together and peace be shared."

Rev'd Christine Robinson from Harrow deanery explained why she was attending the prayer vigil, "We can't just ignore these things, we have to do something".

Despite having sought permission to gather outside the embassy, in order to pray at a visible focal point, it was made clear by embassy staff that they were not welcome. This underlined for those present both the need to pray and the need to be seen to care about what happens to our brothers and sisters wherever in the world they are.

This simple act of "prayer activism" held those in Sudan up to God and raised awareness of the violence in Sudan, not widely reported in British newspapers, both in local churches and on the street.

ENDS