The Sudanese Church of Christ in Omdurman was burnt down multiple times by the same Muslim group.

The church members were also threatened by the group and told not to register a complaint but finally, after the church was burned down for the fifth time, church members registered a complaint and 9 of the 14 alleged assailants were arrested.

According to International Christian Concern, “after the fifth time, they decided that they wanted the persecution to end. They attempted to report to the police, but were told that no report would be filed for them.” So in response, they hired an attorney who was successful in bringing the matter to the courts. Once the court case unfolded, the men were arrested.”

The fact the courts even chose to hear the case appears to be a good sign. Reportedly, the new Prime Minister, Abdalla Hamdok, has been working to root out anti-Christian oppression in the country but has been met with fury from a deep state that consists of holdovers from the last administration.

Tony Perkins, a member of The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom told Crux, “We are grateful to Prime Minister Hamdok and other members of the country’s bold transitional leadership who met with USCIRF to convey their explicit desire to bring a new era of openness and inclusivity to their country that suffered for 30 years under brutal and autocratic religious repression.”

However, there is still plenty of work left to do, as Tony Perkins further stated. “At the same time, we understand that the country’s challenges are deeply-rooted, and we urge the leadership to move quickly to turn that optimism into tangible and meaningful reforms for all people across Sudan, such as acting to formally repeal Article 126 of the 1991 penal code, which outlaws apostasy,” he said.

International Christian Concern asked Christians to pray that the church’s court case would be justly fulfilled, and that persecution of Christians in Sudan would come to an end.