Meriam Ibrahim Released From Prison
Meriam Ibrahim of Sudan was outrageously sentenced to death for not recanting her faith, but is finally safe and out of Sudan. Dealing with such a crisis is what Bridges was born to do! We were honored to be invited to engage this crisis over the last many months, and today I’m writing to share what ultimately became a powerful story of faith, unity and justice.
The world was stunned with the news of Meriam’s death sentence this May and many organizations shifted into high gear promoting petitions and pressuring politicians to secure her release. In the beginning of this crisis, I was reasonably assured by my personal friends within the Sudan regime that if a team of trusted friends quietly came to simply pray, the matter would be resolved amicably.
This may sound absurd, but we get results because we think contrary to most everyone else. Before a moment of crisis, we construct a platform of trust and action through spiritual relationship rather than marching in judging rights and wrongs. Jesus taught a full sense of peace that includes justice, love and mercy. Bridges creates a safe, spiritual space for revised thinking among enemies who can then see a path to act with justice toward others
Having traveled to Sudan 16 times, I asked Dr. Jeff Burns and Dr. Abdel Azim Elsiddig, both trusted co-workers in peacemaking, to go in my place. They met and prayed with the political and judicial leadership and met with Meriam while she was still in jail. Jeff, Abdel and four others were again in Khartoum on a second trip just last week. A close friend Pastor Bill Devlin, visited Meriam while she was holed up in the U.S. Embassy. As in our previous involvements, these actions are virtually unknown by the public.
Success in this form of peacemaking lies in innovative application of the scriptures in the most difficult places and with the most inflexible people. The leaders who often cause the conflicts can become the solution! They naturally resist threats, manipulation and religious coercion, but are excitingly open to receive spiritual motivation to act differently.
Each trip to the Sudan included praying with leaders and investigating exciting commonalities we discovered ‘hidden’ within the Semitic versions of the three Abrahamic holy books. While establishing a spiritual camaraderie with “enemies” such as the regimes in Sudan, Libya, Iraq (during Saddam) and others provokes the disdain of some, this is unfortunately “a deadly misunderstanding” of our work. Still, there are those who persist in viewing it as appeasement, naiveté and worse, with nefarious subtleties. Jesus asked;
“Do the well need a doctor, or the sick?”
He came to help those in need, and that is what we endeavor to do!
Long-term spiritual partnerships in the Sudan built trust which had in some limited part, helped influence an end to the North (Muslim) South (Christian) civil war. As our relationship advanced, the power of the “unseen” (Holy Spirit) did more miraculous work in directly changing the “heart” of the Sudanese president to reverse his hardened decision not to deploy U.N. Peacekeepers in war-ravaged Darfur. Stunned with the incredible fruit born from building bonds of spiritual relationships, in 2008 U.N. Sec Gen. Ban ki Moon diverted from UN protocol to write the foreword to my book.
While this is an exciting achievement, it is only the beginning. The world is full of crises, which require immediate attention, but we need your help. Please join the global Awakening, and become a part of a life-changing experience taking place now.