For several centuries, the people of Southern Sudan have posed a barrier to the spread of Islam from the north.  Southern Sudanese are comprised primarily of Christians and traditional tribal worshippers while Arab Muslims are the majority in the North and constitute the governing influence on Sudan from the capital of city of Khartoum.  After Sudan became independent of British rule on New Years day, 1956, a civil war soon erupted between the North and South which raged on until 1972.  The following 10 years of relative peace was shattered in 1982 when a new extremist government took power and began a renewed campaign to unite all of Sudan under Islam's strict Sharia law.  Because Sharia law was so counter to their cultural traditions, the Southern Sudanese defiantly rejected Khartoum's attempts and another war began.

This war was very complex with various tribal conflicts, religious and ethnic persecution, outside Islamic influences and the discovery of oil in the South all contributing to the chaos.  In the end, however, the result was over 2 million Southern Sudanese killed either by direct military action or starvation, over 4 million displaced, villages and social structures destroyed, women and children enslaved and the church left scattered.

In January of 2005 the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed ending most of the hostilities between the North and South.  Though the situation is far from harmonious, there presently exists a degree of religious freedom allowing the slow process of rebuilding to begin in villages, homes and lives.  The Sudanese have suffered unimaginable tribulations, but they are a resilient and joyful people who now need a hand in regaining their independent lifestyles apart from the relief efforts which have sustained them the past 20 years.  As a side note, this struggle for greater autonomy apart from Khartoum has now moved to a Western region of Sudan called Darfur where atrocities committed by the government against the predominantly black Muslim Darfurians have become the focus of worldwide attention.