Three Church Leaders Are Gone From One Town in Sudan. Nobody Has Asked for Money.
Heiban lost three church leaders in nine days. In three months of abductions, no one has demanded a ransom for any of them. That absence is the story.
Heiban is a small town in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. In nine days it lost three of its church leaders.
Pastor Yaqob Ibrahim Tia was taken from his house on July 23. His two sons went with him, ages 17 and 20, and so did a nephew of 15. The house sits a short walk from the church where he preached.
The next day fighters stormed the Dabbi area of Heiban County and shot Pastor Adel Idris Jongool. He was Episcopal. He held on for three days and died of his wounds on July 27.
Then, on the morning of July 31, they came back for Zakaria Suliman Jana, a leader in the same Sudanese Church of Christ congregation Pastor Ibrahim Tia served. He was taken too.
Three men from one town. And here is the part that should trouble you most. In three months of abductions in this region, the men who took them have never once asked for money.
