Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham’s visit to Sudan continued Monday when he traveled into Darfur, where about 3 million people have been displaced from their homesteads and villages in what the United Nations has called the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

Graham arrived Sunday in Khartoum and began a series of high-level meetings and visits intended to strengthen the peace process and demonstrate God's love to people throughout the troubled nation.

He then flew west from Khartoum across the barren Sahara Desert to Darfur. Graham visited a camp near the town of Nyala where over 70,000 people live in huts built largely of mud, straw, and scraps. There are dozens of camps like this across Darfur, many of them depending on Samaritan’s Purse for food, water, schools, and other services.

Graham met mothers with malnourished children, medical personnel, government leaders, and the staff of the largest ongoing relief project of Samaritan’s Purse. He presented a Bible and shared the Gospel with the deputy wali (governor) of South Darfur, Dr. Frah.

The Darfur conflict erupted in 2004 when the Sudanese armed forces and militia supported by Khartoum began a series of ruthless raids against tribes that had rebelled against the government. Several world leaders, including then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, have described the attacks as genocide. The U.N.’s International Criminal Court is considering whether to hold Sudan President Omar al-Bashir responsible for the deaths and suffering in Darfur.

International officials estimate that more than 200,000 lives have been lost in the conflict, and 2.5 million people in Darfur now depend on aid for survival. Samaritan’s Purse is the lifeline for more than 200,000 of those people, mostly in a mountainous area known as Jebel Mara.

Samaritan’s Purse helps to feed people in Darfur both by monthly food distributions and also by assisting farmers with seeds, tools, veterinary services, and other assistance so they can become self-sufficient. We also have built more than 140 primary schools, mostly in villages that have been overwhelmed by refugees, provided safe water and sanitation for over 100,000.

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Samaritan's Purse , Sudan , Evangelism , Franklin Graham , A Humanitarian Crisis