By Sudan Correspondent©2014 Morning Star News

Authorities
in North Khartoum demolished another church building, just a day after giving
verbal notice during the congregation’s worship service, sources said.

Bulldozers demolished the Sudanese Church of
Christ in the Thiba Al Hamyida area of the city as church members watched, with
security personnel threatening to arrest them if they tried to block their
efforts, church members said.

There were about 70 security personnel armed
with guns and tear gas, they said.

“They wanted to beat us or throw tear gas on
us,” said one member on condition of anonymity. No one was injured during the
demolition, they said.

Authorities came to the worship service on
June 29, ordering the 430-member congregation to leave the building as soon as
possible in order for them to demolish it, but there was no further
explanation, said the Rev. Kwa Shamal, pastor of the Sudanese Church of Christ.

When Shamal and other church leaders went to
the North Khartoum commissioner to inquire about the demolition, office
director Abdel Aziz Omer told them the government had planned to destroy it
since 2012, the pastor said. Shamal told Morning
Star News that the church, which began in 1983, has documents showing it
owns the land, but Aziz Omer said the land was designated for a hospital.

“They did not want us to ask many questions
on why they were demolishing our church,” the pastor told Morning Star News.

The government refuses to grant any compensation,
and the congregation will be forced to worship in tents on the roadside, he
said.

“We will have to pray in a makeshift tent
next Sunday,” he said.

A nearby mosque on the same square was
allowed to stand, church members said.

“Even if they destroy this church building,
our God is still good all the time,” a church member said. “We the believers
are the real church. We are asking you to continue to pray for us because of
the great challenge we are facing.”