'The Calling' Book Event

'The Calling' Book Event

BOOK EVENT -- A Novel Honoring Faith and Courage in Sudan Thursday, June 12, 4-6 p.m., Cannon House Office Building, Room 122

WASHINGTON, June 11 /Christian Newswire/ -- Last month the town of Abyei, Sudan was obliterated by the National Islamic Front regime of Khartoum, displacing over 100,000 men, women, and children. Three years ago, after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Act between NIF and the SPLA, a special Commission determined that Abyei's boundaries lie in South Sudan. Since that time the NIF regime has refused to accept the findings of that commission and has been in violation of the peace agreement. It seems as if they decided to end the dispute by wiping Abyei off the map.

At this critical juncture, the Institute on Religion and Democracy is joining with Amnesty International USA in hosting a reception honoring Elizabeth Hankins, author of the new book "The Calling".

The Calling (April 2008) tells the decades-long story of southern Sudan through themes of life devoted to mission; religion and faith; love, betrayal, and loss; and the many faces of war and human suffering. Overarching all is the hope of redemption.

Faith McDonnell, director of IRD's Church Alliance for a New Sudan, will introduce the author, Elizabeth Hankins, and speak.

IRD Director of Religious Liberty Programs Faith J.H. McDonnell commented:

We are very pleased to be co-hosts, along with Amnesty International USA, at the reception for author Elizabeth Hankins.

The Calling is a story that portrays the reality of good and evil - from church offices in Boston to oil fields in South Sudan, and it traces the disintegration of the moral compass both in one man and in the whole world's lack of response to the suffering and death of over two million people that continued unabated for more than two decades.

Now more than ever, the world needs to hear the story presented by author Elizabeth Hankins as marginalized people in Sudan are under attack by Khartoum: the North/South peace agreement is in danger of collapse; genocide continues in Darfur; and the eastern Sudan threatens to be the next arena of Khartoum's violence.

The Calling could not have come at a time that is more critical in the history of US advocacy for Sudan.

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