by Leslie Siegmund
Our covenant with the Diocese of Ezo had held good for more than a quarter of a century — through wars, independence for South Sudan, and the tenure of several bishops — until in 2025 the United States imposed a travel ban on visitors from South Sudan, torpedoing our invitation to the Rt. Rev. Isaac Ephraim J. Bangisa, current bishop of Ezo, to visit our parish in Great Falls, Virginia. We needed a workaround.
Then we called to mind our mutual acquaintances, Ezo’s and St. Francis’s, with the Diocese of Salisbury in England. Bishop Isaac had visited Salisbury when he traveled to the 2022 Lambeth Conference. We had corresponded sporadically with members of the Sherborne Deanery-Ezo Link Team in Salisbury for about 10 years, exchanging information about projects and fundraising. Could we meet halfway between Africa and the U.S., in England?
Dr. Andrew Tomkins, a retired researcher on tropical diseases, and his wife Celia offered to host everyone at their large home. Bishop Isaac and Mama Nora obtained UK visas and arrived February 25th. The next day, four members of St. Francis—Priest-in-Charge Weston Mathews, Deacon Nancy Searby, and parishioners Jack Mathias and myself—landed at Heathrow for the three-hour drive to Salisbury. The workaround worked.
We women attending the local Mothers’ Union meeting, where Mama Nora spoke about her Mothers’ Union in Ezo and showed photos of women learning to sew on machines purchased with donations from Sherborne. Over afternoon tea and cake, we met our counterparts on the Ezo-Sherborne Link team. Saturday, we filmed interviews with Bishop Isaac and Mama Nora, learning more about Ezo’s need for a functioning secondary school. Around the Tomkins’s generous dining table, we worked to update our covenant. Zoom connected us with St. Francis parishioners back in Virginia after their Sunday morning service. Before our return to the U.S., we learned of the UK-based Sudan Medical Link Team (https://www.salisburysudanspartnership.co.uk/about-us/) which supports Episcopal Church of South Sudan clinics with medical supplies, equipment, and training of health workers, focused on maternal and child health and combatting malnutrition and malaria.
Once back home in Virginia, we were thrilled to raise enough money to help build the high school in Ezo—the first Episcopal secondary school in that Diocese. Construction started on April 10th. Our Associate Rector, the Rev. Joy Warburton, was able to connect with Mama Nora over Zoom and exchange Mothers’ Union information. Joy also worked on a plan to connect St. Francis and Ezo youth. We anticipate future connections between St. Francis, Sherborne, and Ezo, exploring the fruits of this unexpected but fortuitous workaround.