Update from Dane Smith
Since 2019 AFRECS has been partnering with Five Talents to introduce trauma healing instruction into the activities of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan. That partnership with the Episcopal Church of South Sudan has been expanded this year from the pilot program in the diocese of Renk to the diocese of Terekeka in Central Equatoria. In our June 1 issue of this E-Blast we applied to this work the analysis of Bessel Van der Kolk in The Body Keeps the Score, which remains near the top of the New York Times bestseller list. In this issue we bring you insights of Serene Jones, President of Union Theological Seminary.
In Trauma and Grace: Theology in a Ruptured World, she writes, “Trauma focuses on the effects of violence on our vast interior worlds.” “Trauma” refers to “events in which one experiences the threat of annihilation.” A traumatic event provokes a sense of “utter helplessness.” These events can happen to individuals and communities, villages and nations, single families and whole regions. They need not be one-off occurrences but can be repeated events.
Christian faith, however, is in many ways well placed to deal with trauma.
Serene points out, “It’s hard to imagine anywhere in literature or in the annals of human experience a more traumatic event than the torture and execution of this man Jesus, and the event was supported by the whole surrounding culture. … So, for Christianity, understanding trauma is not just a kind of secondary issue—it is rather the most central event of our faith.
She goes on to say, “Christian faith … inspires a way of life shaped deeply by Biblical stories, rituals and traditions, … telling stories about people becoming agents in their own lives with God-given grace to act. These stories can reorder the imagination and even the collective imagination of people of faith.”
Given the rapid spread of Christianity in South Sudan, we are seeking to incorporate into our training in Renk and Terekeka Biblical stories and Christian rituals that help traumatized people reorder their imaginations. Helpful are laments such as the many that people the Book of Psalms — for example “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13), and community laments such “Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to another” (Psalm 90). Scripture can be applied to recovery from rape, e.g., “In you, O LORD, have I taken refuge; let me never be ashamed… You have showed me great troubles and adversities, but you will restore my life and bring me up again from the deep places of the earth. You strengthen me more and more; you enfold me and comfort me”(Psalm 71).
A particularly useful ritual, suggested by the American Bible Society, is called “Taking Your Pain to the Cross.” Participants in a group trauma healing session write down on pieces of paper their worst pains — things done to them, things they observed, even things they did to others. Then they share them in small group discussion. They take those pains in prayer or dialogue with Jesus, guided, for example, by Isaiah 53:4-6 (“He was wounded for our transgressions….By his wounds we are healed”). Finally, the participants take the papers and nail them to the foot of a wooden cross erected at the site of the trauma session. That ritual was used effectively by the Reverend Sylvester Thomas Kambaya and his brother Ambrose in Mundri in Western Equatoria in 2019.
The need for help with trauma healing is very extensive in South Sudan. AFRECS and Five Talents would like to expand this work to other parts of the country. If you would like to help, please send your contributions to AFRECS with a note that they should be used for trauma healing.
Executive Director
Amnesty International Denounces South Sudan’s Repression of Peaceful Protest
Amnesty International has reported that South Sudan is witnessing a “new wave of repression,” targeting freedom of expression, freedom of association, and peaceful assembly. That statement — and a similar one by Reporters without Borders — followed the suppression of a planned peaceful protest on August 30, when the security forces threatened to use live ammunition. As a result the streets were empty, and more civic leaders went into hiding. Internet service was interrupted, and Radio Jonglei was closed down. The Sudd Institute think tank, shuttered in August, remains closed. Shops which did not open August 30 were fined “to pay for the extra security expense.” On September 3 the Troika governments — US, UK, Norway — plus the European Union called on the Government of South Sudan to protect the rights of citizens.
We pray for Kuel Aguer and all prisoners of conscience
This photograph of the Honorable Kuel Aguer, imprisoned in Juba since August 20, was taken when he was governor of North Bahr al Ghazal state in South Sudan.
Kuel Aguer, a former governor of Northern Bahr al-Ghazal, was arrested in Juba in August after co-signing a protest document by the People’s Coalition for Civil Action. There are reports that his health is deteriorating and he is receiving no medical care, while being held without charges.
O God our Father, whose Son forgave his enemies while he was suffering shame and death: Strengthen those who suffer for the sake of conscience; when they are imprisoned, save them from despair; and to us your servants, give grace to respect their witness and to discern the truth, that our societies may be cleansed and strengthened. This we ask for the sake of Jesus Christ, our merciful and righteous Judge. Amen.
News Flash: Aborted Military Coup Attempt September 21 in Khartoum
(From the BBC)
Sudan says that “forces of darkness” linked to the ousted President Omar al-Bashir were behind Tuesday’s failed coup attempt.
“Remnants from the previous regime” were “intent on aborting the civilian democratic transition”, said Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
He called it an “orchestrated coup attempt involving elements from both inside and outside the armed forces”.
Reuters news agency quotes the Sudanese military as saying 21 officers and a number of soldiers had been detained in connection with the failed putsch, and they are continuing to search for the rest of the culprits.
Prime Minister Hamdok said his government would “take immediate measures to fortify the transition and continue to dismantle the system of the former regime, which still poses a threat to the transition”.
Diocese of Albany Responds to Disasters in Diocese of Maridi
Tiny St. James Episcopal Church in Au Sable Forks, New York, under the leadership of the Reverend Patricia Johnson, and the Diocese of Albany have been engaged for many years in a Companion Diocese relationship with the Diocese of Maridi in Western Equatoria. Mother Patti, or “Mama Patti” as she likes to be called, is an oncology nurse who has made eight visits to South Sudan over the past two decades. She also maintains regular internet communication with the former Bishop of Maridi, Justin Badi Arama, and the current bishop. In February of this year, during the dry season, wildfires occurred in five villages in Maridi. Some 50 families lost over 100 huts and granaries, creating food shortages. A few weeks later the diocesan guest house was destroyed by fire. The Diocese of Albany mobilized more than $5,500 for repairs of church property, tarpaulins for families impacted, and food supplies, receiving warm thanks from Bishop Moses Zungo.
Mama Patti also reports that the Diocese of Maridi planned to remember Archbishop Joseph Marona, the first Bishop of Maridi, on 18th September. Bishop Moses sought to honor Archbishop Marona and the relationship he developed with Church Mission Society Ireland, the Diocese of Down and Dromore, and the Diocese of Albany. He invited these three partners to join him on Zoom to talk and pray.
Some Economic and Political Good News
The long delayed session of the South Sudan parliament opened with the convening of 588 lawmakers. South Sudanese no longer need a passport and visa to travel to Sudan. They can cross the border with an emergency travel document. The road from Nimule on the Uganda border to Juba has reopened after truckers went on strike over the killing of drivers by bandits. The deployment of more regular police patrols has provided some reassurance of safety. And UNICEF has announced it will provide incentive payments of about $50 to each of 33,000 South Sudanese teachers over the next three months.
Two Movies
From the Sudan Church Review, the magazine of the Church Association for Sudan and South Sudan in the UK (www.cass.org.uk), Spring 2021, come links to two heroic and beautiful documentaries:
Leaving No One Behind https://spark.adobe.com/page/
Tells in vivid photographs and cautious prose the work of women’s groups, subsistence farmers and pastoralists, and grassroots humanitarian agencies which has enabled villages in the Nuba Mountains of the South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions of Sudan to survive during the Covid-19 epidemic of 2020-21 and the continued armed violence. The Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Kadugli and El-Obeid is part of a “much spoken about humanitarian-development-peace NEXUS, [which] does to a large extent actually exist in practice in Nuba. When activities are designed and implemented by local actors more closely in tune with their communities, the usual distinctions and artificial silos dominating much external aid appear to be more easily overcome.”
Fighting Bombs with Perfume https://vimeo.com/109753187
Nagwa Musa Konda says, “When the women come together, sit, and prepare the perfumes or do each other’s hair, they get a chance to talk, to explain their situation, and that gives them a chance also to comfort and encourage one another.
“To me personally these small things are important too. Despite all the challenges, despite all the suffering, I do not want to look messy or walk around smelling bad. I want to be a normal Nuba woman. Therefore I’ll protect my dignity for as long as I’m alive.”
As fall begins, we give thanks for your continued support in prayer and generosity
We are deeply that grateful that contributions from you, our supporters, continue to nurture AFRECS in expanding our impact. You make a difference in the essential peacebuilding work of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, so needed in these challenging times. We hope you will consider taking a moment to consider a gift for our work with the people of the Sudans and to offer a prayer for their nations. You can contribute online at https://afrecs.org or send a check made out to AFRECS to P.O. Box 3327, Alexandria, VA 22302
Back Issues of this E-Blast remain accessible at www.afrecs.org/News under the heading “E-Blast”.
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This issue of the AFRECS E-Blast was compiled by Board member Richard Jones.
AFRECS Editors encourage readers to submit their news for publication; Please submit your news to Caroline Klam at klamcd621@gmail.com.
Directory of Bishops, September 2021
Anglican Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan
The Most Rev. Ezekiel Kondo, Primate and Bishop of Khartoum\
ezekialkondo@gmail.com
Rt. Rev. Dr. Fajak Avagani, Assistant Bishop of Khartoum
fajak.ecstd.@gmail.com
Rt. Rev. Ismail Gabriel Abugudin, Bishop of El Obeid and Dean of Internal Province
ismail.gebreil@gmail.com
Rt. Rev. Saman Farajalla, Bishop of Wad Medani
wadmedani.diocese@gmail.com
Rt. Rev. Abdu Alnur Kodi, Bishop of Port Sudan
durukaa@live.com
Rt. Rev. Andudu Adam el-Nail, Bishop of Kadugli
bpkadugli@gmail.com
Rt. Rev. Hassan Osman, Assistant Bishop of Kadugli
Hassan.Ojamis@gmail.com
Canon Musa Abujam, Provincial Secretary
msabujam@gmail.com