South Sudan. President Kiir’s firing of Defense Minister Angelina Teny, Riek Machar’s wife, is viewed by the opposition as a violation of the 2018 peace agreement, which gave SPLM/IO the choice of that position. The Human Rights Commission on South Sudan, which reports to the UN Human Rights Council, named a number of South Sudanese Government officials in Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile States as guilty of serious human rights abuses for summary executions and attacks on civilians.
Sudan. Fast-moving events in Sudan are changing by the hour. For background on the situation see the link below.
Three Weeks in South Sudan – Juba, Malakal, and Renk
Landing in Juba for my first visit since 2016, I was immediately impressed by the frenetic energy of a fast-growing city. Some of the improvements had been made in anticipation of the recent visit of the Pope and fellow church leaders. The Episcopal Guest House offered a completely new wing of rooms and cafeteria, alongside completely refurbished existing rooms. I could not have asked for better accommodation and feeding, nor a more thoughtful itinerary, than the one the Archbishop of the Internal Province of Upper Nile, His Grace Joseph Garang Atem, had prepared for me.
March 17 – Visited Glow Mission Academic Primary School, along with Bishop John Gatteck, who founded (through his Christ Mission Continuous Ministry (CMCM)) and oversees the school in a vast camp for displaced persons that is still called “the POC-3”, even though it is no longer formally a U.N. Protection of Civilians facility. Originally begun with 50 orphans and unaccompanied minors, the school has expanded from one church structure to include several new classrooms (though still in a very cramped space) providing primary education to 500 students (286 girls and 214 boys) with 25 part-time teachers. While I was greeted enthusiastically by a children’s choir and the teachers present, I also received a list of pressing needs. The school barely keeps up with funding teaching staff and the lunch program, much less being able to add other basics such as desks and teaching aids. The school’s very existence is a remarkable accomplishment, but additional support is sorely needed for these most vulnerable (but amazingly perseverant) children and their hard-pressed mentors.
March 18 – Received a thorough update from Vice Chancellor (for Administration and Finance) Rev. Dr. Joseph Bilal on the blossoming Episcopal University of South Sudan (EUSS). Its degree program in Law and a its diploma program in Theology are now fully accredited, and with ongoing work to accredit programs in Education, Business, Health, Agriculture and Engineering. Operating now at the Juba campus of what was Bishop Gwynne Theological College, the EUSS has ambitious plans for a new campus in Rokon, outside of Juba. Thanks to a generous donation of the land by the local community, the organizers have begun comprehensive master planning, the established water wells (thanks in large part to a bequest from the late Richard Parkins of AFRECS), and the secured funding for a perimeter fence. Dr. Bilal and Dr. Eeva John of the UK plan to visit the U.S. in May to discuss in detail with interested parties their plans for the EUSS. Development of the new campus is a big-ticket item, but there are many opportunities for smaller donors to support student scholarships and faculty development.
March 19 – Attended the English Sunday service at All Saint’s Cathedral, nicely refurbished and with expanded covered seating outside the sanctuary. Enjoyed the sermon delivered by Reverend Professor Peter Ensor, who is serving a three-year term as Vice Chancellor (for Academic Affairs) of the EUSS, overseeing the development of the degree programs while also teaching Theology. Professor Ensor noted wryly to me that he is a Methodist, but that is not really a problem because, “After all, John Wesley was an Anglican.”
March 20 – Accompanied Bishop Gatteck to meetings with South Sudanese NGOs with whom he works. These included Peace in Action South Sudan (PASS), Universal Intervention and Development Organization (UNIDOR), Action for Conflict Resolution (ACR), Dialogue Research Institute (DRI) and African Mission Assistance (AMA), all of whom are engaged in programs for peacebuilding and trauma healing. While none of these groups is a source of funding for the Glow School, they have helped with in-kind support such as transportation and the passing through of both food supplies and teaching materials. It was great to meet these allies of AFRECS in peace and trauma healing and learn of their specific strategies. While at DRI (which engages directly with individuals in need of trauma healing, despite its bookish-sounding name), I heard the tragic story of a surviving mother and two children of a family of nine, viciously attacked by an armed group on a roadway in Unity State. The three survivors had somehow been rescued and brought to Juba, where the authorities connected them to DRI for assistance. I was moved to leave a small donation.
March 21 Flew to Malakal with Archbishop Joseph and I flew on Kush Air, not the UN flight I had expected. We were greeted in rousing fashion by the Mother’s Union and various assembled clergy and lay leaders. Ten years after the first of successive battles for the City, each of which caused tremendous damage, the city is still quite literally trying to rise from the ashes. Many people who were forced to flee have returned, and there was positive energy in the air — despite a recent outbreak of conflict in a nearby area. I observed lots of activity at the river port and sipped coffee in the central market, lively enough despite wistful remarks about its pre-war glory.
Visiting the large UN Mission (UNMISS) compound north of Malakal, we met with two members of the Civil Affairs staff and discussed further coöperation on our respective peacebuilding and trauma healing efforts. We were seeking not only to avoid duplication of existing efforts, but also the possibility of joint efforts, especially in making UN aviation resources available for church-led peacebuilding gatherings. Those resources have been strained and limited this past year, mainly due to the impact of wars elsewhere, but should be more available in the coming year.. It was acknowledged that the church has the trust relationships vital to be effective as peacebuilders, but lacks sufficient resources to provide the logistics of gatherings for peace and trauma healing activities.
March 22 – On to Renk, this time in a smaller fourteen-seat World Food Programme plane (devoted to people, not cargo), we were once again greeted by the enthusiastic ululations of the Mothers’ Union and others excited to welcome back their long-time leader, Bishop Joseph. I was happy to see Renk, partly depopulated seven years ago following a brief conflict in the area, now bustling and full of life. Its Episcopal Guest House had also been nicely improved, despite the difficulty of obtaining materials during the epidemic and the continued closure of the border with Sudan.
The brand-new, three-story diocesan headquarters building is a remarkable achievement, given the closed border with Sudan and the challenge of gathering resources during the pandemic. The building has extra offices and a third-floor conference center, intended to provide rental income to the Diocese. The new building stands adjacent to the soccer stadium and visible to a large area — an example of the progress that can be made if there is peace. The resurrection of Renk, compared to my 2016 visit, made an easy theme for my Sunday sermon in St. Matthew Cathedral, where the pre-Easter readings were the dry bones vision of Ezekiel and Jesus’s miracle of the raising of Lazarus.
At the diocesan farm, additional acreage is being cleared for sorghum planting, despite the loss of most of last year’s crop to an American beetle inadvertently imported in food aid in the 1980’s. Planting will come in summer with the arrival of the rains. We observed a visit by three successive herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. Their nomadic Sudanese herders graze the area in the off season and return to Sudan as the rains move north. People do what they have long done, regardless of an officially closed Sudan/South Sudan border. The only commercial vehicles visible where the paved highway crosses the border were charcoal-laden donkey carts.
March 30 Back in Juba, we were able to arrange a meeting at the UNMISS compound with political and civil affairs staff, again to discuss peacebuilding activities and establish new contacts for future cooperation. We also toured, in the rain, some of the growth areas, including a short stretch of the Juba – Bor Highway, which is now paved the entire way. One general observation is that virtually every thatched roof that I saw on my last visit has been replaced by corrugated tin (or “zinc”), right down to the shade structures for animals in the fields.
April 2– Joined the throng processing in from the main gate to all Saints Cathedral on Palm Sunday, to the hearty strains of “All Glory Laud and Honor”. Not only was the cathedral itself packed full, but so was the new covered seating on each side. (We may be able to pack the church on Easter Sunday, but it is a weekly event here.)
April 3 – A warm reunion meeting with Primate Justin Badi Arama and Mama Joyce at their home, before we proceeded with Archbishop Joseph to the U.S. Embassy to meet Ambassador Michael Adler. Discussed the role of the church in peacebuilding activities and some of the logistical challenges of same, ending with a group photo posted on the embassy Twitter account, captioned “Proud of the role of civil society in promoting Peace in South Sudan.”
April 4 – Departed Juba, amazed once again at the energy and perseverance which Archbishop Joseph and so many others display in pursuing peace and development. The church represents the grass roots of South Sudan. I remain convinced that peace can build upward from these roots. We must keep walking in support, aware of the difficulties but undaunted — as our brothers and sisters are.
Easter in the Diaspora
Atlanta – Dr. Abraham Deng Ater writes:
“Our Easter Sunday Service here at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Stone Mountain, Georgia was led by the Reverend John Manyuon Aroch, who preached. Our Sunday School children sang in Dinka. I still do the bulletin in Dinka, which I send to other Dinka-speaking parishes across the United States and Canada.”
Washington DC area (aka DMV) – The Reverend and Mrs. Kwathi Akol Ajawin write:
“A congregation of about 200 Africans, mainly South Sudanese, gathered at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Annandale, Virginia to celebrate Easter on April 9th. It was a colorful and beautiful event full of fervent prayers, charismatic preaching, food, and dancing to the Lord. The festival lasted about eight hours, including a late lunch at 5 o’clock. The event was organized by Maryland Christian Fellowship, a Sudanese Ministry based in Baltimore, but hosted by the Sudanese African Fellowship in northern Virginia, due to lack of facility currently in Baltimore. Please pray for a worship center for the Sudanese in Maryland.
“We were graced by a young Sudanese college student and a high school student from Rwanda singing gospel, along with the main choir headed by Emmanuel Hakim. The joy of the Holy Spirit was felt by many and commented on by Malek Yosah, the worship leader. An American missionary working among Sudanese Muslims in the DMV area gave a testimony and a word of encouragement, expressing a desire to engage more with the Sudanese African Fellowship. A testimony and worship song by Mama Abuk Ajak moved some to tears, while Abuna Kwathi emphasized a personal relationship with Jesus, expounding St. Matthew’s account of the two Marys’ walk with Jesus from the start of his ministry in Galilee all the way to the empty tomb. Evangelist James Okeny gave a word of encouragement on behalf of Maryland Christian Fellowship, praying for the Sudanese church in diaspora and for the sick and needy people. The event concluded with a delicious Sudanese African meal, plus dancing on worship tunes from Juba Arabic, Classical Arabic, Swahili, and South Sudanese local languages including Bari, Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Acholi, Madi, Avokaya, Lotuho, Moro, and others.
“The South Sudanese Ambassador to the United States, Philip Jada, gave seasonal greetings and thanked the church for this event that united the South Sudanese. The chairperson of the community, Lina Ajak, echoed his words and encouraged the DMV members of the community to work for unity.”
Photo taken by David Copley in South Sudan
Remember Gertie the Goat
Observing their 20-year custom, St. James Episcopal Church in Roanoke, Virginia reminded parishioners weekly during Lent that goats must be fed. A larger-than-life cutout of Gertie the Goat stood at the church entry, encouraging children and adults to bring money from their Giving Box (or Jar) at home as an Easter Sunday offering. “After Easter Sunday,” said Susan E. Bentley, rector since 2000 of this small congregation and a new member of the AFRECS Board, “we will buy goats to be sent to our neighbors in South Sudan. For decades we have used Lenten almsgiving to purchase goats through the Gifts for Life program of Episcopal Relief & Development. They provide livestock plus training to generate income through sale of milk.” To children she explained, “One goat can produce four gallons a day of a milk which is easy for people to digest. Goats create fertilizer and clear land, but they are considered ‘zero grazers’. Their natural curiosity and intelligence make them great pets for families.”
Diocese of Ezo
St. Francis Episcopal Church in Great Falls, Virginia received enough funds from their Lenten appeal to buy bicycles for the Diocese of Ezo clergy in Western Equatoria and have transferred $4,000 to Bishop Isaac Bangisa.
Instead of bicycles built in the U.S., funds were sent to purchase from African sources bicycles fit for evangelists’ and pastors’ 90-mile rides over rough terrain.
Leslie Siegmund, a laywoman who with her husband Jack Mathias has fostered this 25-year parish-to-diocese companion relation, writes,
“St. Francis is always happy to send money over to Ezo. If anyone still wants to donate, we have a way to get the money to Ezo’s bank account! Our next tiny project will be trying to expose children at the St. Francis Creche Preschool to Ezo. Another parishioner and I are going to spend about ten minutes next week with a class of four-year-olds, showing photos and talking about the children in Ezo. It will be interesting to see what our four-year-olds think when they see photos of the Ezo children having school under the trees. We’re hoping that teachers at the St. Francis preschool might eventually communicate with teachers at one of the primary schools in Ezo.”
St. Francis Church’s relation with the 18,000 member Diocese of Ezo has included sending visitors in 2008 and 2013, praying regularly for each other, and receiving visits from two bishops of Ezo. To learn more:
We are deeply 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 make a contribution to support AFRECS’ work with the people of the Sudans and will offer a prayer for them. You can contribute online at https://afrecs.org or send a check made out to AFRECS to P.O. Box 3327, Alexandria, VA 22302.
This issue of the E-Blast was compiled by Phil Darrow, Anita Sanborn, and Richard Jones. We are eager to receive your photos, stories, queries, or corrections at anitasanborn@gmail.com. Back issues of the E-Blast may be searched by keyword or name at www.afrecs.org/news.
