AFRECS E-Blast: May 20, 2022

A Prayer for the Feast of the Martyrs of Sudan, May 16

Statue mounted outside Salisbury Cathedral, England, of  Ezra Baya Lawiri,  biblical scholar and translator, born 1917, killed in 1991 in crossfire between government forces and Sudan People’s Liberation Army outside Rokon.

O God, steadfast in the midst of persecution, by your providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church: As the martyrs of the Sudan refused to abandon Christ even in the face of torture and death, and by their sacrifice brought forth a plentiful harvest, so may we be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

American Friends of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan (AFRECS) is drafting a resolution for the General Convention scheduled for Baltimore July 7 – 14. Our draft resolution asks that this prayer not be allowed to get lost in the vortex of supplements to the Book of Common Prayer:

“Resolved, the House of ________ concurring, that the Martyrs of Sudan and South Sudan be included in the calendars of A Great Cloud of Witnesses, Lesser Feasts and Fasts and all supplements to Holy Women, Holy Men; and be it further

Resolved, that congregations of The Episcopal Church be encouraged to observe the Feast of the Martyrs of Sudan on May 16th with public prayer and personal outreach to Sudanese and South Sudanese immigrants in their vicinities.”

Please get in touch with David Colin Jones (bishopjones@outlook.com ), retired suffragan bishop of Virginia, if you have questions or suggestions about this prayer.  Please get in touch if you will be attending General Convention and the legislative committees to which our resolution may be referred. We need your lobbying help.

Funds for Peace Building and Trauma Healing

A cat may look at a king. But a church leader seeking to fund trauma healing or peace building may need a go-between to reach a large donor.

AFRECS Board member Thomas Staal held the third-ranking post of Counselor in the U.S. Agency for International Development. Tom explains:

“The heady optimism of the early days of South Sudan has sadly dissipated. Development programs have had to be scaled back and focused where USAID has partners with whom they can work and are confident that their support is properly used.  They are no longer providing support to or working directly with the national government in South Sudan, but are instead focused at the local, county level in 5 states.  They are primarily working through non-government organizations, in the fields of health, agriculture, education, and economic growth, focusing on restoring livelihoods in an approach that integrates humanitarian assistance with longer-term development activities.  This is intended to help build resilience in local communities.

“In Sudan, USAID has initiated an Office of Transitions Initiative program, which provides short-term, in-kind assistance to a wide variety of local organizations to support the “transition” from autocracy to democracy at the community level.  This can include anything from soccer balls to start a soccer league, equipment to start a local private radio station, computers to open an internet café, books for a library, etc.  The program is managed in-country, with the managers having a lot of flexibility to make decisions and act quickly.  Support can be provided to civil-society groups, local entrepreneurs, religious groups, local government, etc.  At $78 million for 3 years, it is currently the largest OTI program in the world.

“The other unique intervention is a direct result of the Abraham Accords [between Israel, Sudan and other Arab countries].  Congress authorized a “supplemental fund” of $700 million for Sudan.  Discussions are still going on between State Department, USAID and other agencies about how that money will be allocated and spent. With the re-intervention of the military in taking over the government in Sudan, any assistance to the national government has again been suspended.”

See https://afrecs.org/advocate/ for full details.

Who’s Where?

Simon Chuong Elected Bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Renk

Simon Chuang Ayok, newly elected bishop of Renk

Jackie Kraus, a resident of the Diocese of Chicago and Honorary Canon of St. Matthew’s Cathedral, Renk, South Sudan, reports: “There is joy in the Diocese of Renk!”

Archbishop Joseph Garang Atem has announced the election of the 3rd Bishop of Renk Diocese, companion with the Diocese of Chicago. Unanimously elected, Bishop-elect Simon Chuang Ayok Deng is currently pastor of St. Michael’s Parish in Paloch, partner with Christ Church, Winnetka, Illinois. He is married to Mary Bol Deng Ayiik, and is a graduate of Renk Theological College, Center for Peace & Reconciliation.

“We praise God for strengthening the Church in Renk, and the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, through our Companion Diocese Relationship with the Diocese of Chicago”, proclaims Archbishop Joseph Garang.

Consecration of Bishop-elect Simon Chuang by Primate and Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, Justin Badi Arama, will take place May 22 at All Saints Cathedral in Juba. The date of his enthronement by Archbishop Joseph at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, Renk,  is yet to be determined. Archbishop Joseph will be headquartered in the Diocese of Malakal, the seat of the Province of Northern Upper Nile State, which is composed of 6 dioceses, including Renk.

South Sudan Council of Churches Sends a Reminder

Archbishop Justin Badi Arama joined other South Sudanese leaders in signing Easter message.

In an Easter “Message of Hope” on April 13, the South Sudan Council of Churches confirmed the “pastoral pilgrimage” to Juba by Roman Catholic Pope Francis, Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby, and Presbyterian Church of Scotland Moderator Iaian Greenshields previously announced for July 5-7.  The church leaders reminded political leaders of their April 2019 commitment to implement the Revitalized Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS). Signatories to the message were James Par Tap Hon, moderator of the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church; Stephen Ameyu Martin, Apostolic Administrator of Torit; Justin Badi Arama, Primate of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan; James Lagos Alexander, Presidng Bishop of the Africa Inland Church; Isaiah Majok Dau, General Overseer of the Sudan Pentecostal Church; and Moderator James Maki Jej Chuol, Presbyterian Church of South Sudan.  Details at www.sscchurches.org; tel. 211-918-190-376.

The Washing of the Feet 

(Photo courtesy of EUSS Deputy Vice Chancellor Rev. Dr. Joseph Z. Bilal)

At the Rokon campus of the budding Episcopal University of South Sudan (EUSS), a technician nonchalantly washes his feet in the flow from one of three new wells successfully drilled at the site, a critical first step in the development of what will be the main facility of the EUSS.  The bequest of the late Richard Parkins, former Executive Director of AFRECS, and an additional donation from AFRECS Board Member Rick Houghton made a significant contribution to make this drilling possible. Praise God from whom all blessings (including waters) flow!

Director’s Update

In South Sudan the scope of inter-communal violence seems to be expanding.  In addition to the ongoing clashes in Unity and Jonglei states which have been extensively publicized, dozens have been killed in Magwi County in Eastern Equatoria, precipitated by pastoralists bringing their herds from Jonglei into areas already planted by farmers.  That violence took the lives of the mother and two brothers of Archbishop Ogeno Charles Opoka of Eastern Equatoria Internal Province. The wider violence may reflect, in part, increasing fragmentation of the South Sudan Peoples’ Defense Force (ex-SPLA).

In Sudan a Tripartite initiative involving the UN (UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan – UNITAMS), the African Union, and the IGAD regional body for the Horn is slowly moving forward in its consultations with the Forces of Freedom & Change, the so-called community “resistance committees” and other civil society groups, the political parties, and the military.  A high-level delegation of the Troika (US, UK, Norway) plus France, Germany and the EU visited Khartoum at the beginning of May to impart the message that the only acceptable outcome of such a consultation would be a transitional civilian government.  Only then could donor assistance be restarted for an economy in the throes of high inflation and food and other scarcities.

The Episcopal Churches of South Sudan and Sudan are anticipating a busy summer.  The Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) will visit South Sudan July 5-7.  Bishops from Sudan and South Sudan will be present at the Lambeth Conference July 27-August 8 – a gathering of bishops from across the Anglican communion.

AFRECS Board member James Hubbard and I are expecting to meet these bishops in Salisbury, England, after the Lambeth conference, the first leg of our planned visit to Sudan and South Sudan in August.  We hope to be joined by AFRECS Vice President Steven Miles in South Sudan.

Executive Director