Director’s Update
A group of AFRECS Board members, plus the Episcopal Church’s international policy advisor Patricia Kisare, met last week with State Department officials charged with the Sudans.
On Sudan, they informed us that Assistant Secretary for Africa Molly Phee (former ambassador to South Sudan) is trying to coordinate a four-pronged approach:
- Ceasefire talks in Jeddah. That remains the only venue acceptable to the warring parties, the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Strike Force. The US is seeking to broaden sponsorship to include Egypt, the African Union and IGAD (the Horn of Africa regional group). Ambassador Daniel Rubinstein, ex-Chargé d’Affaires in Cairo, is tasked with putting together the Jeddah talks.
- Humanitarian Access to the civilian population is very limited and difficult to achieve. USAID/Sudan is forced to operate out of Nairobi. Save the Children, CARE, Norwegian Refugee Council and some other NGOs have been able to maintain programming in parts of the country but hope to expand.
- Civic engagement leading to a Civilian Transition. The US wants to make this inclusive to include Resistance Committees, the Forces for Freedom and Change, political parties, and trade unions, but believes the various Sudanese civic groups must take the lead, working together to hammer it out.
- Broader international engagement. So far the UN Security Council has done nothing, but President William Ruto of Kenya has taken the lead for IGAD. US Horn of Africa Envoy Mike Hammer is playing a role.
On South Sudan, the State team emphasized there was no political accountability, no halting of the sub-national violence directed by Juba-based élites, no transparency on use of oil revenue estimated at $1 billion annually, and no meaningful progress toward credible elections scheduled December 2024.
AFRECS hopes to meet with US Congressional representatives in the near future to press for hearings on both countries.
Duke Divinity School student Travis Williams preaches at a church in Yei, South Sudan while serving as a visiting teacher.
Duke Divinity Students Return to Teach in Yei, by Travis Williams
From May to August of 2023 I lived, taught, preached, and worshipped at Bishop Allison Theological College in Yei, South Sudan. The college had come through a tumultuous year, returning to Yei after years of asylum in Arua, Uganda. Preparing for my teaching, I had read about the war years and spoken to people on the ground. The suffering was nevertheless astounding. More striking still was the resilience. Instead of disillusioned or broken-hearted staff and students, I met diligent and dedicated disciples. Between the students in my Biblical Interpretation class and those in my Church and Community Development class, we organized first a prison and then a hospital ministry. I saw the group go, in the dungeon-like confines of Yei’s prison, from a cohort of shocked students to empowered evangelists. They preached, prayed, and provided material support to the prisoners and their families, encouraged and appreciated by the prison’s administrators and guards.
My work was teaching, but my role was learner. I drew closer to Christ. I am now directing my research towards ways to encourage other Christians to be as eager as BATC students. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xkL_Rt1rxk1K6IrcChWAfzvQBmU7QU8i/view?usp=sharing
On a weekday morning BATC students and staff gather after completing the Daily Office. (Far L. Deputy Principal Rev. Cosmas Gwagwe; 2nd from L.: Travis Williams; 5th from L.: Garret Kaiser; wearing green stole: Rev. Lucky James Moses, a student in the Certificate class.)
by Garrett Kaiser
Shortly after meeting the Reverend Emmanuel Lokosang Charles, principal of Bishop Allison Theological College, I was unexpectedly comforted by a simple prayer beginning, “Almighty and ever-living God.” Such a small phrase, unique to the Anglican family, spoke volumes about the shared grammar of faith that was my lifeline in an isolating cultural unfamiliarity. In many instances, the language of faith was all that we seemed to have left to offer one another. When old teaching resources in the library reached their termini, and the food stores of the school grew slim, we kept turning to the prayerbook and to the local church. Even if there are words to describe the hardship of the South Sudanese in crisis, there are certainly none that can speak enough of their faith, nor of the tangible presence of the Lord there to meet them. Certain as I am that God directed me to South Sudan, trusting as I was in His promise to stay by me, and sure as I remain that His intimacy never departed me, I am even more confident in saying that God is present amidst the faith of those who are looking for him.
Sudan: Survival and Succor
Friends in the United Kingdom share photographs of Sudanese pastors distributing food aid to people who have fled ongoing bombing and looting, along with peaceful scenes of weekly worship. (https://www.casss.org.uk/wp-
South Sudan: Driven by War Back to an Ill-Prepared Homeland
On September 7 the New York Times published photos from Bodo and Renk in South Sudan, describing the trek by vehicle, foot, and barge still continuing in August for refugees from the fighting in Khartoum and western Sudan. They have been searching for shelter and survival in Malakal, Juba, and Bentiu.
Women and children at the transit camp in Renk, South Sudan. Many of those arriving here fled their homes and businesses in Sudan and have brought with them only meager belongings. “I never want to go back to Sudan,” one said. “But I know it will not be easy where I am going.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/
You can help the Episcopal Church of South Sudan assist these people with their non-food needs through a gift to AFRECS – the American Friends of the Episcopal Church of the Sudans. Please donate today.
South Sudan Basketball Team Qualifies for Paris Olympics
South Sudan is the only African national basketball team to qualify for the Paris Olympics. The team did so by going 4-2 in the FIBA Basketball World Cup which took place recently in Asia. South Sudan defeated Angola 101-78 in its final game to clinch its place.
News from the Diaspora
Athing Mu Competes in World Track Championships
At the World Championships in Budapest last month, Athing Mu, AFRECS’s favorite track and field star, took bronze in the 800 meters. Mu, the Trenton, New Jersey-born daughter of South Sudan refugees, who was Olympic champion in her event in Tokyo in 2020, has taken on a new coach, the renowned Bobby Kersee, and relocated to Los Angeles in the past year. She has recently complained of fatigue, which appears to have affected her performance in Budapest. After a break, she will focus on defending her Olympic title in Paris next year, chasing a new world record.
From Stone Mountain, Georgia, the Reverend John Aroc shares the sad news of the August death, in Juba, of Awan de Gak. Gak had been in charge since 1998, along with Ayeil Deng Ayel and Guot Bul Mayuon, and supported by the Wycliffe Bible Translators, of producing a fresh translation of the Old Testament into Dinka Cham. (https://afrecs.org/?s=Lorelei
From Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Reverend Zachariah Jok Char writes:
“Good news which God has done in the Sudanese Grace community: English Services every first Sunday of the month at 11:30….Lake Effect Church renewed its lease…. We are in the process of certifying our church kitchen for public use…Sunday attendance is growing – average now about 80… The number of newborn children is growing… Recently received two families from Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya… Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Wyoming donated a GaGa Ball Pit for our children to play in…Three Sudanese Grace members are postulants for the priesthood and attending the Academy for Vocational Leadership.”
“July 9 we had joint services with Grace Episcopal Church in East Grand Rapids, our mother church, followed by a food sale and wonderful fellowship. Sunday School for younger children has been steady and growing .. just began a teen group… Hosted diocesan regional day camp led by Camp Chickagami staff. Workshops in our building have helped the South Sudanese community to know some of the services available in the city. A couple of our families have started a daycare business.”
In Annandale, Virginia, an All-Day Kids’ Ministry gathering of the Sudan African Fellowship on August 19 included games, college preparation wisdom from current undergraduates, Bible study on the “I am” sayings of Jesus, and family mental health advice from Dr. Edward Kenyi of Baltimore.
In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, “Belonging” was the theme of a fundraiser announced for September 15 by Elizabeth Aluk Andrea, president of Manitoba Women for Women South Sudan (MW4WSS) and a participant in the 2019 AFRECS conference in Denver. Senator Marilou McPhedran was guest speaker. The Rotary Club of Winnipeg’s service arm will transmit donated funds to MW4WSS’s partner in South Sudan who distributes daily necessities to returning refugees. (https://www.women4womenmb.ca.
From Kampala, Uganda, .Bishop Hilary Garang Deng Awer, retired bishop of Malakal, writes that he is continuing to collect data for his doctoral thesis on peacemaking between tribes in the Upper Nile region. His fellow students at Uganda Christian University include Bishop Wilson Kamani of Ibba Diocese and Rev. Abraham Maker and Paul Issa from the Episcopal University of South Sudan.
Marc Nikkel Day was observed August 27 at Grace Episcopal Church in Lexington, Virginia, during Sunday morning worship attended by Virginia Military Institute cadets, faculty of Washington & Lee University, and one Sudanese family from Roanoke, Virginia. James Hubbard, who first met Nikkel at Fuller Seminary in California before Nikkel became a missionary in Sudan, recalled his own August 2022 visit to churches in Khartoum, Juba, Terekeka, and Rokon, challenging the congregation to ponder a partnership. Susan E. Bentley testified to the inspiration she takes from the life of Nikkel and her admiration for the faithfulness of Sudanese Christians resettled in the Roanoke Valley. Samson Mamour, a 2021 graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary, celebrated Holy Communion and welcomed students new to town.
Loss of an Eye, by Lawrence Duffee
A dear friend whom I used to jog with was jogging on the streets of Juba last Friday morning when he was set upon by a gang wielding machetes. He suffered pretty bad injuries and looks like he has lost his left eye. This sort of random violence is a terrible reminder of the situation in South Sudan.
What is the Anglican Alliance?
The next Mission Networking Call will be Wednesday, October 4th with guest speaker the Rt. Rev. Anthony Poggo, General Secretary of the Anglican Communion and former bishop of Kajo-Keji, South Sudan. To be connected to the call, or if you have topic ideas, please reach out to Jenny Grant at jgrant@episcopalchurch.org.
Guest speaker on Sept. 6 was the director of the Anglican Alliance, Canon Rachel Carnegie, explaining her network of churches and agencies as “a vision – not simply ‘development’ but something much richer, more holistic and inspiring…. For example, climate change is leading to more disasters, forcing people (and especially young people) to migrate, making them more vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking.” https://anglicanalliance.org/
This issue was compiled by Richard J. Jones, Anita Sanborn, and Larry Duffee. We welcome your news, comments, and corrections at anita.sanborn@gmail.com.