WASHINGTON, DC
AFRECS releases its 2022 Annual Report featuring stories, updates, and reports from its work over the previous year. Read more about AFRECS’ partnerships and the inspiring ministries in Sudan and South Sudan. Click here to read the AFRECS 2022 Annual Report.
Executive Director’s Update
Sudan. The violence has, if anything, intensified, as the RSF has attacked Omdurman and has placed El Obeid under siege. It is estimated that 3000 have been killed and 3 million displaced, including over 700,000 who have exited the country. In June the RSF and allied militias killed 87 in Geneina, West Darfur, mostly Masalit, buried in a mass grave, as cited by the UN Human Rights Office. The Egyptian Government convened neighboring and concerned governments for a new round of negotiations July 13, but the army and the RSF weren’t present. Meanwhile, talks continue in Addis Ababa under the auspices of Kenyan President Ruto with civil society elements, still boycotted by Gen. Burhan, who claims Ruto is not neutral. The New Humanitarian summed up the situation: “External mediation on Sudan falls flat.” There seems to be little prospect that the conflict and the attending violence can be ended in the near future. The International Criminal Court has launched a new probe into alleged war crimes in Sudan.
South Sudan Election. On July 4 President Kiir announced that elections would take place in December 2024 and that he would be a candidate. A few days later UNMISS Chief Nicholas Haysom stated publicly that South Sudan is not ready for elections in 2024. The UN has provided $8 million to assist South Sudan in coping with the flow of refugees from Sudan. The rainfall picture this year, after a fairly wet start, turned very dry in May. Seasonal forecasts predict fairly dry conditions in South Sudan during July to September. So a repeat of the floods of the last three years appears unlikely. Rain outlook is uncertain.
Episcopal Church of Sudan U.K. church partners have been sending money to ECS in Port Sudan to pay clergy and salaries. Salisbury Diocese is sending funds for office equipment to help Primate Ezekiel Kondo run the office in Port Sudan. Christian Aid also is trying to help EDARRA, the ECS development agency, to develop proposals to fund projects where needed in the Province of Sudan. Bishop Ismail Gabriel Abudigin of El Obeid Diocese reports: “Our situation remains the same, but we have hope that it will [become] alright. Killing has become normal, and hunger. No place is secure within the cities, cars are being looted, by force, by lawless forces.”
Episcopal Church of South Sudan. Provincial secretary Peter Garang Deng reported to the monthly call coordinated by The Episcopal Church’s Partnership Officer Daniel Karanja that the flow of refugees has made the ECSS particularly concerned about the high demand for their housing, food, and sanitation. SSUDRA, the ECSS development agency, is seeking funds to assist. It has already started using a grant from Canada’s Primate’s World Relief & Development Fund to provide cash distributions to households in Nyamlei Diocese of Northern Bahr al-Ghazal Internal Province, as well as to pay its Justice Peace & Reconciliation Commission Officer. SSUDRA is also working with Christian Aid on humanitarian assistance for families in conflict-afflicted Abyei.
Like Water Dripping on a Stone
by Susan E. Bentley
The desert father Abba Poemen said, “The nature of water is yielding, and that of stone is hard. Yet if you hang a bottle filled with water above the stone so that the water drips drop by drop, it will wear a hole in the stone. In the same way, the word of God is tender, and our heart is hard. So, when people hear the word of God frequently, their hearts are changed.”
Consider. Sit quietly and imagine your heart as stone. Ask God to come as water, as word, to change it. Repeat this exercise often until you see and feel your heart changing. What gift(s) did God give you that changed your heart?
Meeting John Garang in the 1990s
by Frederick E. Gilbert, a founding member of AFRECS
While serving as Director of the U. S. Agency for International Development’s Regional Office for West and Central Africa in Ivory Coast in the early 1990s, I was invited to meet John Garang at his Abidjan hotel suite. The leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement was seeking financial support from various African governments and organizations. Because I was not authorized to convey commitments on behalf of the U.S. government on matters outside West and Central Africa, I encouraged the affable Ph.D. in agricultural economics to share stories instead.
Col. John Garang de Mabior (1945-1995) earned a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Iowa State before leading the Southern Peoples’ Liberation Movement and becoming Vice-President of Sudan.
One of the more interesting stories Garang told me concerned the time he had been made a colonel in the Sudanese Army around 1982. Not long afterwards he stopped overnight at the army base near Kassala on his way to a training course in Port Sudan. After freshening up, he went to the Officers’ Club at about the cocktail hour. He walked up to what he thought was a steward and ordered a drink. The man bowed and went off to the bar. When the somewhat crowded room immediately went silent, Garang knew that something was amiss and that it had something to do with him. He guessed, accurately, that he had mistaken an officer in civilian dress for a servant (an easy thing since suffragis, or servants, usually wear the same white robes and turbans as Sudanese male guests). He decided that the best defense was an offense. So he loudly addressed the mainly Northern officers and told them that if he had made a mistake, he was sorry. But being new, he had no way of knowing who was who, so it was not fair to use his honest mistake to make him look foolish or arrogant. The “suffragi”, none other than General Burmah Nasser, handed him his drink, welcomed him to the group, and apologized for his discomfort. They became good friends.
During the rebellion in the southern region against the government in Khartoum, USAID career diplomat Fritz Gilbert met with SPLM leader John Garang in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. (Photo courtesy of Erik Gilbert)
That was only one of the stories Garang shared over our two-or-so-hour conversation. He had an idea that I could somehow help him with his wish that AID would provide medium-term development-oriented assistance in SPLA-controlled areas. After explaining that I had no role in deciding about such matters, I gave him a few suggestions about how the SPLM might make it easier for the U.S. Government to take steps in the directions he desired. Before long U.S. assistance to populations in SPLA-controlled areas moved in the desired directions.
Comings and Goings
A funeral for the Reverend Solomon Mursal, pastor of the Sudanese community in Portland, Maine, took place on July 8. Six Sudanese pastors, including Joseph Elionai Gindalla and Rose Maragan from Virginia, served as pallbearers, in a ceremony broadcast on the internet. Among the estimated congregation of 1,000 were his wife Asunta, and his sons Ganzi on keyboard and Silas on drums. The Reverend Kwathi Akol Ajawin preached.
“God is Good”, reports the Reverend Rhonda Parker, Senior Director of Ministerial Formation & Student Life at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. “Bishop Allison Theological College has repatriated from Uganda to its former home in the town of Yei in South Sudan, as of February 2023.” Duke plans to send two students to teach in Yei for ten weeks during the 2023 summer term.
The Reverend Michael Kiju Paul, rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Wharton, Texas and member of General Convention’s Task Force on the Sudanese Diaspora and The Episcopal Church, returned recently from a sabbatical in his birthplace, Kajo Keji, South Sudan.
A youth conference of the Ma’di Community Association took place July 1st and 2nd in Dallas, Texas. Photos at https://www.macaus.us.org/event-details/macaus-youth-conference
Good Luck, Athing Mu
A daughter of refugees from South Sudan recently finished a close second in the 1500 meters at the US National Outdoor Championships, under the tutelage of her legendary coach Bob Kersee. Athing Mu of Trenton, NJ, won the 800-meter run and anchored the winning US 4×400 relay at the Tokyo Olympics. Behind her entry this year into an event in which she does not normally compete, according to The Trentonian, is a strategy. She ran in the 1,500 to build up her strength for a possible assault later this summer on the 800-meter world record.
Who Reads Theology?
The Rev. Dr. Chris Wright, Global Ambassador for the Langham Partnership in London, reports grants for purchase of library materials have been made this year to:
Chaima Christian Institute, Maridi
Grace Theological College
Kajo Keji Christian College
Morobo Lay Training Centre
The Rev. Peggy Harris (peggyh48@gmail.com), a retired deacon of the Diocese of Iowa now living in Florida and formerly with Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities, has offered to interested theological colleges 41 books on Sudan and Darfur, along with 3 volumes of the mission theology of Roland Allen.
Who is Affiliated with the Episcopal University of South Sudan?
Dr. Eeva John reports: “Bishop Gwynne College is now the Bishop Gwynne School of Theology of The Episcopal University (accredited by the South Sudan Ministry of Higher Education). This is also now true for St John’s College in Wau and Chaima Christian Institute in Maridi, as well as Renk Theological College (temporarily closed). They are all now affiliated with and accredited as part of The Episcopal University.”
AFRECS welcomes the Joint Statement of June 27 by the governments of the USA, Norway, and the UK on the violence in Sudan and the need for South Sudan to fulfill its commitments: https://ss.usembassy.gov/joint-statement-by-the-troika-on-sudan-and-south-sudan/
On July 18 bishops of the ECSS, led by Archbishop Justin Badi Arama, called for timely preparation and offered to assist the transitional government of South Sudan with the national elections now postponed to December 2024: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/anglican-bishops-call-for-timely-elections
Useful addresses:
Provincial Secretary of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, Peter Garang Deng: provincialsecretary@southsudan.anglican.org
Provincial Secretary of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, Musa Abujam:
msabujam@gmail.com
Rev’d Canon Dr. Joseph Z. Bilal, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance, The Episcopal University of South Sudan Tel: +211 (0) 928 073 020, WhatsApp: +211 (0) 920 004 jzebedayo776@gmail.com, episcopaluni@gmail.com
U. K. Supporters of the Episcopal University of South Sudan: hanna.john@hotmail.com, https://www.ecsssup.org/contact
This issue of the E-Blast was compiled by Richard. J. Jones, Jacqueline Herrera Wilson, and Suzan Voga-Duffee. We welcome your news, comments, or concerns at anitasanborn@gmail.com.
Director’s Update
The violence which broke out in Sudan in April between rival military units has disrupted life in a manner unprecedented since the country became independent in 1956. Neither the government nor commercial life is functioning, and food is short. As for the Episcopal Church, Rapid Support Forces (RSF) elements entered the Episcopal cathedral compound in Khartoum, chased out church leadership, destroyed vehicles and other property, and bivouacked troops. Primate Emanuel Kondo and Provincial Secretary Musa Abujam initially managed to get their staffs to safety in private homes. The church in Omdurman was also attacked. In recent weeks the Provincial leadership has managed to relocate their offices to Port Sudan, where, since the Sudanese Armed Forces expelled the RSF, the situation is relatively calm and banks have reopened. It is likewise relatively quiet in the diocese of Wad Medani. The Bishop of El Obeid reports that his people are surviving, but the banks are closed, and “there is no law at all.” Violence and death have been particularly severe in West Darfur but have recently worsened in other parts of Sudan’s “Wild West.”
I felt personal pain at a New York Times report, “A Lifetime of Hospitality Disrupted by War in Sudan.” The Acropole Hotel, home to visiting missionaries and NGO workers for decades — and to me during recent visits for AFRECS — carried on without running water or electricity for several days, while menacing fighters barged in demanding food and drink. When the hotel ran out of food, the Greek Pagoulatis family, which created it in 1952, evacuated with staff and tenants, and are now in Athens. I emailed one of the owners expressing my sorrow. He replied, “We never thought that Acropole would close that way.”
The UN Mission in South Sudan reports that “violence against civilians persists” in that country. In the first quarter of the year there were 920 documented cases, including 405 deaths, a 12 percent increase over the corresponding period in 2022. Although Jonglei State and Pibor Administrative Area were the worst affected, serious violence also occurred in Warrap, Lakes, Central and Eastern Equatoria States. The violence is attributed to “inter-communal violence,” but numerous observers have asserted that military leaders in Juba often orchestrate the local violence to their own political ends. There will be no real peace and law and order in South Sudan until that situation is brought under control.
Susan E. Bentley is the Newest Member of the AFRECS Board
We welcome to the board of AFRECS the Reverend Susan E. Bentley, 23-year rector of a congregation in the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia which included a congregation of South Sudanese.
Sue tells of an image important in the African Diaspora: a bird with its head turned backwards while its feet face forward, carrying an egg in its mouth.
This image is associated with the word Sankofa in the Anka language of Ghana, translated as “to retrieve”. It is heard in the proverb, “It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.” Sue suggests, “The Sankofa bird can represent our need to reflect on the past to build a successful future. It symbolizes taking from the past what is good and bringing it into the present.” To the congregation she was leaving, Sue said, “While you all are moving feet forward with the precious egg of Gospel love to share, you many want to look back. You will each have a perspective and insights. This will guide your feet.”
During Sue’s tenure, Samson Mamour, a South Sudanese immigrant factory worker and proprietor of a cigarette shop in Roanoke, Virginia emerged as the spiritual leader of the Sudanese congregation and now serves as priest and the rector’s assistant at Grace Church in the college town of Lexington, Virginia. The continuing pastoral leader of the Roanoke Sudanese congregation is Mr. Peter M. Alier mawut9@hotmail.com . Sue quotes Simon Sinek: “Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.”
Comings and Goings
Michael Kiju Paul, rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Wharton, in the Diocese of Texas, is making a three-month visit to his home village in the Diocese of Kajo-Keji, South Sudan. Kiju helped foster a companion relation between the Dioceses of Kajo-Keji and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Patrick Peter Augustine, a resident of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, USA who was consecrated in 2019 to serve as an assistant bishop by Reuben Akurdit Ngong, has been in the Diocese of Bor in South Sudan since Easter. He preached, visited the primary and secondary school, met with the Mothers’ Union, led a pastors’ retreat, and promoted construction of a well in the compound of St. Andrew’s Cathedral.
Two women engaged each other outside the Bor Mothers’ Union dressmaking school while Bishop Patrick Augustine visited on June 7th.
Anita Sanborn, past board chair of Iliff School of Theology, past director of the Colorado Episcopal Foundation, and active board member of AFRECS, has moved from Denver to her home territory in Angola, Indiana.
AFRECS Board member Thomas H. Staal, temporarily acting director of USAID/Ethiopia, has sent a description of his agency’s current relief efforts in Sudan and South Sudan highlighting disease, food shortage, and number of conflict-affected people.
Musa Abujam, Provincial Secretary of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, relocated to Port Sudan because his home in Khartoum was in the center of the fighting.
Joseph Garang Atem, Archbishop of the internal province of Upper Nile (including Renk and Malakal) in South Sudan, writes from Juba, where his back and eyes are improving, to thank St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Virginia; Tydale House Foundation; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and Dr. Ellen Davis for funds sent to assist refugees and returnees who since April 15th “came in big numbers which Renk cannot control”.
Ezekiel Kondo, Primate of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, has relocated his office from Khartoum to Port Sudan. Along with Wad Medani, Port Sudan is flooded with Internally Displaced Persons, some sleeping inside the cathedral and its compound. Although initially there was some fighting in Port Sudan, now the Rapid Support Force is reportedly “not of much consequence there”, according to John Poole of Bradford, UK, for Church Association for Sudan & South Sudan.
Belo Elbuluk, director of Episcopal Development and Relief in the Episcopal Church of Sudan, is reported to be still in Omdurman, although international communication is difficult.
In Abyei Primate Justin Badi Arama and the South Sudan Development and Relief Association has been working to reconcile Twic Dinka and Ngoc Dinka, with support from Anglican Communion Relief.
Patricia Kisare, International Policy Advisor for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America & The Episcopal Church’s office of government relations in Washington, reports that the U.S. participated at the recent High Level pledging conference for relief efforts in Sudan and announced an additional $172 million in funding.
Marc Nikkel Day
Marc Nikkel Day will be observed this year at Grace Church, Lexington, Virginia on Sunday, August 27, with AFRECS Board member Rev. James A. Hubbard as guest speaker. Although Marc Nikkel died of natural causes, we think of him among the martyrs of Sudan.
Almighty God, whose will it is to be glorified in your saints, and who raised up your servant Marc Nikkel to be a light in the world: Shine, we pray, in our hearts, that we also in our generation may show forth your praise, who called us out of darkness into your marvelous light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
The Generals’ War Over Khartoum
Michael Holden, husband of AFRECS board member Rachel Scott, writes, “The fact that both sides view the war as a zero-sum game …points to a protracted war that will further destabilize an already unstable region.” Comparing the nimble, irregular Rapid Support Force of General Dagalo with the air power, more troops, and conventional organization of General al-Burhan, Holden recalls an advisor to the British during the American Revolution who said, “the Americans would be less dangerous if they had a regular army.” For the history of the continuing war that broke out April 15 in Khartoum and now has touched all 18 provinces of Sudan, go to https://jamestown.org/program/can-the-saf-defeat-the-rsf-in-sudan/.
Bishop Stopped, Car Burned in Equatoria
On June 5th, Amosa Data Elinoma, bishop of Morobo in central Equatoria, and his driver were stopped by a soldier while travelling from Bazi to Morobo. The Bishop thought, according to Morobo County Commissioner Moses Soro, that the soldier was a member of the armed forces, but five armed men came out of the bush. “Bishop,” they said, “we need to do for you something that you will not forget in your life, and we wanted to burn your car because you are the supporter of the government.” Shortly after looting their bags and burning the car, the men released bishop and driver.
The Bishop of Lainya, the Most Revd Paul Yugusuk, who is also Archbishop of the Internal Province of Central Equatoria (including the diocese of Morobo), appealed to the leadership of the National Salvation Army, an anti-government militia, to instruct their soldiers to “stop harassing servants of God and civilians.” “We passionately call on all armed groups in South Sudan to give peace a chance,” he said, “ by utilizing mediation and other forms of negotiations to settle political disputes.”
The Bishop’s car was purchased only two months ago with donations from three funders whom the secretary-general of the Anglican Communion, Anthony Poggo, had put in touch with Bishop Amosa.
Is There Hope for Hope House
by Douglas O. Cumming
Hope House, a shelter in Kitale, Kenya for 25 to 40 South Sudanese boys and girls in between sessions of their Kenyan boarding schools, is losing its funding. Backers of the shelter hope to start returning the children to their homeland in 2024-25, eliminating the cost of rent in Kenya and exchanging their refugee status for lives as young citizens of South Sudan.
Hope House was started in 2014 by the Rev. Peter Yuol Gur, now the Episcopal bishop of Tonj, South Sudan, the original home of many of the children. Thanks to a British donor, Dr. Clive Kelly, an effort has begun to build a school on land acquired in Wau, South Sudan. Two classrooms and a latrine have been constructed. A borehole for clean water still needs to be funded.
Gabriel Turich Dak, director of Hope House, stands with William Marial, a South Sudanese resident of the shelter studying in Kenya and sponsored by Grace Episcopal Church, Lexington, Virginia
Gabriel Turich Dak has lived at Hope House since childhood and will graduate from a Kenyan college this month. Now he is the director. Gabriel needs help in running Hope House and in grant-writing, having recently spent three months launching the construction in Wau.
Other resourceful alumni of Hope House include John Makol Deng, who entered a two-year course at Nairobi University, received tutoring from Virginia Tech interns, and now has a full scholarship to Macalester College in Minnesota. Luke Kur Malith, who enrolled at Nairobi School of Law last fall, now has a full scholarship to Elmhurst University outside Chicago. John Makuei Bath will enter a two-year program at the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, while Luka Bol, who returned to South Sudan for his post-secondary degree in accounting, will graduate this year. John Garang Manyang, who has also aged out of Hope House, is seeking higher education in computer science or pharmacology; his brother Agoth, who earned top leadership honors at his Kenyan secondary school, is still seeking his place in higher education.
The potential returnees still need a year of shelter in Kitale as they prepare for post-secondary education or an independent life. The girls in particular need a measure of autonomy lest they be forced into an early marriage back home in their villages.
Contact: Dr. Douglas O. Cumming, cummingd@wlu.edu, 540-570-0293 or Dr. Susan V. Mead, svm@diversityserves.org, 540-267-5678
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 edition of the E-Blast was prepared by Board member Richard J. Jones. We solicit your news, corrections, and views. Please send them to anitasanborn@gmail.com.
Co-Editor’s Note
Scurrying to cover Bishop Mark Stevenson with an umbrella as he crossed a drizzly churchyard last Sunday at Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia, Shirley Smith Graham, a former short-term visiting teacher at Renk Theological College in South Sudan, called to me over her shoulder, “Who would ever have thought that people would be running for their lives out of Khartoum for refuge in Renk?” It was April 30th, and the war between Sudan’s rival generals, Dagalo and al-Burhan, was beginning its third week. Devastation from artillery fire, air strikes, and house invasions has been worst in the capital city of Khartoum in the center of Sudan, and in the western region of Darfur. For history of the Anglican Province of Sudan, see https://www.anglicannews.org/features/2017/07/celebrations-as-sudan-becomes-anglican-communions-39th-province.aspx
Here are seven reports of this horror.
Richard J. Jones
1. From a text message sent April 26th to Dane F. Smith, Jr., Executive Director of AFRECS (American Friends of the Episcopal Church of the Sudans) by Ezekiel Kondo, Archbishop of Khartoum and Primate of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan:
Dear Dane, Greetings. As you have been following the development situation in Sudan, the evacuation of Diplomats and other nationals shows the seriousness of the situation. Numbers of deaths on the 12th day today are unknown. There are many bodies on streets nobody can bury them! Despite ceasefire which has been agreed between SAF and RSF still there sounds of gun shoots here and there. Both parties accuse each other of violation of it and nobody can verify.
On the 4th day of the war, the Dean of All Saints Cathedral Khartoum the families, many other teachers from St. Francis School (Catholics) who were stranded in the school and myself over 45 in number evacuated the Cathedral due to escalation of fighting near the Cathedral as you know we are close to the airport and near to one of the centers of RSF. I decided that everyone must leave the Cathedral because armed men broke the main gate and broke window vehicles 6 of them, a cafeteria and a store!
Nobody left and I don’t know what happened to the building there after. Most people from that area left and many now are leaving to other States in the country where it’s little peaceful.
The Khartoum is completely locked down, no shops open, banks and health services. People don’t have cash on them as you are well aware no credit cards used here! It is a humanitarian crises!
Thank you for sharing our story with friends and your government. My greatest worry is that the absence of the international community in the country, it may mean disaster to the Sudanese people.
Thanks.
Ezekiel
2. BBC Radio conducted a four-minute telephone interview April 30th with Canon Ian Woodward of Salisbury Cathedral and Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo, the Primate of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, who was hiding with 15 other people in a house somewhere in Khartoum. Gunfire can be heard in the background, and the Archbishop speaks of limited food, water, and electricity, but also of their faith and the role of the Church. The Archbishop had previously ordered the evacuation of the Episcopal Cathedral in Khartoum when armed men broke in and began ransacking the building.
Bishop Ezekiel Kondo of Khartoum says, “Do not grow tired of praying for Sudan.”
Photo courtesy of Episcopal News Service
Archbishop Kondo ends the interview by responding to a question from the BBC interviewer on whether there is any hope for a peaceful resolution to the conflict: “Nobody knows how and when this situation will come to an end. There is so much fear among the Sudanese people…. I thought about the boat, the disciples and Jesus. The disciples hide out. They thought they were about to die. And Jesus wakes up and commanded the wind to be quiet and be still. And it was. I believe God is able to do things. And this is the whole hope that we have. That [for] this sinking boat the waves and the wind will die out.”
You can listen to the interview which begins at minute 1:16 in the radio broadcast linked here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001lhz8
3. Message sent May 3rd to Fr. James Hubbard, St. Paul’s Church, Salem, Virginia from the Executive Manager, Episcopal Development Relief and Rehabilitation, Episcopal Church of Sudan:
Thank you very much for your email and your concern to us your prayers for me and the church of Sudan. Now the situation still worse in different places in Khartoum and we don’t know when the fighting or war will end , but let us continue in one faith to pray to God to stop war and protect his people and provide their needs.
With best wishes,
Rev. Bello Elbuluk Angelo
4. Text message to AFRECS President Phil Darrow from Joseph Garang Atem, Archbishop of the Upper Nile Internal Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and former bishop of Renk, Tuesday, May 2:
Updates on the situation in Upper Nile – Renk County:
Greetings from Renk
Despite the fact that many organisations have come to Renk to receive the population who are fleeing the war in Sudan, the affected population are still suffering. Some organisations only do the registration for data tracking while others transport people to Renk.
All the households in Renk are overwhelmed by the people who have entered into the host communities. Renk Diocese started immediately when people arrived at the South Sudan-Sudan border. The Diocese is accommodating over 100 people and facilitated the transportation of over 50 persons to Paloich so far. Renk Hospitals have run out of supplies and people are suffering from the hospitals, admitting person in Renk hospitals is the same as remaining in your own bed in your house.
Renk markets also run out of supplies and the little available are the skyrocketing prices.
Prayers and support are much needed.
With prayers and wishes, Every blessing
++Joseph
5. From a Sudanese Christian living in the United States
Hello Richard/Dane,
Brothers, I thought of updating you on our family in Sudan. There’s
praise, uncertainty, and sad news.
We praise God that someone of my wife’s family made it safely to a refugee
camp in a relatively safe area. Some arrived in South Sudan.
My cousin’s wife died in a car accident with her grandchild while escaping
the war. Multiple family members are injured.
It looks like Ruth’s days. Many escaping the war in Khartoum are dying in
car accidents along the way.
God is good!
Kwathi Akol Ajawin
6. From the Washington Post, April 27, 2023
Adam Hassan Yahya Omer: The road to South Sudan
Omer is a pro-democracy activist and teacher based in Khartoum.
I set up a school in my neighborhood because I want kids to learn about science and how to read and write. But then my neighborhood was hard-hit with explosions and fighting so the school closed down.
A big shell killed my neighbor and two of her children. There was death everywhere.
We wanted to leave so we had to try to get a place on a truck, because many of my relatives are elderly and cannot walk far. One passenger cost 30,000 Sudanese pounds [about $50] and I had nine people — six of my brothers, my mother, my grandfather and my mother’s mother.
When I went to look for my brother, the RSF had occupied his house, so he was missing. It took a day to find him.
The first time we tried to leave, one of my friends was shot and killed, so they had to stop to bury him. The next day, on Friday, we left. I decided to find a safe place for my mother and grandmother and other female relatives in a peaceful village outside Khartoum. Me and my brother are of military age, so we feared being targeted by either side.
We decided to go to South Sudan.
When we left the house, we got into a car with some friends and headed to the mountain road that leads to Kosti [a city to the south].
The RSF chased us. We all got out of the car. There were children with us. They wanted money and phones. Then they accused my brother of being in the army. We gave them our passports and I told them my little brother is not affiliated with the army, he is just exercising a lot.
We had 20,000 Sudanese pounds [around $33], and they took our money and all the money from the others as well, then they left us. There were dead bodies on the road, citizens who resisted and were shot dead.
We went back to our car, but two hours later we ran into them again. Since we had already been robbed, they did not find anything, so they let us go.
There were so many dead bodies on the way.
Finally we arrived at the border town of Renk, in South Sudan.
7. From Samantha Power, Administrator of the U. S. Agency for International Development:
DISASTER ASSISTANCE RESPONSE TEAM
Sunday, April 23, 2023
For more than a week, fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan has claimed hundreds of lives, injured thousands, and yet again dashed the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people. Civilians trapped in their homes cannot access desperately needed medicines, and face the prospect of protracted power, water, and food shortages. Those trying to flee face brutality and theft on the streets. And all of this suffering compounds an already dire situation – one-third of Sudan’s population, nearly 16 million people, already needed humanitarian assistance to meet basic human needs before this outbreak of violence.
The United States is mobilizing to ramp up assistance to the people of Sudan ensnared between the warring factions. That is why today I am announcing that the U.S. Agency for International Development has deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) in the region to coordinate the humanitarian response for those in need both within and outside of Sudan. The DART will be operating out of Kenya for the initial phase of the response. Our DART disaster experts are working with the international community and our international partners to identify priority needs and to safely deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance to those who need it most.
The United States has been the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to Sudan for more than a quarter century and our commitment to the Sudanese people is unwavering. This includes our local staff and the staff of our international partners who have dedicated their lives and worked tirelessly alongside the Sudanese people in hopes of building the peaceful, democratic country they deserve.
At a time when many Sudanese families should be celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan, they are instead living in terror. The United States demands that the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces abide by the three-day Eid al-Fitr ceasefire to which they have agreed, end this reckless bloodshed, facilitate humanitarian access, comply with international humanitarian law – including enabling safe and unhindered access for humanitarian and medical workers to reach people in need of life-saving assistance – and honor the Sudanese people’s calls for freedom and peace.
A Call to Pray for Sudan
From the director of AFRECS, Dane F. Smith, Jr., April 28, 2023
AFRECS has been following with growing concern the violence unfolding in Sudan. On April 15 the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked each other with artillery fire and airstrikes. Despite cease-fire efforts, the violence has continued. It is centered on the capital Khartoum and appears to be expanding in Darfur.
Sudanese Christians report that Khartoum is shut down. No shops, banks or restaurants are operating, and residents are unable to buy food. Hundreds of civilians have died, and bodies remain unburied in the streets of the capital. Christians who had gathered at All Saints’ Episcopal Cathedral evacuated after armed men broke down the main gate, invaded the cafeteria and store, and broke windows of vehicles in the compound. Khartoum residents who are able have been fleeing into the countryside in their automobiles. Some have died in auto accidents because of chaos on the roads. There is general fear that the departure of diplomats and other foreign nationals means the situation will become worse for civilian Sudanese.
Refugees have been flowing into Ethiopia, Egypt, and Chad, as well as into South Sudan. The county commissioner of Renk County in South Sudan, Kak Padiet, told Reuters that some 10,000 people had arrived in his county from Sudan last week and were continuing to come across the border on Monday.
The United States Government has been working with the United Nations, including Western allies, African and Middle Eastern governments, to put pressure on the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces to bring about a permanent cease-fire and to move the country effectively toward a transitional civilian government. So far these efforts have not borne fruit.
AFRECS calls for urgent and continuous prayers for the suffering people of Sudan, including a very anxious Christian community. As of today, internet communication is still possible, so words of love and support to family members, friends and colleagues in Sudan are most welcome.
God, bring peace to deeply troubled Sudan, and safety and hope to its peoples.
And let all people say, “Amen”.
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 Board members Richard Jones, Steven Miles, and James Hubbard.
Please send corrections, queries, photos, or contributions of news to anitasanborn@gmail.com. Previous issues can be searched by date and keywords at www.afrecs.org/news.
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