Category: News

How Homelike is the Episcopal Church for South Sudanese Americans?

by Richard J. Jones, AFRECS board member

Ronald C. Byrd, director of African Descent Ministries ( formerly Office of Black Ministries) in The Episcopal Church, has added South Sudanese Americans to his constituencies.

When our Episcopal Convention meets in Louisville this June, Byrd along with bishops and deputies will be discussing how South Sudanese communities have evolved since the time depicted in the comic film The Good Lie, starring Reese Witherspoon and Emmanuel Jal, when refugees were plucked from Kakuma refugee camp and dropped into life in America. In 2022 15 clerics and 14 lay South Sudanese American congregational leaders were heartily welcomed at a Kansas City hotel– with some apology for things we had previously left undone  — by Presiding Bishop Curry and House of Delegates President Julia Ayala Harris. For two days these leaders shared two decades of frustrations and aspirations. Later that year a smaller group wrote up their desires for full acceptance of their clergy and their congregations. In spite of uneven educations and limited finances, they committed to support dioceses that would give them recognition.

South Sudanese American congregations in Iowa, Michigan, Texas, Washington state, and Atlanta have become centers of community life. Others, including Portland, Maine and Baltimore, Maryland, have made their way without remaining connected to The Episcopal Church. As Ron Byrd and other chief pastors focus on newer, alongside older, congregations with links to Africa, they will  welcome photos and facts, reports and rosters, to depict the health of these households of God. Please send your news to your bishops and deputies, the United Thank Offering of the Women of the Church — and to AFRECS at anitasanborn@gmail.com. We want to know!

Read more at: Report of the Task Force on the South Sudanese Diaspora and The Episcopal Church

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AFRECS breathes because individuals like you care about the peacebuilding, educating, and empowering work of the Episcopal Church in the Sudans. Parishes and dioceses are also welcome supporters.  Please act on your concern by contributing here ­­­­­­­­­­­­­or send your check payable to AFRECS, Box 3327, Alexandria VA 22302. We are a 501(c)3 corporation, and your contributions are tax-deductible.

A Prayer for Holy Week

Lord Jesus, as we walk beside you in this holiest of weeks, make us mindful of those who are our companions on the road:

As we join the triumphal march of palms, we salute all who march or demonstrate for peace and justice, even at the risk of their own lives and freedom;

As we watch you betrayed and arrested, we place our hearts with all prisoners of conscience;

As you receive the wounds of whips and crown of thorns, we feel the pain of all who are ridiculed, demonized, raped, and tortured;

As you stumble with exhaustion, we acknowledge the weariness of  refugees, migrants, and all who long for a place to call home;

As you are comforted by Veronica’s soft cloth, we praise you for all who are moved by the Spirit to comfort the suffering, whether by shelter from the United Nations, a sandwich on the road through Mexico, or a friend in court for the legally defenseless;

As you comfort dying thieves with the promise of paradise, open our hearts to child soldiers, unwilling conscripts, and all who feel trapped in violence they neither want nor understand;

As you speak from the cross to comfort Mary and John, teach us to remember, even in our own struggles, there are ways in which we can strengthen others;

As you await your death on the cross, may we be with all who await the great transition, and with those who keep vigil with them;.

And as we, far beyond our deserving and our imagining, share with our companions in your Easter victory, we praise you for ever and ever.

AMEN

• by Frederick L. Houghton, AFRECS board member

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AFRECS breathes because individuals like you care about the peacebuilding, educating, and empowering work of the Episcopal Church in the Sudans. Parishes and dioceses are also welcome supporters.  Please act on your concern by contributing here ­­­­­­­­­­­­­or send your check payable to AFRECS, Box 3327, Alexandria VA 22302. We are a 501(c)3 corporation, and your contributions are tax-deductible.

Director’s Update

The US Government appears to be moving more actively to find a solution to the ongoing violence and humanitarian horror in Sudan.  U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan, Tom Perriello, has been traveling, talking to Arab and African leaders.  US Permanent  Representative to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, published a major statement March 6 in the New York Times, calling for a humanitarian surge in Sudan led by a new UN coordinator.  She denounced “a handful of regional powers” (i.e. UAE and Iran)  sending arms to both sides.  She said, “The United States is working to persuade relevant players to coalesce around the shared goal of preventing the breakup of Sudan, which would fuel instability across the Horn of Africa and Red Sea region.” She restated a number of these points in remarks to the Security Council March 20.

The Troika – US, UK, Norway — guarantors of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that set the stage for South Sudan’s independence, stated March 19 that  South Sudan was not on a path toward fair elections.  President Kiir recently proposed that elections go ahead in December for President and governors but not for the legislature.  Opposition leader and Vice President Riek Machar has called for “a mediated dialogue” among the political parties on the elections.  Schools were closed last week because of soaring temperatures but have reopened.

AFRECS Board member Richard Jones and I greeted friends of AFRECS at the Episcopal Parish Network Conference in Houston March 7 to 9. Now my wife Judy and I are looking forward to our visit to South Sudan April 7-15.

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AFRECS breathes because individuals like you care about the peacebuilding, educating, and empowering work of the Episcopal Church in the Sudans. Parishes and dioceses are also welcome supporters.  Please act on your concern by contributing here ­­­­­­­­­­­­­or send your check payable to AFRECS, Box 3327, Alexandria VA 22302. We are a 501(c)3 corporation, and your contributions are tax-deductible.

Tom Perriello, US Special Envoy for Sudan, Seeks Peace Negotiations After Ramadan

Travelling between several Red Sea countries on March 21st, U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello described to journalists a woman who had escaped from fighting in Darfur: “Women go out to the fields to find food for their family and often are raped, come home, and have to go back to that same field the next day.  These abuses need to end. We need accountability for those who have had command-and-control structure over the people committing the atrocities.” Perriello hopes to see the rival Sudanese generals Burhan and Hemedti, who have been at war since September 2023, as well as political parties and “all voices”, including foreign supporters,  return to serious peace negotiations after the Muslim month of fasting ends on April 10^th.

More at: https://www.state.gov/special-online-briefing-with-special-envoy-for-sudan-tom-perriello

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AFRECS breathes because individuals like you care about the peacebuilding, educating, and empowering work of the Episcopal Church in the Sudans. Parishes and dioceses are also welcome supporters.  Please act on your concern by contributing here ­­­­­­­­­­­­­or send your check payable to AFRECS, Box 3327, Alexandria VA 22302. We are a 501(c)3 corporation, and your contributions are tax-deductible.

Praying for Daily Bread and Meaning It

• by Samuel Enosa Peni, Bishop of Yambio, graduate of Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, addressing on March 20^th conference of the Global Episcopal Mission Network. More at https://www.gemn.org/2024-conference/

“When we in South Sudan pray ‘Give us today our daily bread’, many of us do not know where we will find food that day. We have seen prayers answered, so when we pray, we mean what we say to God.  We have received and believe the Good News of Christ’s death for us and his Resurrection to bring us life eternal. We have seen the power of God to heal us from illness. We have seen feuding communities confess their aggressions and be reconciled. Teams from our Board for Justice, Peace and Reconciliation have intervened in many locations in 2023 and 2024.”

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AFRECS breathes because individuals like you care about the peacebuilding, educating, and empowering work of the Episcopal Church in the Sudans. Parishes and dioceses are also welcome supporters.  Please act on your concern by contributing here ­­­­­­­­­­­­­or send your check payable to AFRECS, Box 3327, Alexandria VA 22302. We are a 501(c)3 corporation, and your contributions are tax-deductible.

How South Sudan Got An Address

• by Larry Duffee,  AFRECS Treasurer.  Serving in 2012 as finance officer of the Episcopal Church of Sudan in Juba, Duffee met Simon Wal Deng, a student at Bishop Gwynne Theological College. Deng later was killed trying to broker peace between two communities in  Akobo. 

Back in the day, there really were no street addresses in Juba. The population was not that large and most folks more or less knew one another, or knew each part of town – with names like Hai Cinema, Nimera Talaata, or Hai Jerusalem. There was also an old system of plot numbers, but that was effective for only parts of town. (There was also a somewhat nefarious effort on the part of some expats to go on Google Maps and name streets after themselves, or worse — some of which continue to appear on Google Maps.) 

But as things got more crowded and as we at the Episcopal Church of Sudan were doing more international transfers, we needed a proper street address. I looked at our location and thought, “We are on the corner of the second block from where Unity Ave begins.” I presumed addresses on the left would be even numbered, and those on the right would be odd. And thus, the ECS office should be “200 Unity Avenue”! I informed the staff to start using that address, figuring if it was wrong, we’d be informed at some point. I never imagined that address would still be in use 10 years later!

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AFRECS breathes because individuals like you care about the peacebuilding, educating, and empowering work of the Episcopal Church in the Sudans. Parishes and dioceses are also welcome supporters.  Please act on your concern by contributing here ­­­­­­­­­­­­­or send your check payable to AFRECS, Box 3327, Alexandria VA 22302. We are a 501(c)3 corporation, and your contributions are tax-deductible.

Western Equatoria Builds Peace between Zande and Balanda

by Jack Mathias and Leslie Siegmund

Two local groups, Zande and Balanda, had recently experienced devastating mutual violence in Tambura, including the killing of over 200 people, hundreds of injuries, and large loss of property. In response, hundreds gathered during the last week of September 2023 to witness a soccer tournament among six teams and participate in a peace conference facilitated by Bishops Moses Zungo (Maridi), Richard Aquila (Nzara), and the host, Isaac Ephraim Bangisa (Ezo), with co-operation from Ezo County authorities.

Organizers report greater trust and forgiveness among the people, as well as awareness of the dangers of violence, alcohol, drug abuse, witchcraft.

The gathering saw 12 marriages, 30 confirmations, and the ordination of several deacons and priests; training for Bible study and Mothers’ Union; and reaching out to those lost and traumatized. The conference was supported by the Internal Province of Western Equatoria as well as St. Francis Episcopal Church in Great Falls, Virginia.

The new Bishop Ruati Guesthouse in Ezo was put to good use by participants in the conference. 

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AFRECS breathes because individuals like you care about the peacebuilding, educating, and empowering work of the Episcopal Church in the Sudans. Parishes and dioceses are also welcome supporters.  Please act on your concern by contributing here ­­­­­­­­­­­­­or send your check payable to AFRECS, Box 3327, Alexandria VA 22302. We are a 501(c)3 corporation, and your contributions are tax-deductible.

Who’s Who on the AFRECS Board

A lay preacher in the United Methodist Church, was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia, and 2011-12 in served as as Senior Advisor on Darfur for the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan:  Executive Director Dane Smith

A retired lawyer in the homebuilding industry, attends Church of the Ascension in Denver, Colorado, and has served as our President since 2016: President Phil Darrow

Anita Sanborn’s early career focused on community organizing, maternal and child health, and long-term care. As a lay leader in the Episcopal Church in Colorado, she became engaged with the Sudanese refugees arriving in the early 2000s.  Many trips to the Sudans followed and she has been a Board member of AFRECS for several terms, beginning in 2004.  She now resides in Indiana.

Our Treasurer Larry Duffee spent three years as a missionary of The Episcopal Church to the Episcopal Church of Sudan — initially intending to devote only four months helping the Provincial Secretary’s office in Juba develop improved methods of financial management.

A retired Senior Counsel at the international law firm Baker Botts LLP in Washington, DC , and non-resident Fellow at the Baker Institute’s Center for Energy Studies, Rice University, focusing on international and energy matters.  In 1992-94 he opened a law office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and served as outside counsel for the National U.S. Arab Chamber of Commerce for a decade: Steven Miles

Susan E. Bentley retired after serving 23 years as rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Roanoke, Virginia including 14 years as pastor to a “nesting” congregation of South Sudanese who share space with the English-speaking congregation. 

Ellen Davis teaches Bible and practical theology at Duke Divinity School and consults as a theologian in the Anglican Communion, especially East Africa.

Frederick Gilbert has consulted onAfrica, especially economic development planning, program management, and evaluation, since he retired from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1994.

Frederick L. Houghton, a retired priest of Eastern Michigan, taught at St. Mary’s Theological School, Odibo, Namibia, and in 2000 spent six weeks at Kakuma refugee camp in Northern Kenya teaching in the Malek Bible School and briefly visiting with Bishop Nathaniel Garang in the Diocese of Bor.

James A. Hubbard is a priest living in Amherst, Virginia who has served Episcopal parishes in Tennessee, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and New York. He has completed an East-West and a North-South bicycle trek across the U.S. and served as a host during summer sessions at Chatauqua, New York.

The author of How to Talk with your Muslim Neighbor (Forward Movement Publications, 2004), living in Alexandria, Virginia: Rev. Richard J. Jones

Thomas Staal retired in 2019 as Counselor/Senior Advisor after a career with USAID, starting as an Emergency Program Officer in Khartoum in the aftermath of the famine of the mid 80s, then as a Food for Peace officer covering Ethiopia, southern Sudan, Uganda, and Somalia.

The newest member of the AFRECS Board, The Rev. Shirley Smith-Graham, has served in ordained ministry for almost 20 years. After attending the Virginia Theological Seminary, Shirley worked with both The Church of the Epiphany, Washington, DC, as a pastoral presence to homeless persons, and with Historic Christ Church in Alexandria. She has served parishes in both the Diocese of Virginia and Southwest Virginia and joined the Diocese of Virginia staff in 2022 as Interim Minister for Transition. 

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AFRECS breathes because individuals like you care about the peacebuilding, educating, and empowering work of the Episcopal Church in the Sudans. Parishes and dioceses are also welcome supporters.  Please act on your concern by contributing here ­­­­­­­­­­­­­or send your check payable to AFRECS, Box 3327, Alexandria VA 22302. We are a 501(c)3 corporation, and your contributions are tax-deductible.

Two Messages from the Sudans

Christmas messages of Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo in Port Sudan and Anglican Communion Secretary-General Anthony Poggo in London: Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of Sudan appeals for peace in Christmas message

January 14 from Bishop Michael Deng Bol of Abyei: “Many refugees and returnees from Sudan are coming into Abyei town on daily basis. Children and elderly people are lacking for food and shelters. Please kindly pray for them. Organizations are doing nothing to help them.” Contact through the Rev. Anderia Lual Arok in Phoenix, Arizona anderialual@yahoo.com.

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AFRECS breathes because individuals like you care about the peacebuilding, educating, and empowering work of the Episcopal Church in the Sudans. Parishes and dioceses are also welcome supporters.  Please act on your concern by contributing here ­­­­­­­­­­­­­or send your check payable to AFRECS, Box 3327, Alexandria VA 22302. We are a 501(c)3 corporation, and your contributions are tax-deductible.

The Biden Administration has been struggling to move the devastating conflict in Sudan toward a cease-fire between the Sudan Armed Forces and the RSF and toward a civilian-led political transition.  Efforts are being made to dissuade the UAE from its armed support for the RSF, channeled through a secret base in Chad.  Both Vice President Harris and NSC Advisor Sullivan have made that point at the most senior levels.  Former Congressman Tom Pierrello (pictured), who served earlier under President Obama as Special Envoy for the African Great Lakes, has been designated Special Envoy for Sudan, but the scope of his responsibilities is still being worked out.  While there is deep concern at State and the White House about the direction in Sudan, Secretary of State Blinken already has his hands full with Israel/Palestine, Ukraine, Taiwan, and North Korea. As I write, he is making his fourth visit to the continent, but not to its northeast quadrant.

Meanwhile in 2024 AFRECS will be seeking to reinforce financial support for Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo, Primate of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, as he seeks to consolidate church leadership from Port Sudan, rather than a ravaged Khartoum, and to generate support for its few far-flung parishes in different parts of the country.

Dane Smith, Executive Director

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AFRECS breathes because individuals like you care about the peacebuilding, educating, and empowering work of the Episcopal Church in the Sudans. Parishes and dioceses are also welcome supporters.  Please act on your concern by contributing here ­­­­­­­­­­­­­or send your check payable to AFRECS, Box 3327, Alexandria VA 22302. We are a 501(c)3 corporation, and your contributions are tax-deductible.