Category: News

Daramali Abudigin, a Nuba Episcopal priest shown here in a photo from autumn 2023, remained with his congregation in El Fasher while that western Sudan city endured two years of shelling, drone attacks, and hunger – culminating in massacres.

John Poole, a staunch friend of the Episcopal Church of the Sudans in the UK, had feared for the death of the man called “The Last Pastor” in the besieged city of El Fasher. Wi-Fi and power had been cut off. The horrific news of civilians massacred by the Rapid Support Forces of General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo beginning October 29 made it likely that Daramali Abugidin, the pastor of St. Mathew’s Church in El Fasher, was trapped in the city, or dead.

On November 4, Poole reached Daramali’s father, just returned from Uganda to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. Isamail Gabriel Abugudin, senior among the Episcopal bishops, learned that Daramali escaped on foot to the town of Tawila, thirty-five miles west of El Fasher, where he was helping other refugees to escape across the border into South Sudan.

Daramali Abugidin grew up in the Nuba Mountains and was ordained a priest in 2010. When the current civil war between two Sudanese generals began in April 2023, he was married, the father of three sons, and caring for a congregation in El Fasher. When the war shifted from eastern Sudan to the west, with El Obeid and El Fasher still garrisoned by the Sudan Armed Forces, life in his city of 300,000 became dangerous. Food was scarce, attacks by drones, and shelling destroyed homes and hospitals, and civilians seeking to escape were robbed, beaten, or died from thirst and hunger. Daramali was able to send his wife and sons to safety in the city of El Obeid, but he stayed. When the pastor of a Roman Catholic church was struck by a stray bullet, along with two young men staying with him, Daramali rushed them to a hospital, but the priest died. Daramali told a Kenyan reporter, “There now [sic] no other pastors in Darfur in general. I am the only one in El Fasher, and I usually combine worshippers in one church to save them from random bombings and shootings.”

As has been so often the case in 2025, the news from both Sudan and South Sudan is grim.  The fall of El Fasher, largest city in Sudan’s Darfur region, to the Rapid Support Forces triggered massacres of up to 2000 civilians, including 400 in the only operating hospital.  Those who could have been fleeing 35 miles west to Tawila where Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the Norwegian Refugee Council are providing assistance.  Videos of a gleeful commander boasting of his killings will be part of evidence collected for war crimes. NBC reported November 6 that the RSF agreed to a truce “to address the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the war,” as demanded by the U.S. and other mediators. There has been no SAF response as of the time of writing.

In South Sudan, where the trial of former Vice President Riek Machar and associates continues fitfully, the government has demanded that UNMISS, the UN peace force, reduce its forces by 70 percent, halt intelligence collection flights, and close displaced persons camps.  That suggests efforts to eliminate a counterforce to more widespread violence by the South Sudan Peoples Defense Force, the renamed SPLA.  The departing Petroleum Undersecretary reports that the Sudan Armed Forces has informed Juba that a “safe shutdown” of the pipeline for its oil exports should be effected because of drone attacks in Sudan on the pipeline.

AFRECS rejoiced in the visit last month by Bishop Thomas Tut Gany of Ayod.  The leading Nuer bishop in the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, Bishop Tut held meetings with the Episcopal Bishops of Washington DC, New York, and Nebraska and formed partnerships with St. Thomas Episcopal Church of McLean, VA and others.  Several AFRECS Board members and AFRECS Advisory Council convener Russ Randle had fruitful conversations with the bishop about future activities.

Two Virginia parishes, St. Paul’s, Alexandria and St. Mary’s, Arlington, successfully transferred funds in July to Bishop Simon Chuang Ayok Deng in the Diocese of Renk to support ongoing training of clergy and lay evangelists to share the Gospel of Christ among the large population who have fled Sudan’s war and settled in that northernmost diocese of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan.

Abraham Yel Nhial, Bishop of Aweil, was installed in August 24 at Good Shepherd Cathedral, Wau, to serve as Archbishop of the Internal Province of Northern Bahr al Ghazal.  Bishop Moses Deng Bol, his predecessor,  now works as a Peace Envoy for the South Sudan Council of Churches.

Despite current severe limits on visas to visit the United States, we have received word that Bishops Thomas Tut of Ayod and Archbishop Abraham Yel Nhial expect to attend the New Wineskins mission conference September 18-21 in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Transported to Aweil from Abyei in a July truck convoy, along with over 16,000 Sudanese refugees and South Sudanese returnees, a man sits alone.  The residents of Bishop Joseph Maner Manot’s host diocese of Wanyjok in Northern Bahr el Ghazal already faced emergency-level malnutrition, particularly among children.

For inspiration, Board member Rick Houghton recommends https://anabaptistworld.org/the-last-pastor-in-blockaded-sudan-city-holds-out-for-remaining-christians/, an August 2025 interview and photo of a youthful-looking Daramali Abujudin, the continuing  priest of St. Mathew’s Episcopal Church in the besieged city of El-Fasher, Sudan, along with his wife and three children, gathering Christians under one roof Sundays to avoid the random bombing.

Equally inspiring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Q4-nBDGvU , a 30-minute peek at a village of lepers near Rumbek, South Sudan served by lively Irish Roman Catholic missionaries, filmed prior to the 2022 Peace Mission of Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and Church of Scotland Moderator Ian Greenshields.

Board member Joseph Tucker questions the title “The War about Nothing” which headlines a report, by Anne Applebaum in the September issue of The Atlantic, on her recent visits to Khartoum and the Chad border. Tucker argues, “There’s a case to be made that the war [in Sudan} now is unfortunately about  nothing short of the survival and future of the Sudanese state in the most basic sense.” Vivid photos by Lynsey Addario, with Applebaum’s interviews, attest the staggering challenge to the Church’s ministry of reconciliation. Read for yourself at:  https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/09/sudan-civil-war-humanitarian-crisis/683563/?gift=BP5KposLpSXly1uYEYdDv552bqFppgRPHlc44MeCfis. OR, here’s a 49-minute interview with Applebaum on National Public Radio August 6th:  https://www.npr.org/2025/08/06/1256812325/crisis-in-sudan.

Tucker spotted another front-page story online in a major American magazine, Time:  https://time.com/7313600/sudan-crisis-shadows-photography. “It’s primarily a photo spread and a focus on the RSF-controlled West Darfur. I’d imagine there’d be more text in the print edition later this month.”

Bishop Ismail Abudgin, alongside local government officials, distributes food to hungry people in El Obeid.  He reports this work to his Archbishop, 641 miles away to the northeast in Port Sudan, as an opportunity for better relations between Christians and Muslims.

“Dear Archbishop Ezekiel:

Here is the brief narrative report concerning the diocesan role at the displaced camps. The support that the Province of Sudan receives make great impact on the suffering people in Sudan, particularly in the affected areas like Darfur, El Obeid, Dillng and Kadugli, and Khartoum. We have heard very good stories from the displaced people, when we provide blankets, cooked food, plastic sheets, and clothes. We do also provide sweets for children at least to make them happy.  The stories we hear is that most of them did not believe the church can come to help the Muslim people, but those who know the church they were even telling their brothers that the Christians are faithful than their people.

The good thing also is the participation of the office of religious affairs leaders with us during distribution and also, they are happy of what the episcopal church is doing.

Finally, your grace, I do believe that the E.C.S doing is breaking the barrier between Muslims and Christians, to live together in peace and harmony. In fact, I received not less than 5 calls from people every day to come and help, which was not normal. 

We hope that the good Lord will provide us with extra financial resources to be able to assist all displaced as we give regardless of religion, or tribe.

May God bless those who are giving.”

The Rt. Revd. Ismail Abudgin

Diocesan Bishop of El Obeid and Dean of the Province

A report from Port Sudan dated August 16 from Hindi Luka, Provincial Accountant for the Episcopal Church of Sudan, gives a current total of seventy-five congregations, spread from the Red Sea to Kadugli in the Nuba Mountains:

• Khartoum Diocese: 31 churches

• Kadugli Diocese: 6 churches (Kadugli town, surrounding areas, and Dilling town)

• El Obeid Diocese: 8 churches

• Port Sudan Diocese: 12 churches

• Wad Madani Diocese: 18 churches

The Rt. Rev. Dr. James Lule Kenyi, bishop of Kajo-Keji Diocese in South Sudan since 2023, will be online 12:45 – 1:45 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time in the U.S.) on September 16 for a conversation with Virginia Theological Seminary’s Center for Anglican Studies. He is expected to speak about his current work to help resolve a border conflict between Uganda and South Sudan that has displaced thousands of people. Friends may register in advance online or telephone CACS at (703)-461-1735.

Border clashes between the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) and the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) in the Kajo-Keji area have had devastating consequences for both the Diocese of Liwolo and the Diocese of Kajo-Keji. Conflict between the SSPDF and Opposition armed groups has included ambushes, looting, and burning of vehicles along the road linking Western Equatoria and Juba, as well as targeted killings of key officials, including Church personnel.

In Sudan The siege of El Fasher, largest city in Darfur, which RSF forces have surrounded, has cut off supplies and food. There are fears that a breakthrough could lead to another massacre of civilians, like that at the Zamzam IDP camp in April.  Compounding problems in Darfur was the landslide following heavy rains at Jebel Marra, highest point in Darfur and headquarters of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement.  The earthquake led to mudslides estimated to have killed up to 1,000.  There is no news of any international effort to bring this cataclysmic conflict to an end.

In South Sudan drones, attributed to the RSF, struck the airport at Heglig, at the center of oil processing and transport in Unity State August 26 and 30.  Oil company heads have warned the Juba Government that there will be a shutdown if attacks continue.  Floods have displaced 30,000 in Mayendit, Unity State, and 25,000 in Jonglei State and Pibor. Flooding may match or exceed 2024. African Intelligence this week details South Sudan’s clandestine and dangerous facilitation of UAE weapons transfers to the RSF effort in Sudan.

In response to an erroneous statement in the E-Blast of June 27 about his career with U.S. AID, Fritz Gilbert wants our readers to know that he was not among the creators of the Famine Early Warning System, but directed it 1998-2000.

We welcome corrections, and eagerly invite contributions of photos and news from individuals, parishes, and groups in North America, UK, Sudan, and South Sudan concerning your accomplishments and your needs.

Dr. Justin Badi Arama, formerly Bishop of Maridi in the Equatoria region and currently serving as steering committee chairman of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Provinces, has served as Primate of the Episcopal Church of South since 2019.

The Provincial Secretary of the ECS, the Rev. Peter Garang Deng, responded recently to e-mail questions posed by AFRECS Executive Director Dane Smith. (Responses edited for brevity and clarity.)

What are the main issues the Church is facing at this difficult time in South Sudan?

The same challenges that citizens go through– Insecurity due to internal conflicts, economic challenges, and weak external relations

Archbishop Justin Badi Arama has over the years been active in promoting peace in South Sudan.  What is his current focus?

 Archbishop still keeps the same focus through Episcopal Mediation Advisory Team (EMAT), the ECSS peace wing. He also encourages the dioceses through their internal provinces, pastoral counselling, preaching of the word of God, and peace messages.

He has told me that the Episcopal University is a priority for him.  How is that evolving?  We have been able to raise scholarship funds for the University.  

Through your efforts, students are able to continue with their studies once their fees are paid, accommodation, writing materials, and other needs are provided. The level of dropout is reduced because Primate was able to sponsor the needy students. In return, these pastors will be able to go and share the Gospel to their local congregations.

Has the fighting in the Nasir area and more recently in Kajo-Keji, as well as more random violence in the country, affected different ECSS dioceses?

Loss of lives. Destruction of the properties.  Displacements.  No access to food, clean water, or health facilities. There are no farming activities as a result of conflict and fear.

How are the problems of inflation and reported shortages of currency affecting the Church?

Since Church is part and parcel of the affected communities, we are equally affected. Church member livelihood is affected. Poor living standards affect school children and elderly ones. Development projects are on hold. Pastors and local evangelists face transportation challenges as they share the gospel in their congregations and dioceses– vulnerable to diseases.

I can summarize the needs of  the ECSS family in South Sudan: 1. Humanitarian support to Nasir and Kajo Keji populations. 2. Peace and reconciliation activities support. 3. Pastors’ training support, through The Episcopal University and the constituent colleges.