Presiding Bishop calls for prayer for South Sudan and Sudan

Heads of Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Anglican Church of Canada, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada issue
A Message of Solidarity with the Church in South Sudan
[From the Office of the Presiding Bishop]

[May 9, 2014] With the reports of violence and casualties, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has called for prayers for South Sudan and Sudan.

She joins with the heads of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada in issuing A Message of Solidarity with the Church in South Sudan

Here is the message:

A Message of Solidarity
with the Church in South Sudan

from the heads of
The Episcopal Church
The Anglican Church of Canada
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada


Friday, May 9, 2014

The situation in South Sudan continues to be extremely difficult, and news of it in North American media is minimal. Violence has been fomented and stirred by political leaders for their own ends. Although the mainstream media portrays the conflict as ethnic, its roots, as with any conflict, are varied and complicated. Regardless, there can never be a rationale for the suffering that has been wrought.

Our partners in South Sudan have suffered massive casualties. Their people have been murdered, raped, tortured, and burned out of their homes. Churches and entire villages have been destroyed. In spite of extensive displacement, Anglicans/Episcopalians and Lutherans continue to be active in relief and peace-making efforts through our partners in the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan, and the Lutheran World Federation.

We urge you to join in prayer for the people of South Sudan and Sudan, for a lasting and meaningful peace, and for immediate aid and response to the needs of the myriad of displaced persons.

As we celebrate the feast of the Resurrection, we urge you to help make the risen body of Christ evident to those who labor through the valley of the shadow of death.


The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church

Bishop Elizabeth Eaton
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Most Rev. Fred Hiltz
Primate
Anglican Church of Canada

Bishop Susan Johnson
National Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada





Resources

Episcopal Church Sudan information
• Prayers
• News and videos from Episcopal News Service

Episcopal Church Bulletin Insert

Advocacy and Educational Resources
• Public Policy
• Episcopal Public Policy Network

An increasingly desperate situation on South Sudan

From:
http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/africa/an_increasingly_desperate_situ.html

The situation in South Sudan continues to deteriorate, according to this report rom Gurtong, a Norwegian and Swiss-funded information service aimed at "removing all ethnic, political or personal obstacles on the way to unity, peace and mutual respect among South Sudanese."
Francis Apiliga Lagu writes:

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has warned of an imminent catastrophe in South Sudan unless the political leaders and the international community exert more efforts to halt the internal armed conflict in the new nation.Ms Pillay, who was on a two day visit to South Sudan, met both President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar, the leader of the SPLM/A in Opposition in a move to persuade the two leaders to tow the path of respect of human rights and ensure justice for all. ...
“The murder of hundreds of people, many of them civilians in Bentiu and retaliatory assaults on displaced people sheltering in UN compound in Bor which led to death of at least 50 more men, women and children have starkly underlined how close South Sudan is to calamity,” Ms Pillay told the press in Juba Wednesday.
Pillay rebuked the use of hate speech which she said greatly contributes to retaliatory attacks. "The deadly mix of recrimination, hate speech and revenge killings that have developed relentlessly over the past four and half months, seems to be reaching a boiling point," she said.

Richard Parkins, executive director of the Americans Friends of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan has written an addendum to the group's weekly e-mail news blast (scroll down on this page) urging those in relationships with Sudanese churches to "resist the feeling that all is lost."

We can let others know about what is happening in South Sudan, not as a way of adding to their list of failed nations, but as a means of rallying support for a robust diplomatic effort by the international community with the US taking the lead to push for a cessation of hostilities and a commitment to hold accountable those who continue to destroy with abandon the lives of thousands of innocent souls. We can enlarge the circle of advocates and prayer partners who seek a peaceful outcome to South Sudan's current crisis. This is also a time for those who have worked in various capacities in South Sudan, who have supported programs that believe that South Sudan has a promising future, to continue their efforts not only to accomplish the purpose for which they initially offered partnership but as expressions of hope in a country where many could write their own text for the book of Lamentations. We are called to be faithful. Let us pray that our faith will not waver as we seek to be faithful to those whose faith has often been the mainstay of a suffering people who heroically survived years of unimaginable violence.

You can contribute right now to Episcopal Relief and Development's work in South Sudan.
Areas affected by violence and with numbers of displaced persons below:

Posted by Jim Naughton on May 1, 2014 8:29 AM | Permalink | Digg this