South Sudan Anglican Church promotes new paradigm for peace

Posted on: November 14, 2014 4:35 PM

The Peace Mobilisers group is an independent peace and reconciliation body in South Sudan meant to “build bridges across political and social divides and promote healing and reconciling among all South Sudanese.

Photo Credit: South Sudan Committee for National Healing, Peace and Reconciliation

Related Categories: apjn, peace & justice, Sudan

By Bellah Zulu, ACNS
The Anglican Church in South Sudan has joined other stakeholders in the region to address the country’s continued conflicts by using a team of community members called ‘Peace Mobilisers’.
Peace Mobilisers are a group of about eighty well-trained community and faith-based practitioners from across South Sudan brought together to share knowledge and experiences on the various approaches to reconciliation and sent back into their communities to influence change.
At the end of a 30-day training period for this group last month, the Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of Sudan and South Sudan, the Most Revd Daniel Deng Bul told the media: “Peace in our country is paramount but building the unity of our people will be challenging and will need commitment and courage.
“But we are a big group, a battalion of peace and we can make peace in this county if we make a step together and we listen together,."
Archbishop Deng is the Chairperson of the institution, which organised the training, the South Sudan Committee for National Healing, Peace and Reconciliation.
It is an independent peace and reconciliation body in South Sudan meant to “build bridges across political and social divides and promote healing and reconciling among all South Sudanese.”
The Bishop of Wau Diocese of South Sudan who also attended the training as a National Committee on Healing Peace and Reconciliation Chairperson for one of the States in his Diocese believes that this approach is effective and could be the solution to bringing lasting peace in the region.
He told ACNS in an interview yesterday: “We believe that this is a very effective approach in bringing peace to South Sudan because the mobilizers will be based in the communities and so they will be listening to their communities’ narratives, which is part of the healing process.”
He added, “Since they are based in the communities we hope that they will report anyone who does activities which may disturb peace or provoke conflict.”
The Peace Mobilisers represent different groups within the country such as the religious leaders, women's associations, and youth unions among others. They were selected by the National Committee on Healing Peace and Reconciliation from the ten States of South Sudan and Abyei Administrative Area and were brought to the town of Yei in the Central Equatorial State for one month to be trained as trainers of other Peace Mobilizers in their communities.
They are guided by a newly created and agreed on charter which indicates that members of this group are “peacemakers who do not take any sides and who see all people as equal in the face of God and who also endeavour to build trust and mutual understanding between divided communities, families and individuals.”
ENDS

South Sudan bishop: ‘Did our martyrs die in vain?’

[Anglican Communion News Service] An Anglican bishop has challenged the people of South Sudan and its leaders not to dishonor the memory of national martyrs by fighting each other.
Bishop of Wau Diocese in South Sudan, the Rt. Rev. Moses Deng Bol, stressed that for the young African nation to have a viable future there needed to be “love and unity” among its people.
Referring to the 22-year Sudanese Civil War that resulted in South Sudan becoming an independent nation in 2012 he said, “Did our martyrs die so that we would fight each other? Did they die for no good reason and do we keep disgracing them with our actions?”
“We have all seen too much hatred and fear and as a country we need unity and love,” he said. “South Sudan has seen a lot of violence and death and many people have experienced evil things that they will never forget.”
“[But] if our country is ever going to develop and become a better place we must find a way to forgive this pain. This may sound like too much to ask and even unreasonable, but we must challenge ourselves to forgive freely as a people.”
Unity means plenty for everyone
Deng said that much good comes from unity and that people must see the need for unity for South Sudan to be a strong and prosperous country. “If we are united we can have plenty and become a country we can all be proud of,” he said.
“Imagine if President Salva Kiir and former Vice President (now Rebel Leader) Riek Machier could forgive each other now and form a government of national unity. What a statement of faith that would be for the future of our young country. It would give everyone hope,” he said.
“As long as we think only of tribes and settle disagreements with violence there will be no progress.”
Refugees can’t nation build
Reports indicate that more than 1 million people have been displaced inside South Sudan and more than 400,000 people have fled to neighboring countries of Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda, as a result of the conflict.
Politically the country is divided along tribal lines, largely between the tribes of Dinka and Nuer. Bishop Deng said this is particularly damaging for a young nation like South Sudan.
In term of economic development, parts of the country have slipped back to the levels during the Second Civil War (between 1983-2005). Many people are stuck in UN camps, others are in internally displaced peoples camps, and others in refugee camps in neighboring countries.
The bishop said these displaced South Sudanese are in no position to produce anything for themselves or for the country.
“Life for everyone in South Sudan should get better and people should be more educated,” he reasoned. “We should be more united as a country and work together to promote peace and reconciliation everywhere in the country.
“Jesus did not teach hatred he taught forgiveness, and the life he lived serves as an example for everyone. There was no one that Jesus would not help because his faith in God was so strong,” he said.

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

Day of Prayer is emotional experience for Sudanese congregation

Posted on: February 25, 2014 12:43 PM

Members of St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, Moorhead, Minnesota (Diocese of North Dakota) gather with their new vicar, the Rev. Michael Paul, following the worship service on the Day of Prayer for South Sudan on Feb. 16

Photo Credit: Joe Bjordal/Episcopal News Service

Related Categories: Day of Prayer, North Dakota, Sudan, USA

[Episcopal News Service by  Joe Bjordal] The observance of a Day of Prayer for South Sudan on Feb. 16 took on a very personal nature at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Moorhead, Minnesota. The congregation is predominantly made up of Sudanese refugees and their prayers were not just for peace in the war-torn country half a world away, but specifically for mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers — family members left behind.

Many wiped away tears as their vicar, the Rev. Michael Kiju Paul, himself a Sudanese refugee, prayed “Father, save South Sudan!”

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori called for the Day of Prayer saying “the world is increasingly concerned over the rampant violence in South Sudan.” The Day of Prayer was also observed in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and in the Reformed Church in America.

“I want to thank the presiding bishop for designating this day as a Day of Prayer for South Sudan. It means a lot to me and it means a lot to the Sudanese people here,” said Paul in an interview with ENS following the worship service. “We are badly hit and affected by what is happening back home. We weep for our country and the Americans here in our midst weep with us. The hearts of the members of this congregation are torn apart by what is happening back there.”

Massive loss of life and displacement

A 2011 referendum resulted in the division of the African country of Sudan into two nations —Sudan and South Sudan. The referendum was one of the conditions of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 that brought an end to civil wars that spanned more than five decades. But peace has been fragile. Last year a division in the government of the Republic of South Sudan brought about the ousting of the vice president and fueled rising unrest within the army. On Dec. 15, fighting broke out in the capital city of Juba between rival tribal factions of the Presidential Guard. Within days thousands of members of the Nuer tribe had been murdered in Juba and the unrest spread to other regions of the country and took on an ethnic dimension.

The International Crisis Group estimates that more than 10,000 people have been killed since mid-December. The United Nations, which has observers on the ground in South Sudan, reports that hundreds of thousands have been displaced by the fighting and that 80,000 South Sudanese have crossed the borders in search of safety into neighboring Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Sudan. U.N. observers also report that nearly two-thirds of the country’s population is at risk of food insecurity.

On Feb. 10, the Anglican Communion News Service published a report from World Watch Monitor saying that scores of female church workers were raped and massacred in the South Sudanese town of Bor. The report quotes Episcopal Bishop of Bor Ruben Akurdit Ngong, who said that women had sought shelter in a church compound and that most of the churches in the diocese had been destroyed by rebel soldiers.

In her call to prayer, Jefferts Schori noted that the Episcopal Church of Sudan and South Sudan “is partnering with others on the ground in that work of peace-building.” Speaking in Moorhead following the prayer service, Paul said the church in Sudan “has been in the forefront, mediating and talking and attempting to bring the warring parties together to discuss peace.” He said that the church was also “fully involved in the war that brought us independence and has never left its people.”

“Right now, in the bushes of South Sudan, in the cities and towns, the church is standing up and really trying to bring these people together to bring peace and allow people to begin to rebuild that country that has been ravaged by war for over 50 years,” said Paul.

On Feb. 10, the South Sudan Council of Churches issued a statement from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the site of peace talks, saying that church representatives, including Sudanese Episcopal Bishop Enoch Tombe, were on hand to “accompany the peace talks with prayers and to deliver a prophetic message of peace from God and the people of South Sudan … ‘We want peace in our beloved land. We are tired of war!’”

Remembering; praying; hoping

Emotions ran deep at St. John the Divine on Feb. 16 as prayers and memories focused on a homeland far away and left behind long ago – for some nearly 20 years.

Vestry member Helen Lodu was among the first Sudanese refugees to settle in the metropolitan area of twin cities Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota in 1995. She said “the war was just so bad we had to get the children out of the country.” They lived in Kenya for two years before they found an opportunity to go to the United States and join her brother, who had previously settled in Northern Minnesota.

Lodu, whose husband recently returned from Sudan and witnessed the current violence first-hand, said it was sad to have been at war for so long, to have fought to gain independence and yet be back at “square one.”

She was nonetheless buoyed by the Day of Prayer.

“This day means a lot to me because I have never been able to go back to Sudan and see my people. I pray that God will listen to the prayers of all who unite themselves; that one day peace will come; that those who suffer can enjoy the land that God has given them; and we can go back.”

Another vestry member, Albert Simbe, fled Sudan with his late wife in 1998 and settled in Fargo-Moorhead. He said he has recently received reports from relatives in South Sudan about the violence that has erupted since Dec. 15.

“I really feel grateful that people in the United States are thinking about the suffering people in South Sudan. What broke out there on Dec. 15 is terrible, with thousands of people killed, displaced and suffering with no food, no water, no essential commodities. I am praying very hard that the peace talks in Addis Ababa will succeed. If they do not, as one rebel leader said, the country will crumble,” said Simbe.

“I am praying that Almighty God will be among them in the peace talks, so that they will agree and the country can be at peace,” he said.

Hospitality brings a change of character

Lodu and Simbe are but two of nearly 3,000 Sudanese refugees who have settled in the Fargo-Moorhead area. The influx started in the mid-1990s and gained momentum around 2000 when dozens of the Lost Boys of Sudan began to arrive. They were refugees who fled war-torn Sudan without parents, often alone and seeking asylum initially in neighboring countries to avoid being drafted into war. Many would eventually settle in locations around the world.

Many of the arriving Sudanese refugees were members of the Episcopal Church of Sudan and Episcopal faith communities in the United States rose up and stepped forward to provide assistance. One of those communities was St. John the Divine in Moorhead, a congregation of the Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota.

Barbara Glasrud, a 60-year member of St. John’s and its current senior warden, said on Feb. 16 that she remembers “vividly how it all started,” recalling a visit in the late 1990s from Andrew Fairfield, then bishop of North Dakota.

“He told us that these people were coming into our area; that they were Episcopalians and Anglicans; that they needed a church home; and that he would like us to welcome them. We did and the rest is history,” she said.

Glasrud said that in the beginning it was just a few of the Lost Boys. She recalls members of the congregation meeting them at the airport; helping to find housing, and for many basic clothing needed for a climate in sharp contrast to the deserts of Africa. Then, she said, families started coming and “soon we had a big population of Sudanese people in our congregation.”

Having changed the character of the Anglo congregation with Scandinavian roots that had worshiped in the historic church building since 1858, St. John’s called its first Sudanese priest in 2000. It was Lodu’s husband, Alex, who was ordained in the Episcopal Church of Sudan and was serving as a professor at a theological college in Mundri at the time of their departure. He served St. John’s for 10 years.

Paul arrived in mid-2013. He was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Kajo Keji in South Sudan and after settling in the United States served St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in San Diego, California for six years. When financial resources no longer allowed St. Luke’s to have a full-time priest, Paul sought employment outside the church.

Aware that there was a Sudanese congregation in the Fargo-Moorhead area, he found work in window and door manufacturing. He asked his bishop in San Diego to introduce him to North Dakota Bishop Michael Smith, who eventually asked Paul to volunteer at St. John’s.

“Father Michael seemed to fit right in,” said Glasrud, and in December the congregation called Paul to be its vicar, a part-time position for the timebeing.

Paul notes that without a Sudanese pastor, participation in the congregation’s three Sunday worship services – in English, Dinka and Arabic – had dwindled but have now started to revive.

“As the new vicar, I am working day in and day out, calling the Sudanese community to come back. There is a large Sudanese community here and there is no reason why we cannot gather as brothers and sisters to worship together.”

He also said that members of the congregation will launch new efforts to educate the community and other congregations in the diocese about the issues surrounding South Sudan and invite them “to pray for our country.”

Paul will formally be installed by Smith at a Celebration of New Ministry on Feb. 22.

Home > Africa

Wabukala: There's still hope for South Sudan

Posted on: February 20, 2014 12:33 PM

A South Sudanese man holding a HK G3

Photo Credit: Wikimedia/Steve Evans

Related Categories: Abp Wabukala, Kenya, Sudan

[The Christian Times] The Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, Most Rev. Dr. Eliud Wabukala has said that there is still hope for South Sudan despite the current setbacks. He expressed his sympathy to those who lost their loved ones as well as the displaced people in the South Sudan conflict.

Speaking to South Sudanese students during special prayers organized by St. Paul’s University in Limuru, Kenya, for South Sudan, the primate condemned the violence that broke out in the country late last year. He said that maiming and killing people is not godly and God hates it. He said that the Anglican Church worldwide is disturbed by the current situation in South Sudan and was praying for peace and stability in South Sudan.

“There is still hope in South Sudan despite the current situation, God will still bring a solution,” he said. “The day will come when your full independence will be realized.”

He reminded the South Sudanese present that they could take their situation as an opportunity to glorify God and know His blessings.

“Great people and great nations pass through difficulties like what you are experiencing today, but you will be a great nation one day,” said the primate.

The full article can be found here

Report to the 230th Annual Diocesan Convention

The Diocese of New Jersey and our former Bishop The Rt. Rev. George Councell, convened what initially was called “The Darfur Committee” in the fall of 2008 to implement resolution 2008-1 of the 2008 Diocesan Convention which charged, “The Episcopal Church in the Diocese of New Jersey to join with the government of the United States, the United Nations, and a host of other countries, organizations and individuals around the world to call and work for an end to the violence in Darfur.”

This resolution called the Diocese of New Jersey to establish a committee to “study the situation in Darfur and provide information to members parishes and others about the crimes against humanity taking place there along with the recommendations of actions that can be taken by parishes and individuals to bring these violations and actions to and end at the earliest possible opportunity and to provide support for Darfur refugees and other displaced persons.”

This Committee, now The Sudan Committee of the Diocese of New Jersey, has been meeting for approximately five years--beginning on February 2 of 2009-- and consists of the following persons re- appointed by our new Bishop, Chip Stokes for the 2014 year: The Rev. Dr. Hugh E. Brown, III (Chair), the Rev. Canon Dr. Martin Oguike, the Rev. Sharon Sutton, the Rev. Jane Brady, Ms. Alicia Graham-Hicks, the Rev. Nancy Hite Speck, the Rev. Deborah Piggins, and the Mr. Marcus Gales.

In February of 2010, then Bishop Councell approved the expansion of the Committee’s advocacy and work to include the whole of Sudan.

This deepened and enhanced mission has enabled the Sudan Committee to provide a visible witness for justice and peace in Sudan around issues such as the January, 2011 Referendum for Southern Sudanese independence and the campaign of the Episcopal Church, USA on behalf of Sudan entitled, “A Season of Peace for Sudan.”

The Committee’s charge has indeed now become that described by our Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, “to create projects of peace, study, prayer and action on behalf of the people of Sudan.”

The people of Sudan, including the Darfur region of Sudan, the largest country in Africa, have experienced decades of slaughter, poverty and utter instability.
This is true even with the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace agreement of 2005— and, in keeping with this agreement, the birth of the new nation of South Sudan in July of 2011.

As I write this report, civil war has erupted in the new nation of South Sudan, threatening more intense violence, renewed sectarian warfare, and the beginnings of genocide anew in yet another chapter of Sudan’s painful history.

And, as I write, violence directed by the government of Sudan continues to engulf the Nuba Mountain region of the border of Sudan and South Sudan—and continues, even with some improvement, to plague the Darfur region of Sudan.

However in the words of Richard J. Jones, the outgoing president of the American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, “God is still at work in Sudan; God’s Church in Sudan walks, sows, and lives in hope.”

At Diocesan Convention in 2014, we celebrate the reality that even though the largest nation of South Africa continues to experience deep and profound suffering--the Episcopal Church of Sudan, encompassing both Sudan and the new nation of South Sudan, remains strong and united, committed to the work of mission, ministry, empowerment and human rights

For example, in our new Sudan Committee companion Diocese of Wau in South Sudan, Bishop Moses Deng Bol is offering awesome leadership and vision, with the birth of a new theological seminary in the Diocese of Wau, St. John’s Theological College, with which the Sudan Committee and Diocese of New Jersey is a new partner.

Bishop Moses recently addressed a gathering sponsored by Episcopal Relief and Development in New York City this past July-- and offered his vision of the renewal of the church and people of Sudan through theological education.

In the most recent issue of Renew, the newsletter of the Diocese of Wau, Bishop Moses describes thousands of new Confirmations during his Episcopal visits to congregations this past spring and notes that the Episcopal Church of Sudan is the most powerful non-governmental organization (NGO) in South Sudan!

So, at this Diocesan Convention of 2014, we do celebrate the work of the Episcopal Church of Sudan in promoting peace and the welfare of the Sudanese people, and we give witness to our new partnership with the Diocese of Wau in the ministry and work of theological education described below.

The Sudan Committee has focused on the following projects during 2013, our 5th full year of advocacy for the people and Church of Sudan:
*We have established a Scholarship Fund for the education of one future indigenous Sudanese priest for the Episcopal Church of Sudan, to be an advocate for peace, justice and an end to the human rights abuses within the nation of Sudan.
The Church of Sudan is unmatched, in terms of resources and credibility, as an organization working on behalf of the people of Sudan and we believe it to be THE key to the work of reconciliation, the building of infrastructure, and the providing of social services and education to further the work of Christ in Sudan.

*Beginning with Diocesan Convention in March of 2010, we have raised 
approximately $14, 000 towards the Scholarship Fund!

We offer our profound thanksgiving to all congregations and persons throughout the Diocese who have offered donations to our scholarship fund.
Please prayerfully consider a donation to the Sudan Committee for the Scholarship Fund! Checks should be marked to the Diocese of New Jersey and marked, “Sudan Scholarship Fund,” or contact The Rev. Hugh E. Brown, III, D. Min., Chair at All Saint’s Church in Princeton.

*We are pleased to announce, as noted above, the beginning of a partnership with St. John’s Theological Seminary in the Diocese of Wau in South Sudan, and Bishop Moses Deng Bol, Bishop.
We are offering three, full, three year scholarships to three students of St. John’s Theological College: Peter Ngot Achien, the Rev. Santino Opio Madhieu, and Emmanuel Madhang Mayiok.

*We created a “spirit-filled” African Evensong Liturgy at Trinity Cathedral in Trenton on October 27, 2013, our third festive African Evensong, which drew almost 200 participants—and we raised over $2,000 towards the work of the scholarship fund.

We thank all who participated in, and, or supported the event. We were supremely honored to have the presence of The Rev. Canon John Mbiti termed “The Dean” of African Studies and author of the seminal work, African Religions and Philosophy; Dr. Mbiti, gave a powerful sermon.

The youth choir of Urban Promise International once again rocked the Cathedral! Trinity Cathedral sponsored an amazing reception with an array of African dishes from many nations! This was a truly marvelous and inspiring event.

*The people of Grace Church, Pemberton, and our colleague, the Rev. Jane Brady, Rector of Grace Church, hosted a wonderful breakfast in honor of Canon Mbiti and his wife, Vera--the Monday following the African Evensong—on October 28, 2013.

Bishop Stokes and many in Diocesan leadership attended—including the leaders of our Diocesan committees related to outreach, service and justice and peace.

Canon Mbiti described his work and project of translating the New Testament into the Kiikamba language

*We created a March 16, 2013 Lenten Retreat on African Spirituality, and attained full funding for this retreat with a generous grant through St. Martin’s House of the Diocese of New Jersey.

The retreat was held at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Princeton and featured noted African speakers of the Diocese of New Jersey, inspiring worship, and prayerful experience.

We had over 60 persons representing dozens of congregations in the Diocese attended.

*We continue to offer forums, workshops and events at parishes and congregations throughout the Diocese, for example this year at Trinity Church, Princeton, Trinity Cathedral, All Saints’ Church, Princeton, St. John’s Church, Fords and St. John’s Church, Sewaren.

*We continue to maintain a visible witness through our work through our Web site and Blog and through our space on the Diocesan Web site.

May the work of the Sudan Committee continue to join in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the Sudan, who suffer and witness to the love of Christ.
Once again, we invite your contributions to the Scholarship Fund of the Sudan Committee in support of our partnership with St. John’s Theological College in the Diocese of Wau in South Sudan-- and the work of the Episcopal Church of Sudan in South Sudan.

Please, once again, make your gift or check to The Diocese of New Jersey, marked, Sudan Committee Scholarship Fund and send in care of the Finance Office of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, 808 West State Street, Trenton, New Jersey, 08618 and write Father Hugh Brown, Chair, Sudan Committee at Rector@allsaint.org with questions.

As the Episcopal Church of Sudan offers a witness and struggle for human rights, human welfare and peace with justice and the Gospel of Jesus Christ among the martyrs of Sudan—we invite you to support the Church and Christians of Sudan in this struggle.

We offer thanks to former Bishop George Councell; to our new Bishop, Chip Stokes, for all of his support in these first weeks as our Diocesan Bishop; we offer our thanksgiving to the staff at Diocesan House who have labored for our Committee in many ways; we offer thanksgiving to the Dean, staff and lay leadership of Trinity Cathedral; and we offer our appreciation to all those who have supported the ministry of the Sudan Committee through gifts of time, talent and treasure; above all we offer thanks to Almighty God for the work and mission of the Episcopal Church, the wider Christian Church and the people of Sudan and South Sudan.

We also offer our deep appreciation to the Rev. Kent Walley and the Board of St. Martin’s House for all of the funding for our programs and events; without the support of St. Martin’s House, our Mission and Work over these past five years would not have been possible!

Respectfully submitted,

The Rev. Hugh E. Brown, III, D. Min., Chair,
Sudan Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey 

February 28 and March 1, 2014

Female church workers raped, killed in South Sudan

Posted on: February 10, 2014 4:40 PM

Women church leaders in Jalle, north of Bor where scores of female workers were killed last month

Photo Credit: Jesse Zink/jessezink.com

Related Categories: Bor, Sudan

From World Watch Monitor

Scores of female church workers were massacred last month as they sought refuge at a church in the central South Sudanese town of Bor.

The women, several of whom were elderly, had fled rebel attacks to hide in the St. Andrew's Episcopal Church compound, when rebels descended on them, raping several of them before shooting them at close range.

“The women were from different parishes in the diocese and had converged in the church compound when they were killed,” the Anglican Bishop of Bor, Ruben Akurdit Ngong, told World Watch Monitor by telephone from Bor. “This is very painful. They destroyed most of the churches in the diocese, but God is with us.”

Five of the women—Dorcas Abuol Bouny and Akut Mayem Yar, both 72, Tabitha Akuang, 60, and Mary Alek Akech and Martha Agok Mabior, both 70—worked as pastors in the church. A prominent lay leader, Agel Mabior, 72, was also killed.

“They were all clergy. They all worked at the church. They did different jobs, [including] Bible reading,” South Sudanese Anglican Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul told local reporters.

South Sudan has been in turmoil since Dec. 15, when a dispute within the army sparked fierce fighting in the capital city, Juba. Fighting spread quickly across the country and soon took on an ethnic dimension after President Salva Kiir alleged that his former vice president, Riek Machar, was planning a coup. The fighting has pitted army forces loyal to President Kiir, who is a member of the Dinka tribe, against rebel forces aligned to Machar, a member of the Nuer tribe.

The Dinka tribe is the largest in South Sudan; the Nuer is the second largest and boasts a deadly tribal militia known as the “White Army” because its fighters rub white ash, extracted from burnt cow dung, over their bodies. The White Army’s main role in the community historically has been to raid cattle and protect the community, but recently it has transformed into a militia used for political gain.

The White Army is suspected to have carried out the massacre of the women and more than 2,500 others in Bor, a largely Dinka town.

“I believe the White Army attacked and killed the women hiding in the church compound. It is very disturbing to know they were abused before being killed,” the Rev. Mark Akec-Cien, deputy general secretary of the South Sudan Council of Churches, told World Watch Monitor by telephone. “I don’t think they were killed because they are Christians. The militia had also attacked, looted and destroyed shops, businesses, homes and other churches.”

Since the conflict erupted, several churches have been attacked and looted, and pastors harassed, according to Akec-Cien. In Malakal, in the north of the country, the St. Francis Catholic Church compound was attacked and looted in mid-January, and the priest robbed. The local Anglican and Evangelical churches were also looted.

The most affected areas are the northeastern states of Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile. Bor, the headquarters of Jonglei State, was totally destroyed, with houses, food stores, shops, banks and churches burnt down and looted, according to the Episcopal Church of Sudan.

The United Nations said on Wednesday that up to 7 million people, nearly two-thirds of the country’s population, were at risk of some level of food insecurity, with 3.7 million facing emergency or acute levels. About 900,000 people have fled their homes since December.

Although the conflict is largely viewed in ethic terms, church leaders have called for peace and reconciliation, and stressed that the roots of the crisis are political. Both the army and rebel forces have been accused of abuses.

Day of Prayer for South Sudan on February 16

From The Episcopal Church: Office of Public Affairs
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori calls for Day of Prayer for South Sudan on February 16

[February 4, 2014] Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has called for a Day of Prayer for South Sudan for February 16.

Bishop Jefferts Schori is joined in this call by the Rev. Gradye Parsons, the Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian General Assembly and the Reformed Church in America.

“The world is increasingly concerned over the rampant violence in South Sudan,” the Presiding Bishop said. “The recent increase in armed conflict, murder, and mayhem has been fomented in part by inaccurate reports of tribal partisanship. The new nation needs peace, in order that all its people might thrive. The Episcopal Church of Sudan is partnering with others on the ground in that work of peace-building. The Sudanese communities within our own Episcopal Church have been important and effective leaders in this work. I ask your prayers for peace, as well as your awareness and involvement in the lives of our brothers and sisters across the globe. The Prince of Peace serves the whole world. As his disciples, may we do no less!”

In July 2011, a referendum called for the African country of Sudan to become two nations – Sudan and South Sudan. Since that time, many residents of South Sudan have experienced violence and suffered inhumane treatment.

“For fifty years, as civil war raged in Sudan, it was clear to people there that the outside world knew very little of their plight, and cared less,” noted Bishop Catherine Waynick, Diocese of Indianapolis. “While this new month-long conflict has taken a huge toll and set the development of South Sudan back in incalculable ways, there is at least the assurance that this time things are different.”

The Diocese of Indianapolis maintains a companion relationship with Episcopal Diocese of Bor in South Sudan. “The world does know, and brothers and sisters around the Anglican Communion do care, and the very stones will not need to cry out for justice and peace, because we are assaulting heaven with prayers of our own. It means the world to them,” Bishop Waynick said.

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori has noted that The Episcopal Church now has a number of Sudanese congregations and communities of faith as a result of the Lost Boys of Sudan, who immigrated to the United States as refugees beginning in 2001.

“My life was forever changed by the people of South Sudan,” explained Robin Denney, former Episcopal missionary who was based in Juba, South Sudan. “They showed me that the Gospel brings life in the midst of death, and they awakened in me a deep love of the Gospel. As we commit ourselves to prayer for South Sudan, and as we give, let us open our hearts to hope and to be changed, for as I learned in South Sudan, God will never be defeated.”

Resources

Advocacy and Educational ResourcesThe Episcopal Church Office of Government Advocacy Memo to Congress, January 2014:
Episcopal Relief & Development
For the latest update on South Sudan here
For the latest update on South Sudan here
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori calls for Day of Prayer for South Sudan on February 16
 

Weekly E-Blasts from the American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan

“Crisis in South Sudan,” A Report of the Congressional Research Service, January 2014 

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Resources on South Sudan

International Crisis Group Publications on South Sudan

Episcopal Relief & Development

 The Episcopal Church

On the web:

Advocacy reaches world leaders

http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2014/01/advocacy-reaches-world-leaders.aspx

Posted on: January 16, 2014 1:47 PM

Refugees crowd in Awerial and using trees for shelter.

Photo Credit: Anglican Alliance

Related Categories: Anglican Alliance, Sudan

Advocacy for peace and reconciliation in South Sudan has been initiated by Anglican churches and agencies around the world to highlight the voices working for peace in the nation.

Several conference calls initiated by church staff from US and Canada have enabled partners to hear directly from Bishops of the Episcopal Church of Sudan and South Sudan and to share information about the current crisis.

As a result of these calls, statements calling for negotiations for peace and reconciliation were issued to international government representatives. The Obama administration, US Congress, the British Foreign Office and the Canadian Foreign Office all heard the Anglican call, communicating the voices of Bishops on the ground in South Sudan, who are working tirelessly to support their communities and their country.

The Sudanese Development and Relief Agency (SUDRA) are working with the dioceses in South Sudan to provide immediate humanitarian aid to those displaced by the violence. 

Regular Alliance conference calls involving the Anglican Board of Mission and Anglican Overseas Aid in Australia, CMS UK, the Mothers’ Union and the Salisbury-Sudan Link in the UK, Episcopal Relief & Development in the US and the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund in Canada have ensured close contact and coordination with SUDRA is maintained.

Updates on the situation in South Sudan continue to come to the Alliance in regular conversation with the Church on the ground.  A consolidated proposal for relief is being developed and will be posted on the Anglican Alliance website soon. 

Bishops across the nation continue to ask for your prayerful support as they work for peace and reconciliation in their war-torn country.