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VOICE Of The GOSPEL

Quarterly Newsletter Of the episcOpal church Of the sudaN

Volume 1 Issue No 3 SP 5 USD 3 UGX 3000 KSH 150 June 2009 - August 2009

EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE SUDANHis Grace addressed the congregation in Mingaman church.

His Grace with a prize bull in Mingaman

15.ELECTION OF MOTHERS UNION PRESIDENT:LICENSING OF LAY READERS AND COMMISIONING OF EVANGELISTS BY ECSARCHBISHOP

By Jonathan Mayen Nguen

Last week has been a very busy week for the Province of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan when His Grace the Most Rev. Canon Dr. Deng Bui, the Archbishop conducted the election for the President of the Mothers Union, Juba Diocese of which Dr. Deng is the Diocesan Bishop of Juba.

Outcome of the election was that Miss Margaret Peter Abudi, was elected the President for the MU of Juba Diocese for the term of office of three years as the new Leader.

New Diocesesinaugurated

ECS Education and Training

“IF ABYEI IS PEACEFUL, THE WHOLE SUDAN WILL BE PEACEFUL”

2 3An old lady who received the Lord

Mundri Sunday School children

Evangelism Pictures

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Editorial.................................................................................................................................................................................................................4

Appeal To The International Donor And Diplomatic Community In The Sudan...................................................................................5

ECS Education and Training Vision and Mission...................................................................................................................................6-8

Wau Diocese of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan Gears up for Election of New Bishop...............................................................9

“If Abyei is peaceful, the whole Sudan will be peaceful”......................................................................................................................10-11

Easter World Wide Message To The Faithful Of Sudan And Beyond................................................................................................12-13

Tearfund Holds Senior Leaders Workshop On Project Cycle Management......................................................................................14-15

Worship and Liturgy News...............................................................................................................................................................................16

Focus on Diocese of Torit...............................................................................................................................................................................16

New Dioceses Inaugurated...............................................................................................................................................................................17

Archiepiscopal visit to the Diocese of Lainya, 2nd-3rd May 2009...........................................................................................................18

Re-dedication of St. Lazarus’ Cathedral, Sunday 3rd May 2009................................................................................................................19

The Episcopal Church Of Sudan Archbishop’s Easter Message To The Faithful Of Sudan April”09......................................20-21

Second Pastoral Letter...............................................................................................................................................................................22-23

CONTENTS

His Grace addressed the congregation in Mingaman church.

His Grace with a prize bull in Mingaman

15.ELECTION OF MOTHERS UNION PRESIDENT:LICENSING OF LAY READERS AND COMMISIONING OF EVANGELISTS BY ECSARCHBISHOP

By Jonathan Mayen Nguen

Last week has been a very busy week for the Province of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan when His Grace the Most Rev. Canon Dr. Deng Bui, the Archbishop conducted the election for the President of the Mothers Union, Juba Diocese of which Dr. Deng is the Diocesan Bishop of Juba.

Outcome of the election was that Miss Margaret Peter Abudi, was elected the President for the MU of Juba Diocese for the term of office of three years as the new Leader.

COVER PHOTO

His Grace with a bull in Mingamam, Aliab County in Lakes State

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His Grace, The Most Revd. Canon Dr. Daniel Deng Bul Yak, the ECS Archbishop

and Primate of the Sudan has concluded the greatest task by visiting the Southern Sudan under very difficult circumstances of insecurity, bad communication network of many roads that had never been maintained for the last two decades of the civil war between south North. His recent visit was to Greater Bahr-el Ghazal Wau-Awiel and Abyei.

In his tireless tours and journeys throughout the bushes and savannah lands shadowed sometimes by heavy rains, fear of wildlife and the activities of LRA (Lords Resistance Army) waging war against the Government of Republic of Uganda.

LRA has been pushed out from Uganda and sought refugee in Southern Sudan and D.R Congo where they are killing innocent people and looting their properties and made many of them to be on the run throughout seeking would be security both politically and socially.

The Present Archbishop of ECS Dr. Deng is a very brave person and does not fear. He

has been doing these serious tours on land and in few cases by plane.

As you are holding our third issue of Voice of Gospel in your hands, we are very grateful that the Newsletter is being widely read in the Sudan and abroad.

We still stand for opinions whether we are going very well or to make some adjustments in the areas of editorial, proof reading and production. With many of our hopes and wishes we need the participation of the General public anywhere and the Church institutions to contribute in articles and ideas for the future welfare of the Newsletter to deliver more knowledge to those who need it spiritually, socially and even politically for the coming generations.

We need the entire Episcopal Church of the Sudan Dioceses to contribute their activities to be published in the Newsletter which is quarterly. The diocesan Bishops need to assist in this direction.

Through God’s will and wish, the next phase or move is that the ECS Archbishop Dr. Deng is expected to visit the Northern States, especially the ECS Dioceses in the North of the nation of Sudan.

Our readers still have unlimited opportunity to give comments in writing verbally and critically to save guard its progress to spread the word of God.

Editor.

EDITORIAL

JONATHAN MAYEN NGUEN

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I, Daniel Deng Bul, Archbishop and Primate of the Province of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan and

Bishop of the Diocese of Juba, am personally appealing to the international donor and diplomatic communities, on behalf of the entire Church and the entire country, for increased support and action in safeguarding the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

Over the past year I have undertaken major tours of Southern Sudan, covering almost all of Equatoria, Lakes State and Jonglei State. During these visits I have witnessed first hand the suffering of my people and the increasing fear of communities on the ground because of a situation of ever-increasing insecurity. In the Church’s opinion, this is the biggest problem in Sudan today, and prevents any further material or economic development, as well as the free and fair elections desperately needed in February 2010 and the referendum on Southern secession scheduled for 2011.

Peoples in Western and Central Equatoria are being attacked, murdered and displaced by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), rumoured to be supplied by people within Sudan. A large number of civilians in Eastern Equatoria, Lakes and Jonglei states are armed. The proliferation of modern weapons has caused traditional tribal conflicts over cattle ownership and grazing rights to increase and escalate into far bloodier warfare all over Southern Sudan – warfare that is now damaging the unity of the people and the CPA process as a whole. Last week a large weapons cache was apprehended in Lakes State and there are rumours of trucks loaded with weaponry heading north out of Juba to fuel tribal violence in Central Equatoria State.

The only conclusion one can draw is that these are ancient disputes that are being deliberately stirred up into something much more damaging for the local people and the stability of our country as a whole. Who is doing this is still largely unknown, but it is evident from local reports received through the Church network that the arms smuggling, re-armament and incitement of tribal violence is being carried out by enemies of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

During Easter 2009, I visited Jonglei State, travelling from Bor right up to Ayod in the Nuer lands. Although I and the vast majority of the party I was travelling with are

Dinka, we were welcomed, and I as a Church leader spoke about love and peace between tribes. On my return to Juba I was informed that following the visit all cattle raiding and violence in the Ayod area has ceased. I take this as proof that the Church is one of the most effective ground-level players in the peace process and as proof that our message of love and reconciliation is one that is most effective in peace building amongst the tribes of Southern Sudan.

The Church has a presence in almost all small villages in the South, coverage unmatched by any organisation, including the Government of Southern Sudan and the SPLA, which in most cases are no longer able to keep the peace on the ground. The army is

largely absent from effected areas, the police are too few to provide adequate security to even the County Commissioners, let alone the people, and therefore the government is in danger. As evidence of this I cite the fact that the police in Twic East County of Jonglei State were not able to contain local violence even during my visit to the area.

I am therefore making a passionate and heartfelt appeal to those governments and organisations that form Sudan’s diplomatic and donor community, in particular the United Nations agencies and the governments of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Netherlands, all of which have a major presence in Southern Sudan and are guarantor signatories of the CPA.

As guarantors you have a duty to prevent this nation from returning to war, and I urge you to consider very seriously the churches as

key partners in the work of peace-building on the ground. This is a problem that requires an ecumenical approach – all churches need to be supported by international stakeholders in the CPA to be tools of peace building on the ground. With our community-level network that surpasses any other, we need to be empowered to spread peace in this land as I have been doing in Jonglei State last month. We must teach our people that they are part of much bigger politics of which they are unaware, but which they are destabilising. They must also be empowered to make free and fair democratic choices in the upcoming elections and referendum.

My worry, and the fear of many thousands of people I have spoken to across Southern

Sudan in the past year, is that the current escalating violence will add to the current disputes between the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) over the North-South border and the Abyei Protocol, that are already threatening to cause the CPA to collapse. If the CPA is not guaranteed now, war can start again all too quickly, during which a return to peace will be incredibly difficult, the Sudanese people will be further devastated and the whole region will be destabilised.

If you are guarantors of the CPA, then why is the international community allowing this violence to continue? I beseech you to act now to prevent it and protect the peace of my people.

Yours in the love and peace of Christ,

Appeal To The International Donor And Diplomatic Community In The Sudan

International Community

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By Rev. Emmanuel Lomoro Eluzai

Organisation’s involvement

ECS is involved in development work in Sudan for much of the last 100 years though education, health care, relief and peace-building activities spear heading. ECS education now operates around 300 schools across Sudan, with around 80,000 pupils. Around two thirds of ECS’ schools are in Southern Sudan, and many serve refugee,

displaced and returnee communities.The schools now operate in a wide range

of circumstances - from permanent buildings and full sets of books in a few schools, to tukul huts and rakuba reed shelters and a few shared books in others, to clearings in the forest and portable blackboards in many. Many ECS schools provide a high standard of education, with ECS schools in Juba, Renk and Malakal dioceses persistently coming in the top few schools in their state.

Due to the long running civil war Southern Sudan has the lowest access to education in the world, with gross primary enrolment of 20%, less than 2% of people completing primary education. ECS sees itself in having a strong role to play in education recovery and has prioritised school building and running

throughout the country. Education is something the church has always historically been involved in and ECS see it as part of their holistic vision of how a church should be providing for local communities. ECS seek to address mind, body and soul though provision of a church, school and clinic in the areas they work.

Vision: Quality education with Christian values

Mission: To raise child to grow into their full potential in Christ through well run and

resourced schools by equipping Diocesan Education Coordinators, Head teachers and Parents to resource manage and develop their schools teachers to provide quality education and Parents to support the learning of their children

Organization Capacity: In 2005 ECS Education and Training was

created as a Provincial Commission to present oversight, direction and practical help for the ECS schools. Since 2005 ECS Education and Training has been training Diocesan Education Coordinators, teachers, head teachers, PTA members and parents from church, community and government schools and helping the dioceses build schools.

In 2008 alone, with the help of partners, ECS Education and Training staffs have

trained over 1,000 education personnel from government, church and community schools, on 3-10 week courses on practical teaching methodology and education management. Almost all these trainings have been done in coordination with the Ministry of Education (MoE) and wherever the church is present with the Diocesan Education Coordinators (DECs).

Together with Word Relief the MoE has just granted ECS Education and Training a grant through the Basic Service Fund

(BSF) to train teachers, headteacher and County Education Directors in 12 locations throughout Southern Sudan.

The ECS Education and training Commission has been operating through an office in Khartoum and has established an office in Juba in 2008. It is overseen by the Education and Training Commission which meets once a year and the Board that meets twice a year. The funds are received by from Partners through the Provincial Bank Account. They are released on request from the Education and Training Coordinator based on budgets approved by the Provincial Secretary and now by the Education and Training Board.

The Provincial Secretary and Personnel Manager are the primary signatories and the Education Coordinator and Finance Manager are the secondary signatory to the Provincial Education Account. The narrative and financial reporting rest with the programme holder, who is the Education and Training

Coordinator. He reports to the Archbishop, the Education Board and to Partners who contribute funds.

ECS Province and Dioceses have rapidly scaled up their development activities, particularly in the field of education since the signing of the CPA, responding to the need for effective engagement by trustworthy Sudanese civil society institutions to deliver basic services that have the buy-in and support of the people.

The Provincial Education team currently has six expatriate staff and one advisor providing capacity-building and management support to Education. The team consist of the following:

Rev. Emmanuel Lomoro – ECS Education Coordinator, Stephen Lubari- Training

ECS Education and Training Vision and Mission

Diocese of Juba Senior Secondary School

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Manager, Cicilia Moni- Finance ManagerRahila Yousef- Administrator, Emmanuel

Mundri - Building Supervisor, Solomon Manase- Logistic/Driver, Robin Watson - Advisor

ECS Education also has 16 well trained

Teachers Trainers, who are conducting Teachers training in the whole of Sudan. Those 16 trainers, 4 are for management training, where they train head teachers, county and payam education officers, PTA (Parent Teachers Association) and inspectors for the schools. 4 trainers are for pre-schools training and the other 8 trainers are for primary schools teachers training.

ECS education also has board of governed below are their names and functions:

Recent major projects undertaken by the Province and Dioceses include:

Teacher Training programme,funded by DfID Basic Services Fund:• ECS Province, as the implementing partner, in conjunction with World Relief, is delivering a programme of fast-track teacher training for teachers across Southern Sudan at a number of operationally challenging locations across Southern Sudan; 4 of 12 training courses have already been successfully delivered, and a further two are underway; the programme is on schedule to be completed in the 18 months January 2009 to June 2010Pre-school teachers: we also have received •support from Stromme Foundation Organization who is supporting us in the program of pre-school Teachers training. Recently we have training 50 pre-school teachers in Lainya Diocese and buy school stationeries and furniture to Rajaf Diocese Pre-school and are constructing two class rooms to Muro congregation who are

worshipping in Malakia Neighbourhood centre. Long term teachers training: we are training •12 teachers in YTTC (Yei Teachers Training College) run by ACROSS for a period of two years diploma program. This training of the 12 teachers where 7 of them came

from Nuba Mountain (Kadugli Diocese) and 2 from Port Sudan Diocese is support by Salisbury Diocese. School construction, With the support from DfID Basic

services Fund, we are constructing two schools in Yirol Diocese and one school in Ezzo Diocese, which include four class rooms, one office, one pit latrine with three doors, one store, one Kitchen and a fence respectively.

We have received funds from CMS office for construction and also for paying tuition fee for those teachers who are training in Yei.

In Upper Nile Cluster(Renk, Malakal and Bor Dioceses), ECS education is constructing schools, in partnership with Christian Aid and Lambeth Palace: this construction include delivering of respectively four classrooms, one pit latrine with three doors, one kitchen, one store, and a fences, and also training of PTA in the schools.

School feeding program,Partnership with World Food Programme:

within the last year Juba, Renk and Malakal Dioceses have successfully expanded ECS’ partnership with WFP to include all schools in feeding program.

CRE (Christian Religion Education) program,

CRE is the back bone of ECS education program; Most of the schools didn’t have trained CRE teachers. Many CRE lessons

are not getting taught in schools. Children in those schools says, many of their CRE teachers doesn’t know how to teach well, that their lessons are not relevant to their lives and that some of the teachers doesn’t demonstrate Christian faith in their own lives.

We have organised for one year program to address the above issues. In 2008 Jackline Noel (MA in Education) was recruited as the ECS CRE Manger, trainers were trained

and 160 CRE teachers have been trained in Khartoum, Port Sudan, Kassala and Gedarif.

The Ministry of Education has authorised the program by signing and stamping the training certificates and now acknowledges the teachers completing the training as certified CRE teachers.

It is an exciting breakthrough for the church in Red Sea State, Northern Sudan to be doing education services that has been officially recognised and endorsed. Currently, we are organising for CRE curricula workshop in Juba, which will

be follow by TOT (training of trainers in CRE) and training of CRE teachers in South Sudan Dioceses.

ECS Education is partnering with Tear Fund, Kerkinactie, and Barnabas Fund in sponsoring CRE training and curricula development.

Office capacity building:CMSI is supporting ECS education by

building the capacity of ECS Education Staffs and management.

Challenges Lack of insufficiency funds to build

concrete schools and also to meet the demand of the schools in the Dioceses: when we are talking about quality education in our church schools, it means good learning environment and well trained teachers, good management of school resources and good participation of parents, Government and church leadership for the existence of the schools.

ECS Education teachers’ trainers with Lainya county commissioner in pre-school teachers’ graduation

This means we need to train more teachers, build more concrete schools with all the facilities and manage the resources of the schools well. Therefore, the need is very high and the demand is still there, therefore, we arguing church friends and partners to help us to meet this demand.

In such a harsh environment like Sudan,

ECS Education and Training Board

Name Profession Function

Bishop Francis Loyo Bishop Chairman of board

Bishop Wilson Kamani Bishop Vice – Chairman of board

Rev. Emmanuel Lomoro Education Coordinator Secretary of board

Rev. Nathaniel Miji Diocesan Education Coordinator Diocesan Education Coordinator

Sylvester Juma Head teacher Head teacher

Lubari Stephen Training Manager Education professional

ECS Education and Training Vision and Mission

Continued to Page 8

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it is necessary that all the classrooms built with permanent materials and also having verandas which would protect the wall from the worst of the rain while also providing much needed shade from the sun for both children and teachers during breaks. This extra space will allow the possibility of more extracurricular activities which can continue in the afternoons while the classes are used for the adult literacy.

The schools need to have a perimeter fences to increase the security of the children while in school, particularly girls. School gardens is also important, it would not only provide supplementary food to the feeding programme and potential income generation through the sale of any excess produce but would give an opportunity for children to learn to grow produce which would reduce their food insecurity in the future. A fence at each school would allow a plot of land to be protected for cultivation inside. ECS Education planning to build fences in schools with help from partners and friends.

It is essential if ECS schools want to continue receiving food distributions from WFP, they may need to have latrines. Latrines

in schools also act as a model of good living where a child should have knowledge and access to such facilities so he/she can aspire to have and use them as an adult which would reduce risks of illnesses caused by lack of hygiene. All the schools implement programmes in hygiene awareness for the children to compliment this facility.ECS Education has put this as a high priority in every school construction.

Teachers salaries remain an issue for many ECS schools, in urban Dioceses the schools are able to charge fees and the diocese pays each teacher a small incentive each month, however, in rural Dioceses in particular, many parents are unable to pay fees.

This has meant some teachers are only able to work part time and leaves the schools ongoing viability uncertain. However, by assisting the church to run its schools well and by supporting the role of the Diocesan education coordinator they become stronger and more self sufficient.

ECS Education office is still negotiating with the Government of South Sudan to put Church school teachers in payroll. Also ECS education has open door for volunteer teachers from outside the country who are willing to come and volunteer to teach in those schools

and ECS education office will provide them with Accommodation.

Cultural Conflict remains a big problem to education in the dioceses. The tribal or clan war and cattle raiding in some areas is an issue. Many keep their children to care for the cattle; while others fear to send children that they will learn negative cultural things in the schools which will destroy their cultural, tradition and belief.

ECS schools played a particular role in keeping educational activity going during over 20 years of war. Education is a key to normalizing society by getting children and unskilled adults into school and providing basic skills, offering an alternative to early marriage, and widening economic opportunities beyond the traditional pastoralist activities which aren’t sufficient to sustain the existing population.

Conclusion ECS schools are community schools

not private schools and provide an indigenous service. Government schools do exist but the Government of South Sudan cannot build and

operate schools fast enough to meet the huge need for education in the country. ECS see their schools as a way of supporting and complementing the work being done by the government to provide education. ECS Education provides additional schools and also increases their sustainability. The benefits of the schools will be ongoing as the community recognise the need for them.

In conclusion we like to register our sincerely thanks to almighty God for the way fur he has brought us and for being so good to accomplish the task that he has call us into.

We will also like to give thanks to our Archbishop His Grace Dr. Daniel Deng bull for his wise administration of the church and support that he has render to education department. We pray that may the almighty God continue to guide and lead him in his term.

Lastly but not the least, we would to give our appreciation to all our Donors, partners and education friends who has being supporting education program in ECS, may the almighty God bless you and your organization as we continue to illiteracy in the Sudan and as we continue to promote quality education in this beloved country. May the good Lord bless us all, Amen.

ECS EduCation and training ViSion and MiSSion

Continued from Page 7

Education Trainees after receiving certificates

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By Moses Deng Bol

WAU, June 5 (Gurtong)-The Episcopal Church of the Sudan, Wau Diocese is set to

elect a new bishop to take over from the current bishop, Henry Cuir Riak who retires at the end of this month.

The Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS), the Most Rev Dr Daniel Deng Bul paid an official visit to the ECS Wau Diocese between Friday, 29 May and Wednesday 3 May 2009 to oversee the nomination of candidates to fill Bishop Riak’s position.

Archbishop Deng said that apart from the elections, the purpose of his visit was to meet with the congregation of Wau Diocese to find out from them what they had planned for Bishop Riak’s farewell ceremony.

The outgoing bishop received numerous gifts from the church and individuals including over 10 cows and several goats, a four-bed roomed house in Wau town and 10, 000 Sudanese Pounds and more contributions are expected from the remote Archdeaconries which had not received news about the bishop‘s retirement earlier due to communication challenges.

Archbishop Deng expressed his gratitude to the Christians in Wau Diocese for their generous send-off for the outgoing bishop, saying that it proved that South Sudanese are not as poor as many people outside Sudan believe.

“Thank you very much for your generous contributions. You have now proved that we, the South Sudanese, are not as poor as other people think because we are now able to support our retiring bishop without asking for assistance from outside Sudan”, said Archbishop Deng to the cheerful congregation inside Wau Cathedral.

During the archbishop’s presence in Wau, the diocesan general meeting popularly known as ‘Diocesan Synod’ where important matters concerning the dioceses are discussed, was held and attended by over 70 representatives from the 14 Archdeaconries of Wau Diocese.

Three contestants for the position of the Bishop of Wau Diocese were

nominated and their names forwarded to the Provincial Headquarters in Juba and according to the Archbishop, the three nominees will be elected in Juba by representatives from the 24 dioceses of the province of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan including Wau Diocese within 90 days from the day the Bishop retires, in accordance with the ECS Provincial Constitution.

Thereafter whoever wins the election will become the new Bishop of Wau Diocese.

In the election, each of the other 23 ECS Dioceses will be represented by three people who include the Diocesan Bishop, the Diocesan Secretary and the Treasurer, while Wau will be represented by 10 people including the three nominees who are all priests, the Bishop’s Commissary (caretaker bishop), the Diocesan Secretary, the Treasurer, the Chancellor and three unordained persons, who include a woman, a member of the church council and a youth representative.

The Archbishop was accompanied by the Bishop of Rokon Diocese and the Secretary to the house of the Bishops Rt Rev Francis

Loyo, the Bishop of Rumbek Diocese and the Chairperson of the Provincial SUDRA(Sudanese Development Agency/ Commission Rt Rev Alpayo Manyang as well as other church leaders.

The 5-day meeting kicked off with spiritual lessons as well as teaching on principles of servant leadership from Friday to Sunday while the nominations and other businesses were conducted on Monday and Tuesday.

During the visit, Archbishop Deng handed over a certificate of the newly-created Aweil Diocese, which was carved out of Wau Diocese.

The interim running of the diocese was handed over to a committee that was selected by Aweil residents pending the election of a new bishop.

Until the separation of Aweil Diocese this week, Wau Diocese was the largest diocese in the Sudan covering the three States of Western Bahr el Ghazal, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap and Abyei area.

The Episcopal Church of the Sudan is a member of Anglican Communion with an estimated 5 million followers in the Sudan.

Wau Diocese of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan Gears up for Election of New Bishop

Archbishop Deng arrives at Aweil

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Since the 4th ECS Archbishop, The Most Revd. Canon Dr. Daniel Deng Bul Yak took charge of the Province,

more than a year now, he has toured the whole of the Southern States where ECS dioceses are located, he paid a visit to the Diocese of Wau which took him to Awiel and Abyei where he spoke for the need of peace and co-existence among the Sudanese masses, whether Muslins or Christians. Telling them that God has put you in the Sudan, knowing as tribes and people of different religions, why quarrel or fight among yourselves?

After having completed the tour of Southern Sudan ECS dioceses, the next leg of his visit would be to the Northern States where four dioceses are enshrined namely, Khartoum, port Sudan, El-Obeid and Kaduguli to explain his new policies for the ten years he would be in office as Archbishop and Primate of the Sudan.

His Grace the Most Rev. Canon Dr. Daniel Deng Bul Yak, Archbishop and Primate of the Province of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan and Bishop of Juba, made an official visit to the Diocese of Wau between 27th and 29th May 2009. The diocese covers the three Southern dioceses of Western Bahr El-Ghazal, Northern Bahr El-Ghazal and Warrab, plus the Abyei Administrative Area.

Together with a large delegation consisting of three bishops: Rt. Rev. Henry Cuir of Wau, Rt. Rev. Francis Loyo of Rokon, Rt. Rev. Alpaya Manyang of Rumbek, ECS provincial Staff, Partners and Donors representatives, all travelled by chartered aircraft from Juba, covering the towns of Wau, Aweil and Abyei in just three days.

The reasons for visiting were in the first hand firstly to meet with the Anglicans of the mainly Roman Catholic area and show the care of the Province for them after years of poor Episcopal oversight; secondly to visit Aweil, which has been approved by the ECS General Synod of 2006as a new diocese but is as yet not inaugurated; and thirdly to specifically visit the infamous town of Abyei, show solidarity with all its people whether Muslim or Christians, and see personally what the Church can do for the peace process there.

The Archbishop, who recently appealed to the International Community in Sudan to thrown their weight behind the full

implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), has been keen to visit Abyei for several months and lend the ECS’ voice to those calling for the local people to put differences aside for the peace and unity of the whole country. Representatives of ECS/SUDRA, ECS Education & Training, ECS Agriculture Office, the Joint Donor Team (JDT), Christian Aid and Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) UK joined the Sudanese Primate to witness the visit for themselves and get an idea of the problems facing the Sudanese people in these areas.

On arrival in Wau on Wednesday 27th, His Grace and the delegation proceeded to the Western Bahr el Ghazal State Secretariat to greet the Governor, H.E. Lt. General Mark Nyipoc, who welcomed them to Wau, pledging his support to the Church in peace and development work. His Grace replied that it is the duty of humans to protect peace given by God, and that the Church was ready to assist the government in both peace building and development. Later that afternoon the party flew to Aweil, and were welcomed by senior ECS clergy and the NBeG Minister of Religious Affairs.

On the morning of Thursday 28th, the delegation paid an official visit to the Governor, H.E. Maj. Gen. Paul Malong, who welcomed the visitors and stressed the importance of the right to justice for all – justice by the laws of the State and the laws of God. He emphasised the fact that Southern Sudan had never been totally defeated by the North, in search for their rights in power and wealth sharing and that therefore whilst the International Community did have a vital role to play in the implementation of the CPA as His Grace has appealed to the Sudanese people themselves to solve their own problems.

His Grace then went to Aweil ECS Church, where he viewed preparations for the construction of a Cathedral and addressed the people on the importance of being true Christian peace builders in their communities and their neighbours.

The team then flew to Agok on the Southern border of Abyei Administrative Area (AAA), where they were welcomed by the Executive Director for Agok County, stressing the Christian message of peace building to “turn the other cheek” to enemies. The delegation was then driven in a motorcade of government vehicles to Abyei town, an hour’s drive to the North, where his first spot of call was the Abyei Administrative Area Headquarters, to be welcomed by Deputy Chief Administrator Rahama Abderhman Al Nur.

The Archbishop stressed the importance of Abyei to the CPA and the Sudanese peace process as a whole, citing it as an example of Sudan’s peace problems in microcosm, saying

that “if Abyei is peaceful, the whole Sudan will be peaceful”. He emphasised that both parties in the conflict are accountable to God, but that petty politics has led to the suffering of thousands of innocent people in and around Abyei town.

Various government officials highlighted their predicaments to His Grace, the Speaker of the AAA Legislative Assembly said that Abyei had never had a government before the CPA and the 2008 Abyei Road Map. The SPLM Secretary said that whilst AAA

“If Abyei is peaceful, the whole Sudan will be peaceful" Says Archbishop Deng Bul

His Grace and the Governor of NBeG State Secretariat, Aweil

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was formed by the people it has no resources to serve the people with basic services, and appealed to the Church to bring development and pressure on the Government of National Unity (GoNU) in Khartoum for more development in Abyei.

The Secretary for Physical Infrastructure criticised the Donors attitude at without a guaranteed peace, no funding for development is forthcoming; appealing to the Church and to Emily Alexander, the JDT representative, to assist with small-scale basic services for the people whilst the politicians try to thrash out a solution for the area.

The Deputy Chief Administrator highlighted the need for the Church to pray

for the people of Abyei and to care for the people in the absence of government support and in the period of an uncertain peace.

The Archbishop then proceeded to the site of the former ECS church and school, both of which were destroyed in the May 2008 violence in Abyei. Against the moving backdrop of the remnants of the school, a settlement under temporary arrangements for sheltering displaced people.

The Archbishop lamented the wanton destruction of the school. He appealed to the ECS’ partners to contribute to

its immediate reconstruction, asking the government to ensure that the Church was not prevented from fulfilling its duty to care for all the people and to grant the Church land for further development.

Speaking specifically to encourage the local ECS congregation, who had still turned out in good numbers to welcome him, the Archbishop continued by saying that the land of Abyei had been given by God to the people, so the people should respect God’s wish and live together in harmony, calling Abyei a

“bridge of peace” between Muslims and Christians, Misseriya and Dinka. He said that God would reward the strength of the people of Abyei, and that Church development would be for all people, irrespective of ethnicity, politics or religion.

Finally, he said that God would punish those who had perpetrated violence and destruction and any who might do so in the future – whoever they might be. He alluded specifically to the destruction of the church building saying “those who have burnt the house of God have burnt their lives”.

The delegation then proceeded to the UNMIS Sector VI Abyei Headquarters, where His Grace met with the newly arrived Head of Office Mark Rutgers and the Sector Commander – the former giving a short overview of the UN’s mandate in Abyei and the latter providing excellent details of the situation on the ground throughout the AAA, from the perspective of the UNMIS peacekeeping force.

UNMIS reiterated the government’s call on the Church to assist with bringing the “incentives of peace” – basic services – to the people of Abyei, and warned against getting involved in the hugely complicated politics of the area and instead stressing the “commonality of man”, especially as many on the “northern” side of the conflict see the Church as part of the problem.

The Sector Commander highlighted just how few resources UNMIS and the local Sudanese Joint Integrated Units (JIUs) of

army personnel have in their battle to keep the peace in the “Road Map Area” – often no more that a few pick up trucks – a sobering thought for those who continuously berate the UN and military for not doing enough.

His Grace closed with a further appeal to the UN as the lead international agency in Abyei for more protection of the peace agreement, stressing that only fear of international accountability will force the Sudanese into peace, and emphasising the UN’s duty to protect the innocents of Sudan, who without peace will die at the hands of their own politicians.

On Friday morning the delegation returned to Agok and flew to Lietnhom, Warrab State, where His Grace quickly viewed some ECS development success stories – a primary school, secondary school and community bank, all of which have been well established after several years of partnership with INGOs such as ALARM, World Relief, World Concern and Five Talents. The Archbishop commented that such development must be brought to Abyei by the Church, though this could well take several years just as it has done in Lietnhom.

After a stop of just an hour, the delegation returned to Wau, His Grace being greeted again by the children of ECS Sunday Basic School. The Archbishop stayed in Wau to conduct diocesan business. The delegation returned to Juba on Wednesday 3rd June 2009.

His Grace meets Deputy chief administrator Rahama of AAA HQ, Abyei

“If Abyei is peaceful, the whole Sudan will be peaceful" Says Archbishop Deng Bul

His Grace and the Governor of NBeG State Secretariat, Aweil

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Throughout his tours in the dioceses of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan, Dr. Deng had always been

having a message to the Sudanese people to reconcile, forgive each other and enjoy the fruits of co-existence brought about by the CPA ending the bitter war between North-south for more than two decades.

This time, the Easter Message was delivered and announced to the Sudanese people and beyond in Jongeli State visiting Bor Diocese which took him from 8th - 17th April 2009 talking and preaching to the people on matters of peace and spreading the Gospel of Christ through the Decade of evangelism when he became the 4th ECS archbishop on 20th April 2008.

His Grace the Archbishop Dr. Deng delivered his Xmas message on the Eve of 25th December 2008 in Juba through Radio, television and the print media both national and international Newspapers.

Isaiah 55:1-11 Colossians 3:1-11 Mark 16:1-8

I greet you all in the name of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and especially greet all ECS members across the whole Sudan. Halleluiah, Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, Halleluiah! A very happy Easter to you all.

Isaiah 55, v.3 - “Listen now, my people,

and come to me. Come to me and you will have life. I will make a lasting covenant with you and give you the blessings I promised to David.”

Colossians 3, v.9 - “Do not lie to one another for you have taken off the old self with its habits, and you have put on a new self, and you are a new being.”

Luke 8, v.6 - “’Do not be alarmed’, he said. 7 know you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is not here. He has been raised from the dead. Now go and give this message to his disciples. He is going to Galilee ahead of you, there you will see him, just as he told you

St. Paul said that we should accept the risen Christ, and in so doing “put on our new selves”, allowing Christ to live in us so that He can shape us into what we should be.

Lying to one another disrupts unity by destroying trust, and tears down relationships, potentially leading to serious conflict. As Christians we must therefore refrain from this behaviour. We should not exaggerate statistics, or pass rumors, or gossip, or try to build up our own images, but instead tell the absolute truth on every occasion.

Christians are not excluded from Christ by barriers of nationality, race, education

levels, social standing, wealth, gender or power - Christ breaks down all barriers and accepts all people who come to Him, for Christ died for sins once and for all, for the righteous and the unrighteous.

Christ was put to death in the body, but made alive again by the Spirit. Jesus’ resurrection is the key to the Christian faith, as the bodily resurrection of Christ shows us that the living Christ is truly alive as God, and not a failed prophet. Jesus’ resurrection makes our own resurrection possible, and we can look forward to our new lives this Easter. Christ’s resurrection demonstrates that the divine power that brought Jesus back from the dead is now available to all of us -to bring our spiritually-dead selves back to life. Resurrection is the basis of the Church’s witness to the world, as without Christ’s resurrection the Church has no message to give to the world. Through His death and resurrection, Christ has reconciled mankind with God, so that we may enjoy our new lives in Christ, united through His death and resurrection. Our evil desires, our bondage to sin, and our love of sin died with Christ.

We must be faithful to Christ; and if we are faithful to Christ we must be faithful to the nation, as the nation is a community of united people living in love and peace with one another. The freedom we have today was bought with the lives of 2 million people and the life of the late Dr. John Garang. But our communities are still not united - they are sick, and we need to uproot the diseases that are infecting them such as tribalism, corruption and nepotism. We are called to be holy because God is holy and Jesus is the Gate of Salvation. Christ offers us His safety and security if we are firm in the faith, love one another and bring peace to our peoples. Christians must be the light of the world, shining like stars in the darkness, so that we can achieve the goals of our nation. Let us throw away tribalism, corruption and hatred as we the new are born again and put on our new selves.

We have crossed the river. We are the new tribe of God joined together by deep and unchanging loyalty and friendships. There is now no time for compromise -we must strengthen the weak and heal the wounds of the injured. Let us pray for our country.

EASTER WORLD WIDE MESSAGE TO THE FAITHFUL OF SUDAN AND BEYOND BY ECS ARCHBISHOP AND PRIMATE, CANON DR. DANIEL DENG BUL YAK,

UNDER THE THEME: “JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN TO RECONCILE US TO GOD"

Archbishop Deng Bul

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Let us not shame the fallen heroes who sacrificed themselves on our behalf so that we might enjoy and peaceful, free nation. The only gift we can give back to them is peace, justice, equality and unity amongst our people

However, at present the conflicts within our people are delaying the process of peace-building. Quarrelling over land and cattle is causing us to continue fighting in Sudan. This is a betrayal of this land and our heroes who fought for us to enjoy it. We are not safeguarding our country or re-paying our heroes, but are continuing to destroy our country.

I am here by appealing to all •Christians in the Sudan to take Christ’s words of peace and unity seriously, recognise the Gospel mandate, and to take the lead in bringing peace back to our land. This will be our thanksgiving to God for reconciling us to Him through His only Son’s resurrection this Easter.We seek to work according to the •Grace of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit. I am appealing to our communities that tribalism has become a major concern in our nation, and that if we are not very careful it will destroy the unity of our country. The division of people along ethnic lines is a very dangerous weapon that can be used against our communities by the enemies of peace.The urgent priority of the Church •is the proclamation of the Gospel message of love and mutual respect for one another as created in God’s image, as we affirm our unity in diversity.The Church appeals to the Dinka, •Nuer, Murle and Anyuak in Jonglei State to stop the unnecessary killing of innocent men, women and children. What you are doing is against God. You are but heaping the burning coals on the heads of yourselves, and in the end you will harvest the result of your actions. We consider your actions against the peace and you to be enemies of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The people of Southern Sudan will not forgive you for your actions, and we will pray to God that those enemies of Southern Sudan within you are exposed and deal with accordingly by the authorities.

We appeal to the Dinka Agar, Dinka •Ngok and Jur in Lakes State that your quarrelling is delaying the true development of your State and your nation by causing great instability. The Church accuses you to God as responsible if the CPA is not properly implemented because of the insecurity you have created in your State.We appeal to the politicians to remember •

that political power is a gift from God and the people. If you misuse it for your personal gain and cast hatred in the communities you will be responsible before God and the people of His Church.We appeal to the Government of •Southern Sudan (GoSS) to address the following problems as the cause of instability in our nation:

Cattle raidingExcess drinkingTraumatisation of our people

Imported cultures We appeal the Government of Southern •Sudan to allow the religious leaders to be involved in the monitoring of the forthcoming elections and referendum between now and 2011 - for fair and transparent polls that will produce good governance for our people.

Let us pray to you, the Lord, the Shepherd of my people We remain without care. Come and rescue the people of Sudan, come and strengthen the weak, heal the sick and bind up the injured. Help us to uncover and revoke those that are destroying the CPA, those that are stealing cattle and those that are abusing their political power and wealth. Lord Jesus, protect this country and let her live in love, peace and unity, for ever and ever. Amen

EASTER WORLD WIDE MESSAGE TO THE FAITHFUL OF SUDAN AND BEYOND BY ECS ARCHBISHOP AND PRIMATE, CANON DR. DANIEL DENG BUL YAK,

UNDER THE THEME: “JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN TO RECONCILE US TO GOD"

Members of Mothers Union

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By Justin Lotio WaniMission and Evangelism Coordinator

Mission and Evangelism Office of the Episcopal Church of The Sudan was born in 2000 when

the emergence Synod was held in Kenya and Rev. Canon Nelson K Nyombe was made the coordinator of Evangelism ,worship and liturgy . But in 2002, the two Offices were divided and Nelson was made to head Worship and Liturgy, while Mission and Evangelism was assigned to Justin Lotio to head it.

Since then, the Office had coordinated a lot of activities in Juba in particular and South Sudan in general. In this year together with the Revival Movement, supported by the International Team of Canada and the Christian Horizon were equipped to train Church planters in Kajo Keji, Yei, Lainya, Mundri and Juba

In each of these Dioceses, thirty (30) Church planters were trained. And in Kajo Keji the Church planters managed to reach up to an average of 100 contact persons and an average of 10 converts in two(2) months only.

We believe that Evangelism is the cutting edge of mission. Our vision for the spread of the gospel, recruitment, training and sending of laborers for the ongoing task of

mission is thus:-

VISION:To see a reconciled and transformed

communities of Sudanese People in Jesus Christ.

MISSION:To promote the supremacy of the great

commission.

OBJECTIVES:Deepening of Christian faith through •discipleship.Bringing people to Christ through •Evangelism and outreach programmes.Building Capacity of •evangelists and Missioners. STRATEGY:

The ECS is committed to follow up these issues with advocacy and Envangelism and today proclaims the following Ten year strategy.

Establishment of a provincial •Evangelism Team(PET) as well as diocesan Evangelism.Conducting Evangelism •campaigns across Sudan.Establishment of an FM Radio •Station for Evangelism.Establishment of a School of •Evangelism.Establishment of a regular •

Evangelism articles in the ECS quarterly Newsletter (Voice of the Gospel).Mobilize Dioceses to support mission •and evangelism.Equip the Church with advanced skills •on Mission and Evangelism.

Mobilisation of laity for prayer, •Evangelism and missions in the Church.

Intensive Biblical teaching in the •Churches and institutions.

PROBLEMS.Harmful traditional and external •

practices, such as cults, corruption and violence

Many congregations and their •leaders are unable to move forward because of the absence of vision and hope for the future.

The majority of tribes •in the Sudan have still not heard the gospel.

Nominal Christian•Unreached Communities/•

Societies ACTIVITIES

To organize 3 weeks training •workshop to 40 Evangelists in each Diocese.

To organize 2 weeks training •workshop on ways of combating harmful traditional practices twice a year for 50 Evangelists and 50 pastorsDevelop/ improve training materials •for training Diocesan mission& Evangelism coordinatorsTrain the Diocesan mission & evangelism •coordinators in Evangelism & and discipleship.Establish Church planters centers in •all unreached areasChurch planter Coordinator at the •Diocesan office

Mission And Evangelism Activities In The Year 2009

Eve Justin with church planters in Mundri

Eve Justin preaching in Konyokonyo Market

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Closing Remarks at the end of Church planters workshop in Mundri on 29th March 2009

Opened with the word of God from the Diocesan Secretary of Mundri Diocese, then speech from Revival Leader in Mundri and other speeches. Lastly but not the least Speech of Ngalamu college on behalf of the Diocesan Bishop who was away for other duties, and He said “Judges 3:31 you are shamgar who has killed many Palestine with a useless weapon. God has put something into your hand as weapon to pace the devil. These three days seminar will mean three years work .you have all passed, no one failed. There are

three grades (1) All of you are passed (2) you are sending out, (3) grading of Individuals by your life style. You will be watched by the communities and the Church. All individual living in the Land of Sudan need

to be preached to, we need to plant the word of God in the hearts of the people.” He concluded by this saying: If education is expensive, try ignorance-Ignorance is more expensive than education.

Mission And Evangelism Activities In The Year 2009

Tearfund is an inter Anglican Organization for Aid Relief and Change on project cycle

Management based in UK.From 28th - 31st March 2009 they

conducted a workshop at Episcopal Church of the Sudan Conference Hall in Juba, a workshop for senior Leaders for Christian Resources for Social and Economic Development in society which was officially opened by the ECS Archbishop, Canon Dr. Daniel Deng Bul Yak.

Dr. Bul told the participants that the Church of the Sudan needs to be transparent, sustainable with clear direction, respected by those inside and outside.

Ready to face challenges of war, hunger, inter-religious conflicts, Tribalism warfare and that who comes to Jesus Christ is part of the society with a new vision of a new Sudan. We should focus on two keys, agriculture and land for utilization of investments objectives.

Investment in most cases should be in your nearest resources like cattle, fish, handcrafts, land and many other businesses.

That you need your own people who have the potentials who can be equipped to be the entrepreneurs. With 25% of the population you must have 200 - 300 people naturally gifted by God who can take these business

forward Says Vinary Samuel.Collin Timms says, that enterprise in

making the best of what you do with anything you have. Destabilized environment and armed conflicts can create a situation or reason not to have any development.

But you should not give up when an opportunity knocks to build everything that your community needs. Business requires discipline, a need for deferred gratification

that means building up of the capital.That problems of developing Communities

is said to be hand to mouth existence. Hand to mouth is instant gratification. Timms giving an example said that many Christian run hospitals like a hand to mouth existence. Main principal of business(s) is to build a corpus a reserve.

To maintain productivity is to apply the motto of firing people who do not conform to the standards of productivity and are unable to cope with requirements of the organization or Church Ministry.

He said that Pastors are not guardians of the business practices. They are guardians of ethics. It should be done with honesty to benefit the poor. Pastor should be a spiritual guide. It is very difficult for him to collect money back at difficult times due to the fact that of conflict of interest.

The relationship of the Church and business is that the Church should behave as the owner and dictate of how the business should be done run.

Owners want the best performance and want to see the best return on their best investment to avert would be conflict of interest and shake the business to fail its aims that it has been established to assist the poor, the needy and the owners to plan for more progress in the production spheres

Tearfund Holds Senior Leaders Workshop On Project Cycle Management

Eve Justin preaching in Konyokonyo Market

Church Planters Group Photo

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The Episcopal church of the Sudan Diocese of Torit is a diocese with many neighbors.

Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, The Diocese of Kajokeji, The Diocese of Rejaf and the Diocese of Bor.

When a neighbor is suffering from natural and man made disaster, the effect is strongly

felt by each other. 85 parishioners from Parishes of the

Diocese of Torit attended a parish need assessment meeting in Torit.

In the Parish committee brainstorming and need assessment meeting held in Torit from June 6th to June 7th 2009, a meeting which was punctuated by ordination of:

13 Deacons and 5 pastors on June 7th, 2009.

The most remarkable incident reported was of hunger all over the diocese.

In Owinykibul 2 elders starved to death, and the situation is deteriorating. It is not only in Owinykibul that the threat of starvation is experienced. Rain has been very irregular in most of the parts of the diocese. Unless otherwise assisted, the members of this diocese, most of whom are returnees will suffer drastically.

The Diocese of Torit held a three days HIV/AIDS Workshop in Torit Town.

85 participants attended an intensive HIV/AIDS workshop in Torit town from June 8th to June 10th 2009..

This is the first workshop of its kind held to the church ministers in this diocese.

The participants in their practical work stormed Torit town with enlightenment campaign which attracted many volunteers to come for Voluntary Testing.

The parishioners will continue to launch special campaigns in their respective parishes as directed by the workshop.

The workshop was facilitated by Doctor Kattie of the Church of Uganda and two other Doctors from Gulu University.

The department of worship and Liturgy was established in the ECS General Synod of 2000 held in Limuru Kenya on 11th-13th February 2000.

The purpose of the department is to consolidate and unite the liturgy of ECS in the Anglican church of Sudan.

The total vision of the department is to see that the Episcopal church of the Sudan Dioceses in general can glorify God and worshiping him faithfully, the music and prayers should motivate the whole life of a believer in daily life.

The department to exist as a means to extend Gods kingdom through prayers and unified organized spiritual hymnals to all the communities of the Anglican province of the Sudan.

The goal and objectives is to produce Diary for daily readings, Hymnal that can encourage the Christian life printed and to provide the revival book of liturgy to Christians in the following their prayers and meditations.

The church in general is facing types of

difficulties of finances. This department in truth is the blood stream of our faith but it has no support, has documents not printed out, but we are in prayer it will be one day a priority

Documents pending prints.1. Funeral prayer.2. The Reconciliation Prayer.3. Provincial Universal Prayer.4. The silver Jubillee Prayer.5. The Eucharistic Prayer.6. The morning and Evening Devotions.7. Adult Baptism.8. Easter statement and Cross Prayer.9. The Memorial Prayer.10. Dedication of Building Prayer.11 The consecration.Why do we want to renew the liturgy? We

in some of our Dioceses still use 1661 Book of Common Prayer, others are borrowing the neighbors.

Therefore the department is to encourage that, the whole activities of prayers in the province of Sudan are to focus on the form of liturgy that encourages spiritual and social and social renewal of Christian life, at the same we need the worship that shapes and universe the whole life of a believer in general daily life.

Worship and Liturgy News

Focus on Diocese of Torit

By Rev. Canon Nelson K Nyumbe

Assistant Bishop of Torit Diocese Bishop Paul Yugusuk with Christians

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Terekeka County lies North of Juba town and the majority of the inhabitants are the Mundari Tribe

they had an Area and now it has become the 25th Diocese of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan followed by two newly created Dioceses out of the old Rumbek Diocese that means ECS has 27 Dioceses. The two are Pacong and Akot in Lakes State.

The new Diocese of Terekeka held its first Synod in January 2009 which was inaugurated by His Grace the ECS Archbishop the Most Rev. Canon Dr. Daniel Deng Bui Yak after having met the necessary conditions to create a Diocese as laid down by the ECS 08th General Synod in January 2006 at All Saints Cathedral Juba.

These conditions are: A House for the Bishop,A Car for the Bishop,And an Office for Diocesan Administration.

An Amount of 10,000 SDG deposited in the Bank to start Development projects.

Addressing the Synod the ECS Archbishop

Dr. Deng read Romans 12:1-8 and told the congregation of the inaugural Diocesan Synod that: We welcome the Diocese of Terekeka into the family of ECS Dioceses.

That there should be people committed to the ECS as there is a lot of work to be done in the Church Ministry. he said”

That there is a need for quality education, health, hospitals and schools must be established by the Church as Terekeka has become a full Diocese being headed by Rt. Rev. Micah L. Dawoudi the former Assistant Bishop of Juba Diocese.

Dr. Bul told the synod he would like to see and know the capacity or strength of the Diocese of who are the Clergy and Mothers Union members.

Other Dioceses that have been inaugurated include:

Pacong•Akot•Twic East•Aweil•

New Dioceses Inaugurated

His Grace is welcomed into Terekeka

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By Nicholas Ramsden

On the weekend of 2nd-3rd May 2009 His Grace Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul conducted

an official visit to the Diocese of Lainya in Central Equatoria State. The primary purpose of the visit was to rededicate St. Lazarus’

Cathedral, Lainya, which has recently been renovated with assistance from the American NGO Samaritan’s Purse. However, His Grace also took time to visit various camps of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), a new clinic being set up with assistance from CMS Ireland, the site of Lainya Vocational Training Institute (LVTI) which is today being slowly reconstructed, and the site of the new planned Cathedral for Lainya, where the Archbishop prayed over the foundation stone.

On entering the Diocese of Lainya at

around 11am on Saturday 2nd May, His Grace was met on the road by a welcoming

party that included Bishop Peter Amidi of Lainya, H.E. Sabu Samuel, the Commissioner of Lainya County, senior diocesan clergy and Mothers’ Union members. The delegation proceeded to the nearby barracks of an SPLA Commando unit, where His Grace was welcomed by the commanding officers and chaplains from both the Bahr El-Ghazal and

Equatoria regions. His Grace gave a short address, talking of the need for the troops to be good Christians, defending their country and their communities against all enemies.

From there, His Grace proceeded to

Lainya, stopping at one other small parish en route, where he prayed for the community in their small Samaritan’s Purse built church. Following lunch in the bishop’s compound in Lainya, the delegation proceeded to Loka to visit the IDP camps of people displaced following attacks on their villages by the LRA in February 2009. At Loka Round, where there is a new permanent primary school and Samaritan’s Purse church, there

are 297 displaced households and 1,652 displaced people. His Grace took the time

to walk amongst the tukuls and tarpaulins, and prayed especially over a very sick woman in her hut. He promised a gift of 2,000 SDG from ECS Province for the people to purchase tools and seed for cultivating their own food.

Proceeding to Bereka, we visited

a second camp of 225 displaced households with 756 people, where the Archbishop gave a short address and prayers, promising another 2,000 SDG for the people there. At a third settlement, Lukurubang, there are 182 displaced households with 658 people.

Returning to Lainya Town, His Grace

visited a brand new health centre, not yet open, constructed by CMS Ireland and receiving technical assistance from John and Poppy Spens, the CMSI representatives and project managers from Winchester, UK, based in Yei. The clinic will be opening in June 2009, and is modelled as a smaller version of the excellent ECS Martha Clinic in Yei, also assisted by CMSI.

From here, the delegation moved

on to the site of the former LVTI, today a collection of derelict buildings without roofs, but amongst which new building are now being constructed, with assistance from Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), USA. A new administration block is near completion, and a workshop has been half-renovated. However, Bishop Peter informed us that funding is now running out for the work, and was lamenting the fact that further donations have not been forthcoming. Although the

new buildings are good, it was not entirely evident that full forward-planning had been done in the renovation of LVTI, especially in regard to staffing and equipment after the buildings are in place.

Finally, His Grace walked up to the small

hill that overlooks the current Cathedral and bishop’s compound to the site of the proposed new Cathedral, which will sit on top of the hill, opposite the Offices of the Commissioner, that sit on top of an adjacent hill. As rain started to fall, His Grace prayed over the foundation stone, asking God to bless the site and to assist His people in building a new house for His glory in Lainya.

Archbishop’s visit to the Diocese of Lainya, 2nd-3rd May 2009

Viewing the new CMSI health centre in the diocese of Lainya

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Re-dedication of St. Lazarus’ Cathedral, Sunday 3rd May 2009

On Sunday morning, His Grace preached and celebrated at a service of re-dedication in Lainya

Cathedral, beginning outside the west doors, hitting them three times with his crosier, and praying that the newly renovated building be for the glory of God. After processing into church, His Grace explained why the “re-dedication” was necessary – to re-sanctify the building after its damage and defilement in the war – before dedicating the building, altar and pulpit through prayer. This was followed by prayers over newly donated musical instruments – drums, guitars and a sound system – by Bishop Peter Amidi.

His Grace preached on homecoming and peace, saying the renovated Cathedral was a symbol of resurrection and unity for the people of Lainya. Throughout the war, the church stood as a sign of the solidarity of the people, and as a rock against which the enemies of Christianity could not prevail. He compared the return of the people to Lainya to the return of the Israelites to Jerusalem, led by Nehemiah, who rebuilt the temple and united his people. He said the Southern Sudanese had been rewarded for

their years of struggle by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), and that it was now the duty of all to safeguard it, not to fight amongst themselves, and concentrate of the development of the people. If people act like this, they will be blessed by God.

The Archbishop then stressed the need for people to be “real” Christians, actively

working for peace, countering the agenda of those who would destroy the peace, looking outside themselves and beyond petty differences, and preparing the people for the elections and referendum. Finally he cautioned against being convinced to vote in any certain direction by the promise of material gain, and stressed that each person had the right to intelligently choose their own leaders who would truly serve the people. He said that the Church would pray for those that were dividing the community – that they should repent, change their ways and work for their nation.

Following the service there were sundry speeches, notably from the MP for Lainya on the need to be united and vigilant Southern nationalists in the face of the corruption of the CPA by many in Khartoum; the Chief Justice of Lainya County who openly called for a vote for Southern independence; and the County Commissioner, who thanked His Grace for his message of “Christian patriotism”, and urged the Church to fully participate in Dr. John Garang’s vision of “bringing the town to the villages” through development. He offered ECS land in Lainya for health and higher education

projects. Fundraising was held for the new

Cathedral, during which around 12,000 SDG, 500 GBP, 150 USD and 12 zinc sheets were donated. A meal followed the service, before the provincial delegation set off for Juba.

Pro-Cathedral of Lainya Diocese

The Archbishop prays over the Foundation Stone of the Proposed New Cathedral

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Theme: Jesus died and rose again to reconcile us to God

Isaiah 55:1-11 Colossians 3:1-11 Mark 16:1-8I greet you all in the name of Our Lord and

Saviour Jesus Christ and especially greet all ECS members across the whole Sudan.

Halleluiah, Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, Halleluiah!

A very happy Easter to you all.Isaiah 55, v.3 – “Listen now, my people, and come

to me. Come to me and you will have life. I will make a lasting covenant with you and give you the blessings I promised to David.”

Colossians 3, v.9 – “Do not lie to one another for

you have taken off the old self with its habits, and you have put on a new self, and you are a new being.”

Luke 8, v.6 – “’Do not be alarmed’, he said. ‘I know you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is not here. He has been raised from the dead. Now go and give this message to his disciples. He is going to Galilee ahead of you, there you will see him, just as he told you.’”

St. Paul said that we should accept the risen Christ, and in so doing “put on our new selves”, allowing Christ to live in us so that He can shape us into what we should be.

Lying to one another disrupts unity by destroying trust, and tears down relationships, potentially

leading to serious conflict. As Christians we must therefore refrain from this behaviour. We should not exaggerate statistics, or pass rumours, or gossip, or try to build up our own images, but instead tell the absolute truth on every occasion.

Christians are not excluded from Christ by barriers of nationality, race, education levels, social standing, wealth, gender or power – Christ breaks down all barriers and accepts all people who come to Him, for Christ died for sins once and for all, for the righteous and the unrighteous.

Christ was put to death in the body, but made alive again by the Spirit. Jesus’ resurrection is the key to the Christian faith, as the bodily resurrection of

thE EpiSCopal ChurCh of Sudan arChbiShop’S EaStEr MESSagE to thE faithful of Sudan april"09

Archbishop Deng Bul

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thE EpiSCopal ChurCh of Sudan arChbiShop’S EaStEr MESSagE to thE faithful of Sudan april"09

Christ shows us that the living Christ is truly alive as God, and not a failed prophet. Jesus’ resurrection makes our own resurrection possible, and we can look forward to our new lives this Easter. Christ’s resurrection demonstrates that the divine power that brought Jesus back from the dead is now available to all of us – to bring our spiritually-dead selves back to life.

Resurrection is the basis of the Church’s witness to the world, as without Christ’s resurrection the Church has no message to give to the world. Through His death and resurrection, Christ has reconciled mankind with God, so that we may enjoy our new lives in Christ, united through His death

and resurrection. Our evil desires, our bondage to sin, and our love of sin died with Christ.

We must be faithful to Christ; and if we are faithful to Christ we must be faithful to the nation, as the nation is a community of united people living in love and peace with one another. The freedom we have today was bought with the lives of 2 million people and the life of the late Dr. John Garang.

But our communities are still not united – they are sick, and we need to uproot the diseases that are infecting them such as tribalism, corruption and nepotism. We are called to be holy because God is holy and Jesus is the Gate of Salvation. Christ offers us His safety and security if we are firm in the faith, love one another and bring peace to our peoples. Christians must be the light of the world, shining like stars in the darkness, so that we can achieve the goals of our nation. Let us throw away tribalism, corruption and hatred as we the new are born again and put on our new selves.

We have crossed the river. We are the new tribe of God joined together by deep and unchanging loyalty and friendships. There is now no time for compromise – we must strengthen the weak and heal the wounds of the injured. Let us pray for our country. Let us not shame the fallen heroes who sacrificed themselves on our behalf so that we might enjoy and peaceful, free nation. The only gift we can give back to them is peace, justice, equality and unity amongst our people.

However, at present the conflicts within our people are delaying the process of peace-building. Quarrelling over land and cattle is causing us to continue fighting in Sudan. This is a betrayal of this land and our heroes who fought for us to enjoy it. We are not safeguarding our country or re-paying our heroes, but are continuing to destroy our country.•IamherebyappealingtoallChristiansinthe

Sudan to take Christ’s words of peace and unity seriously, recognise the Gospel mandate, and to take the lead in bringing peace back to our land. This will be our thanksgiving to God for reconciling us to Him through His only Son’s resurrection this Easter. •WeseektoworkaccordingtotheGraceofGod

and in the power of the Holy Spirit. I am appealing to our communities that tribalism has become a major concern in our nation, and that if we are not very careful it will destroy the unity of our country. The division of people along ethnic lines is a very dangerous weapon that can be used against our communities by the enemies of peace. • The urgent priority of the Church is the

proclamation of the Gospel message of love and mutual respect for one another as created in God’s image, as we affirm our unity in diversity.

•TheChurchappealstotheDinka,Nuer,Murleand Anuak in Jonglei State to stop the unnecessary killing of innocent men, women and children. What you are doing is against God. You are but heaping the burning coals on the heads of yourselves, and in the end you will harvest the result of your actions. We consider your actions against the peace and you to be enemies of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The people of Southern Sudan will not forgive you for your actions, and we will pray to God that those enemies of Southern Sudan within you are exposed and deal with accordingly by the authorities. •WeappealtotheDinkaAgar,DinkaGokandJur

in Lakes State that your quarrelling is delaying the true development of your State and your nation by causing great instability. The Church accuses you to God as responsible if the CPA is not properly implemented because of the insecurity you have created in your State. •Weappeal to thepoliticians to remember that

political power is a gift from God and the people. If you misuse it for your personal gain and cast hatred in the communities you will be responsible before God and the people of His Church. •WeappealtotheGovernmentofSouthernSudan

(GoSS) to address the following problems as the cause of instability in our nation:

Cattle raiding Excess drinking Traumatisation of our people Imported cultures We appeal the Government of Southern Sudan

to allow the religious leaders to be involved in the monitoring of the forthcoming elections and referendum between now and 2011 – for fair and transparent polls that will produce good governance for our people.

Let us pray to you, the Lord, the Shepherd of my people –

We remain without care. Come and rescue the people of Sudan, come and strengthen the weak, heal the sick and bind up the injured. Help us to uncover and revoke those that are destroying the CPA, those that are stealing cattle and those that are abusing their political power and wealth. Lord Jesus, protect this country and let her live in love, peace and unity, for ever and ever.

AmenI wish you all a most blessed and joyful Easter.The Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul YakArchbishop, Primate and Metropolitan of the Province of the Episcopal Church of the Sudanand Bishop of the Diocese of Juba

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Greetings to all ECS Christians, bishops, priests and deacons of the Episcopal Church of the

Sudan in the name of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Dear all,Once again I am sending you a Second

Pastoral Letter because the Church has the power to change the life of our communities and our leadership is to show a good example, because the pastor and the bishop are the most influential force that God has planted here on earth.

The Church must redeem us from the crisis facing our country. Bishops and clergy, Christ has given you the power to preach, teach and heal our people. You must be effective evangelists, you are to strengthen Christian families, to transform our communities and change their lives and attitudes. My hope is therefore that you will never be deceived by what is happening around you and will stand firm for Christ. We are to offer healing to the wounded hearts.

Brother bishops, clergy and the laity of ECS, we are being challenged to establish a faithful community in the Sudan in this twenty first century. The future of the Sudan rests in your hands. We are to build bridges between the tribes and communities, to offer truth to confused communities and to offer a sense of belonging to the marginalized people of Sudan.

When things were very difficult in America for black people, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC and painted a picture of the world without prejudice, hatred or racism “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content.” After 40 years his dream has become true and now the American President is of African-American origin. I am feeling the same; we should not be threatened by this confused situation in the Sudan. One day we will be there. Let us be always alert and remain committed for the rest of our people. Please inform our people to be wise and that they should not allow themselves to be used by the enemies of our people. Your land is the promised land and others want to take it over from you and use it for things they want, but first of all they want you to be confused so that later they can be able to take over the land. Your land

has become the source of your death. Let us have a vision where the people cast off their fetters, but that “blessed is he who keeps the Law”. (Proverbs 29:18)

A vision is a picture of something you want in the end, like the country you want, the New Sudan: a country where our children live in peace, a country where we respect the rights of all ethnicities, a country without racism, hatred, tribalism or prejudice. Let us all pray to God to give us a clear vision, which will keep us focused and firm during this critical time we are now going through.

My dear clergy, l am expecting you to make your best effort in building the Church of God in the Sudan. Christ promised to empower us and walked with us. We need to remember that doing so requires prayer and spiritual disciplining. When doing this we must be ready to pay the price by devoting our lives to building the Kingdom of God. A community without vision wastes time and losses energy, it gets distracted and eventually becomes demoralized and is taken over by unwelcome situations. We are to be aware that we are accountable.

My dear clergy of the ECS, l need you to establish a clear mission and values so that you can reach every last person and guide them towards spiritual maturity. We are to advise all the politicians in the Sudan, wherever we meet them, that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) is no longer just for the NCP or SPLM or any other party: it is the property of the Sudanese people as said by the late Dr. John Garang. If there are some elements within us who are working to undermine the CPA, we the religious people must pray to Almighty God to expose those elements within us. We do not know them, but God knows and sees them and even knows their names, and he will know how he is going to deal with them. God will write the peace and love of this country in their hearts.

Because of this l am asking all the bishops and the clergy of the ECS to be alert and to constantly pray for the peace of the Sudan at this crucial time of elections and the

referendum.This time we need freedom. For fifty years

the people of Sudan has been through great suffering. Let the Almighty touch the hearts of our leaders and make them fear that they are going to be accountable to God and to the people of Sudan when the time comes. Two and half million dead is enough.

I am appealing to the beloved tribes of

Dinka, Nuer and Murle, wherever they may be. Be informed that we are praying for you. You have provoked God’s anger on your communities and disasters on yourselves (Jer. 44:7-8) because God is not happy. If you do not repent, you provoke God. You have rebelled against God and against the people of Sudan. The current situation is therefore a curse and you will have to bear the guilt upon yourselves and your coming generation (Isaiah. 24). You have defiled the earth because you have murdered your own brothers; you have broken the everlasting covenant between you and God. Woe to

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you (Isaiah 24:5-7), you betray yourselves and the Lord’s curse is upon us, you will not get away with it, you had better return to the Lord and repent now. Woe to your work in darkness. Highways are deserted because of your behavior towards each other. Woe to you as the land is mourning, wondering what is happening to my children.

Come back to me my children before the sun sets (Psalm 53:1-3) or we will bring your

conduct before God, because it is now clear before God and the Sudanese people that you are the ones destroying the CPA and God will not forgive those people among you – you can hide before the people but not before God. I appeal to the Dinka, Nuer, Murle and others in the Sudan to repent before the people of New Sudan. Cry out to God in your names; come to God and, be reconciled and let justice be done.

The Vision of ECS: For the coming eight years ECS’s vision

is “a strong Church on a strong indigenous foundation.” The war destroyed the fabric and foundation of society in Southern Sudan

and shattered the people’s confidence and productive capacities. The Church must play a prominent role in reforming bodies, minds and spirits for the purposes of creating a peaceful, prosperous and self-sustaining society.

A strong Church, built on the bedrock of faithful servants cannot be undone by changing social, political and economic tides, so the people have to own the Church and all the faithful must be involved in Church development.

A. A faithful, loving, trusting ChurchThe Christian faith provides the means to

rectify habits and patterns that set humans to war. It stands against power politics; it questions entrenched patterns of division. It proclaims an alternate narrative that defines who we are in relation to God, to one another and to the world. As faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, we dismiss tribalism in favour of loving one another as Christ loved us. We carry this message to successive generations, trusting that each will honour their duty to God, the country and to all creation.

B. A transparent, confident, sustainable Church

The Church must demonstrate faithful stewardship through honest, accountable, confident and sustainable management of its human and capital resource; “For to all those who have, more will be given and they will have in abundance but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away” (Mt.25:29). Accordingly, we seek to move our bishops and priests away from their dependency on outside incentives, as this is neither an indigenous nor a sustainable solution to the Church’s costs. Bishops and priests are the servants of the Church and the Church should pay them.

C. A Church confident in doctrineThe Church must develop a single

doctrine and liturgy that are distinctly Sudanese yet wholly Anglican. The Church must stand up for its beliefs on the world stage without undue influence from the interests of prospective funders. This crucial act of faith further highlights our needs for financial independence.

D. A respected ECSThe faithful witness of the Church depends

upon the respect it is afforded locally and internationally. The Church leader who has misused funds has tarnished the reputation of the Church, and must atone and repent. Christ must be put above division caused by personal allegiance. We must unite in the same mind and the same purpose. To that end the bishop and the clergy will

encourage broad community involvement and inclusion in the affairs of the Church to dispel ignorance, corruption and mistrust.

E. An ECS as an integral part of the New Sudan

The Church must participate in the nation building of post-war recovery and advocate for Dr. John Garang’s vision of a new Sudan: where all peoples, tribes, languages and religions are afforded true respect. The Church must work with the government to ensure that a secular society respects all faiths.

A divided Church and a divided nation cannot achieve their goals; instead they must be united to serve the nation. I am focusing to transform the ECS from a small minded, tribalistic, dependent and static entity into a forward-looking, united, self-sufficient, dynamic Church that exercises its unique gifts fully while sustaining interdependence within the Anglican Communion. This transformation demands significant restructuring of the whole institution and its personnel, and this cannot be accomplished without the financial and human investment of our trusted partners the world over.

New Dioceses:For the past one year in office, the Province

of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan has inaugurated five new dioceses, namely:

Terekeka, Pacong, Akot, Twic East and Aweil The Suffragan see of Awerial, under the

Diocese of Yirol in Lakes State has also been inaugurated. During my visit to these places mentioned above, these places appeared self-sustainable and proved by their actions that they do not require any external support. This first year in the office of Archbishop I have visited twenty dioceses in the south, and will be covering the remaining dioceses in the northern part of the country soon.

My dear citizens, let us continue in pray for our Church and our country, and for God to identify the spoilers of the CPA. My dear bishops, priests and deacons, let us monitor the coming elections and keep all the citizens always well informed so that they make the right decision.

I wish you all a most holy and blessed Trinity tide.

Yours in the love and peace of Christ,His Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng

Bul YakArchbishop and Primate of the Province

of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan and Bishop of the Diocese of Juba

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