Beginning Again Renewed in Jesus
A Word from the Diocesan Bishop of Wau
By Rt, Rev, Moses Deng Bol. Hope, Education and Joy I think that I can be right if I say that since the referendum vote and South Sudan becoming a new nation, life here has changed but not improved. At the time of the vote many people had great hope and this gave many people great joy. I still remember it and sometimes I wonder why we did not build on that as a people. Recently analysts and security experts are warning that there is now a looming possibility of genocide in South Sudan. Many communities in South Sudan have been targeting and killing members of the Dinka community almost everywhere due to the belief that the Government belongs to them and so they are responsible for the mistakes of the Government. This situation has now reached its highest level with the killing of many ordinary innocent Dinka people on the Yei-Juba road, Nimule-Juba road and others too. This awful atrocity means many Dinkas are now very angry and they have started warning that they too will attack members of other communities living in their areas. Please it is important to know that the Governors where Dinkas are the majority community have already issued statements condemning those who wrote warning letters. A situation such as this cannot be ignored or permitted. As a church we need to join the political leaders by appealing to everyone to stop the killing. Even though President Kiir is a Dinka not every Dinka agrees with him or should be held accountable with their lives. Also it is very important that Dinkas must not take revenge on other communities because of the actions of a few. I would also like to appeal to our Archbishop and all other Church Leaders in South Sudan as well as the wider Church around the world to pray and take concrete action in order to avert this evil act. We should avoid genocide and learn from the example of Rwanda. We have permitted greed, hatred and
Index A Word From The Bishop ....................................2 Bishop Moses Addresses Students........................5 Dinka Rek Old Testament Translation...................6 Ox Plough Training Needed...................................8 Peace Prayers......................................................10 Giving Hope to Orphans................................11 Assistance Required for Mathew........................16 Wau Diocese Teacher Training............................16 Lessons Coming Soon..........................................18 Action in the Community....................................19 New Study Courses at St John’s College.............20 A New Mission Initiative.....................................22 Church Leaders Plan for Peace............................24 A New Football Team..........................................25 ARDF Food Donation is Distributed....................27 Contact Us ........................................................29 Please Pray with us ...........................................30
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ignorance to guide us in to times of killing and violence, really whose fault is that? I am sorry, we must say that it is our fault, all of us. In the book of Romans chapter 3 verse 23 we are reminded “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and also in the book of James chapter 4 verse 17 we are told “ if anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” But the strange thing is that because I am a Christian I never give up on hope and I know, as most Christians do that when there is hope the possibility of joy is never far away. South Sudan has passed through truly terrible times and so I believe we must look to one another not as enemies but as friends and seek to heal the wounds we have. Some wounds will take a long time to heal and we cannot pretend that this will be an easy thing to do, but I think it is a thing we must try to do if we ever want to stop killing and progress this nation. We must seek out hope. Hope for education, education that is not just for children and not just for reading and counting but education that enables people. Teaching people to run a business enables them to have an income, it also means that someone else can do business too. No one does business to themselves, someone must buy what you are selling, so business can grow. Anybody can have a business but if you have education in business matters you will be able to be more successful which is good for everybody. Education is also needed for agriculture. There is abundant land here for growing crops yet so many are still using hand hoes which very much limits the land a person can plant with crops. People who have education in agriculture and can use Ox ploughs can farm a bigger area and grow more crops, they can also know how to grow better cops. Eating better is living better, who would not like to live better? But education does not stop bringing hope in to our lives with just the everyday things, we can be educated in Jesus and live better lives by
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knowing him and his great teachings. There are still so many people in my diocese that have not even had the chance to accept Jesus and begin to know him. But I am pleased to say that there is hope and I would like to tell you about some of it. Here in Wau Diocese we have grown a college and I think that grown is the right word. It started very small and we have nurtured it as a project to slowly make it bigger and better. Like all small plants at first it needed a great deal of care and I will always be proud of those who founded the college. I am reminded sometimes of the parable of the Mustard seed in the Gospel of Mark Chapter 4 verse 34 when Jesus is trying to describe heaven. Now St John’s College of Theology and Development has many branches just like a mustard plant and is providing courses in business studies and helping people to complete the study that they may have started at school when they were children. St John’s does not just provide for Wau Diocese but for the whole Bahr el Ghazel area and also not just for Christians but for any person who wants to learn. We are especially proud to say that we offer spaces for women and look to have a minimum number in each class because too few of the women we rely on in our culture have the education that they really need. I am proud also because we have been able to forge a fellowship with Bishop Barham University College in Kabale, Uganda. They have recognised the hard work of the college staff and also the need of people here. So connecting with them brings more hope because they have sent new teachers and staff to help us organise better and guide us. They also give us accreditation. This is a big word which means, for people who do not know us, St John’s college can really be regarded as a serious college. There is real hope here. We have organised Ox plough training for farmers and still have projects trying to gather funds for more. What is best about this is that the people keep the Ox and ploughs as part of the training. CARD our development
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organisation have spent much time helping people to improve their agriculture. I am also most proud that we now have a new mission initiative to bring Jesus to people that do not already know about him. We are trying to plant new churches in various parts of the diocese. Sadly we are lacking the proper funds to work at the pace I would like to see but even so volunteer evangelists are visiting places regularly and bringing the good news of Jesus to people. We like to show them the Jesus film and then share some time with them at a weekend so that we can have a Sunday service together. This kind of evangelism really works and helps to show people a new way to live their lives peacefully. We are reminded in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 28 verses 19 to 20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.� Can you remember the joy of first accepting Jesus? We are of course limited in all these wonderful activities by funds and I really appeal to anyone that would like to make a difference to improve life here in South Sudan, we have the ways, please help us. We look for your help but we will not wait for it because the alternative to making our lives better is to let them get worse. Truly I am very proud because the next Wau Diocese Lent Course, which is already written, focuses on education. We have created five Lenten study courses now and much of these have focused on aspects of peace and reconciliation, but the 2017 course which is called Lessons focuses on Education because
this is a most important need, that we see brings hope to many people. I want people to have hope and I want people to have joy, everyone should know this, joy should be for everyone. The time of Advent is here and even now we are preparing for Christmas. Christians all know this as a time when we prepare for joy. Jesus comes to us as a baby who is truly the Son of God but he comes humbly, born in Bethlehem among cattle and ordinary people. We know that he will grow to be a great preacher and a great healer. We know that he lived to give people hope and bring them joy, not just in his own time but ours too. We know that Jesus gave his life to pay for the sins we have, no matter what the sins are and that he was gloriously resurrected after three days. All this we know as we prepare for his coming and it gives us great hope that our lives can be better and great joy because Jesus comes for us as a gift from God the Father. These words are from the book of St Matthew 5:14-16. He told them that "you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house�. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" Jesus comes at Christmas to bring this world hope and it is for us to make hope in to joy not sadness. Join with us to be a light on a lamp stand and light the whole household of South Sudan. I wish you all a very happy Christmas. Every blessing
+Moses
Please say a prayer for peace, for all people at Christmas this year
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Bishop Moses Deng Bol addressed Graduate Students from the University of Bahr el Ghazal By Rev John Bol
The ECSS Diocesan Bishop of Wau Diocese, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Moses Deng Bol Akoon attended the graduation ceremony of Greater Lake state University students graduating from the University of Bahr el Ghazal in different departments shortly after his arrival from Wau airport yesterday. The ceremony was organized by the youths and elders from Greater Lakes state and was attended by a large crowd of people from different states including all the college graduate students from the University. level. Bishop Moses Deng strongly encouraged the graduates to use their knowledge in bringing change to our community wherever each of them will be assigned or live. He delivered very productive words quoted from the book of St Matt 5:14-16. He told them that "you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house�. In the same way, Bishop Moses Deng Bol addressed the public, especially the students who have recently graduated with qualify certificates of different knowledge and skills which will help our new nation of South Sudan with social development by providing the special reasons that will involve social interaction of all people in the community
let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" this is how we want you to be and that was why you have sent for studies"
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tomorrow if we are not starting now" let us work hard together for the change in our community of South Sudan from all those grievances so that if tomorrow has come it may get us ready for it and deserve changes.
Bishop Moses Deng Bol also told them that "the time will not be enough for us to reform our new nation from tribalism hatred and violence
The community who attended this important graduation event had fixed their eyes on Bishop Moses while he spoke to them and later told him to keep on saying these powerful words of God to the community so that God almighty will open their minds sometime to understand what God has expected from each of us in the community to do for each other. “If all of us, men women and children really understand the word of God as the Bishop delivered, we could not even hear any mistake happen in the community� as one of the community leaders expressed it in his speeches. Everyone who was in the graduation ceremony was very attentive in listening to the message which Bishop Moses Deng has passed on to them in the ceremony and appreciated the church leaders for their usual message to the community for peace. Living in peace can promote developmental processes in the community. We are eager to be in peace. Please pray for our nation.
Dinka Rek Translation Committee Meeting About an Opportunity for Old Testament Bible Translation By Rev John Bol
The chairman of the translation committee, Bishop Moses Deng called a brief meeting about how to make a quality translation of the Old Testament in to Dinka Rek. The meeting was well conducted and more issues about translation were discussed. The Dinka Rek community in the Western part of Bahr el Ghazal
in South Sudan have proposed a project of Old Testament translation in their own native language (Dinka Rek). It is very exciting to have some of the Bible books which drafts had already become available translated fully in to Dinka Rek. We hope to complete the work of translation in the very near future. The
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translation committee led by ECSS Bishop Moses Deng Bol and Pentecostal Bishop Emanuel Achuil and other members of different denominations have decided to make a carefully created quality translation of the Old Testament from English to Dinka Rek through adaptation from Dinka CAM (Dinka Bor) who had already done a complete draft of OT translation. The translation committee met in Wau for a discussion about the ways they should try to balance the unified writing system for Dinka Rek terms in Bible translation by involving all denomination members of the Churches in the committee to participate together In the processes of Old Testament translation so that all of the operated Churches are getting themselves equally represented. We have
special discussions about Dinka Rek terms and words. This may give us the general principles about how to write a clear Old Testament in Dinka Rek that will not give us some confusion in the future after we finish it. The chairman of the translation committee, Bishop Moses Deng Bol told the committee To be careful in the translation processes so that there will be no little arguments between the Churches about any error in the translation process after we have done a final draft. It is possible, in some cases when people got angry with each other, when there is inconvininience between people in a certain task and that makes it impossible to continue the working progress.
Eventually, however, in almost all cases people in the committee were able to agree on a single way to write the Dinka terms in common sense, although there were a few cases where we could find in the translation process such as Greek and Hebrew words which seen to be addressed in the same ways it had happened in same Bible translations in the past. Names of people and places in the Bible could remain open to more than one possibility for how to write them as well, but in conclusion, we leave them the same. And the system which we agreed on does actually represent all of the denominations equally in participation. Generally, we have agreed that it would be a good idea in many cases to involve all the denomination members which operate in Dinka Rek areas because it would make it easier for us to use common opinions in these translation processes.
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As we already know that translation is the transfer of the meaning of text in the source language to the receptor language, we could carefully apply the qualities of good translation such as accuracy, clarity, natural, and final acceptability.
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Further, we included translation step by step through exegesis, drafting, supplementary help, keyboarding, team checking, review of key terms, community testing, and back-translation, consultant checking, testing with reviewers, final editing and final read-through. By taking great care we intend to do great work.
Please pray for the work of the translators giving time to make a Dinka Rek language Bible text, so people can read God’s word in their own tongue.
Ox-Plough - Training Needed in Tonj Area Diocese By Rev John Bol The Ox-plough training proposal is needed in Tonj Area Diocese for the community sustainability of food security in the area of tonj state. The plan has now been put in the proposed project by the Rt. Rev Bishop Peter Yuol Gur of Tonj Area Diocese’s administration under Wau Diocese of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan (ECSSS). Bishop Peter Yuol Gur has noticed the need of the community to get ox-ploughs and introduce the training of the oxen for cultivation in order to improve agricultural production in the area. The purchasing plan of the ox-ploughs and training of more oxen for cultivation is really a priority need for the community to make cultivation easy for them in order to have enough food in all their locations at every harvest time. The Ox-plough is a more modern cultivation system that we currently use which can help a farmer to cultivate a large piece of farm land when the oxen are trained for
working with ploughs. Bishop Peter Yuol Gur realized that, modern cultivation will help our community to successfully manage the sustainability and maintainability of food security in all the local areas where this farming method can be introduced.
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The cultivation in the past which is based on local farm tools like a maloda and hoes is very inefficient and wastes a lot of time. Farmers can wake up early in the morning and start digging for all the hours of the day until late evening and still not have covered enough farming land to give a good crop. Therefore, the community have noticed that cultivation is very easy when there are enough trained oxen for the ploughing,
Therefore we have as usual told the community and congregation to keep on praying for the progress of this agricultural program and to be more patient in proceeding this task toward the program’s destination. We have as usual told our community and congregation to keep on hoping, we always tell them that God is going to make things different soon in the future like we have certainly done now. We are now looking forward to hear from any one or organization who might be willing to fund this agricultural project for the length of one year which will enables the ECSSS Tonj Area Diocese’s administration to sufficiently and effectively run the project as planned and achieve its goals in a successful manner. As well it can meet our common expectation as we
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had scheduled it in our program statement and objectives and goals.
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project that you may commend to your organization. Please contact program director
We are very sure that enough is being done to do the best in the seasons of the next cultivation if we get funding and have expanded this program to reach the others. The community and the church members are very ready and pleased to welcome and receive any donation from you for this proposed project. Thank you all for your time used to share with us and we welcome any organization which has such a program in its objectives and may be willing to join hands with us for even more progress of this agricultural project implementation in the community. We will be very grateful and thankful to receive any notices about the progress of this proposal
Bishop Peter Yuol Gur.
Peace Prayers in Southern Sudan By Mario Manyang War in South Sudan has affected most of the people especially women and children. Most women are raped and left as widows, homeless and psychologically tortured as a result of war. On the other hand children are also left orphans, destitute and unable to access education among others factors related to war. It so sad to see our people living in tents, refugee camps and other related areas due to war among us. Our mothers/women left homeless, helpless dying of hunger, infected with diseases, our young men dying at an early age instead of building our nation. As a result of this Church in conjunction with the community decided to held prayers twice in week to pray for peace to convey the country. This morning on Saturday date 01/10/2016 in Kitale, Kenya South Sudanese pray and fast for a week due to panic which is developed in news
about South Sudan, they group of faithful members of Episcopal church of South Sudan in a foreigner land are appealing for 2 parties of South Sudan to forgive the paste and see the future among them is Rt Rev Peter Yuol Gur, the group has held holy communions and bishop Peter of Tonj Area Diocese was a celebrant.
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Lay reader Monica Ayak Kuol of Kongor Diocese preached and theme is about peace and power of Prayer scriptures 1 Daniel 3:1-18 , she talked of Daniel and three brothers who were in a foreigner land God reveal his power to set them free from King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon .we will be free by God one day she said. This pray is organized by difference members of Dioceses of South Sudanese who are in Kenya and they pray are conducted from varies place in Kenya, Kitale pray for peace. Bishop Peter Yuol of Tonj Diocese appeal to South Sudanese to live peacefully with our brothers and sisters in our beautiful land South Sudan rich with gold ,oil and fertile land . We are praying for PEACE in my country Southern Sudan. Oh GOD Almighty
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king of kings grant us peace this time ,reveal yourself so that Lord ,no more bloodshed ,our road give us worries all the time .Give us love which has been taken by evil ,we are praying for our brothers who have taken up arms against their own brothers and sisters ,HELPS US ACHIEVE THIS.
We are also urging other countries to join us in prayers for peace to prevail in our country and also other countries affected by war. Prayer was attended by Bishop Peter Yuol Gur of Tonj Area Diocese.
Please pray for Mario Manyang, the new coordinator for Tonj Area Diocese, pray that God will enable him in all his work to do the best for the people in need in Tonj Area.
Giving Hope to Orphans for a Better Future By Bishop Peter Yuol Gur An Introduction Warm greetings to you in the name of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, it happened that I was a student at St Paul University Limuru in Kenya and I was half orphaned, my father had been killed by Arabs and in my family we were five 1 sister, 3 other brothers and myself. Sadly one of my brothers was killed in the war too. I would like to tell you that am the only one who learned in my family and also in the whole sub clan to be a graduate from a University and this is in the level of the whole county. I was ordained as a deacon in the Anglican Church under Wau Diocese. I came to
Kenya seeking education in 1999 and I went back in 2006 to train pastors from different churches in South Sudan. I did that up to 2009 and also trained youth about HIV/AIDS awareness. So I joined the above mentioned University. This is everybody all together
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I was given pocket money as student by my Sponsor from UK and I sat down, I said to myself what shall I do? I have to share this little money with extreme and hopeless orphans. I thought of Gabriel Turic whose mother was tortured until she passed on when she went to preach near Abyei, a rich oil region, they were caught by a group of Muslims and she was badly beaten up so that the wounds led to her death in Kakuma Refugee camp, northern Kenya in may 2002. I remember Gabriel’s mother told me that when she died I cannot allow her children to be on streets.
The Reason for Bringing Children to Kenya I brought Gabriel Turic and Joseph Mayen to Kenya in the year 2009 because the condition Gabriel was in was extremely bad, Joseph Mayen was no better and the school these boys were in was operating in Arabic. The school had one teacher in English while it had 250 pupils, even now it is the same. Due to lack of teachers education is a big problem. People have not learned due to the prolonged civil war, which took the life of 2 million people. The UN and other Christian bodies, plus the government are now trying to build primary schools. Another one of the big problems now is that some children have been mistreated by Arab traders who are still carrying on their business in South Sudan. Our government is not seeing the way children are misused, most of them are abused sexually. So you can see Kenya is a safer place for children to grow up where you can get a proper education. I want them to change their live as the culture become another problem here.
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simply because in South Sudan there are places like Bahr el Ghazal Region and upper Nile, which are still mainly using Arabic language like Malakal because those who have been oppressed by Muslims over 21 years are still not able to believe that Arab Muslims are now separated from South Sudan. The national language of South Sudan is English. They are still enjoying Arab culture and language, it will take some time for these people to be fully free in this region. Especially Bahr el Ghazal, Wau is operating under the Khartoum policy. The governor is Muslim, he was captured in the war last time by the SPLA and he as appointed by Bashir the president now of the Republic of Sudan and that is why schools are still Arabic in Wau. Second to that I want some of these children to be nurses or Doctors because many people are dying in Tonj East County. It is a dark corner of the world, people live like animals without a clinic/pharmacy school, they use the leaves of trees and roots of trees those are medicines for them.
. Here I am kneeling down with four orphans My Plan for the Children in the Future I want some of them to be teachers and qualified teachers, if God can help me to let them pass through education in Kenya. This is
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The Children Come Together First a group of 2 boys, 15 march 2009 and the second group, June – September 2010. The boys Gabriel and Joseph come from Tonj East county in the Bahr el Ghazal Region. When I brought the two boys our journey was ok, and I prayed for God’s assistance. Therefore one Samaritan agreed to assist one girl call Deborah Nyanakol Deng for 2 years. Deborah’s father was killed in the war while her mother was never educated, even ABCD nor is she able to do any business to earn money. It is very difficult for her to provide food or clothing to wear. I brought Gabriel’s sister because Gabriel talked with Dr Tanui from Lessos Educational centre in Kenya. He told the director that his sister is dying with hunger leave alone education and Dr Tanui agreed that the girl can come to Lessos if even things are difficult. I got 2 other small boys, Marial and Malou, who are also orphans. The woman who took care of them was very harsh on them, they slept when they ate little food, which is not enough. I came around in the morning and Malou was crying at 6:30 am, he was without clothes so I asked him why but he would not say. A nearby woman told me that these 2 boys are badly mistreated, she said they didn’t eat properly and in cold weather went without clothes. So I took them with me, our journey on the bus with the second group was very bad we spent 3 weeks on the way crossing a big swamp to Kenya and it was a rainy season. We slept in the bush between Rumbek and Yirol and we got a lot of mosquitoes at night, my biggest worry was about wild animals. I was told that there are many Lions and hyena, leopards were making noises and so on. I didn’t tell the children those stories. I only prayed that something like this cannot happen on the journey and I thank Almighty God for his protection. The following day we processed to Yirol and as our journey went on we tried to
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bypass the way to Juba but the bus broke down and the road was slippery, the bus rolled over and everybody was crying. I told God if you know where I come from and the reason why I travel with these kids this bus can return back to the normal way, because it was upside-down. So the bus turned back, I could not believe it, one lady told me it is through your prayer because they were all crying but I didn’t. I was just praying bitterly. We spent 3 days without food, I was suffering most then because some of them were adapted to the situation, some had been taking care of cows to the bush, where there is little food. Then there were more problems still. On our way we reached the border between Kenya and South Sudan and we entered a big stream and the water was flowing very fast and our car was drowned. Things looked dark, everybody was crying, so the 2 boys who were tall and strong they jumped in to the flowing water and I remained inside the car and passed the little girls and boys giving them to James Majiech and Dut. They are the ones whose help and by God grace these other kids were saved or they would have been carried away by the water.
This me with some of the kids whom I told above before, they are very well here and God is wonderful.
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Concerning School I appreciated Rev Susan and Dr Susan and the rest who help and sponsor some kids . Also a lady called Fran Boyle from the USA sponsors 2more kids. The children most in need among them are as follows: Primary School 1 Deborah Ajak Dak 2 Regina Alith 3 Peter Akoch 4 William Wol 5 James Majiech Mapiel 6 Joseph Mayen 7 Gabriel Turic 8 Marry Awateu Wai 9 Luka Kur 10 Mark Makuei Ater 11 Rebecca Yar 12 Luka Bol Anguach
Secondary School
There are other children who have their parents although they are not supporting everything, they are trying but not really enough according to the Lessons standard. The reason why these parents are not able to pay fees is that they are not educated therefore they are not working anywhere, nor can they do business and they do not understand the importance of education fees structure i.e. first term 150USD, second term 150USD, third term 100USD so the total can be 450 a year for each child. It is really a cheap school.
13 Zecharia Agoth Manyang 14 John Makol Chuol Selection 15 Makuei Bath 16 Rebecca Yar 17 Maguek Machar 18 Deborah Ajak 19 Pinydit Cath 20 Aguer Madit .
When I pick these children what I do is call elders who take care of orphans and ask them to give me a child in the worst condition. There are some children who remain but we pick these and sometimes if there are many we give them pieces of paper which is written yes and no. Whoever picks yes are taken and whoever picks no are left. I left 2 boys and 3 other girls
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because of this system of selection. We are not really relatives by birth to many of these children but they regard me as their uncle, anybody who takes care of you is called uncle here.
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The kids that need your prayers are: 1 william Wol 2 Marial
Trying to Avoid Sadness
3 Regina Alith
The picture is of the boy called Machar Deng who was abused physically and later passed on due to trauma and lack of food, some people told me he was attacked by wild animals because he stayed near the bush because some children kept laughing at him because he was abducted by Arab children. Most of these kids parents were killed by Arabs Muslims and even some children like William Wol and Marial I found them in the bush because of the current war. But the father of Wol was killed by Arabs in 1999 and he was taking care of Marial that is why I picked them. I didn’t know that they will be able to go to school, we have been praying to God for the way God has connected us with kind donors and I know God has answered our prayers.
4 Peter Akoch Pray also for peace in South Sudan. They are given food to eat but no schooling. I know God will help them out one day. We are requesting well wishers to help 8 kids who are not sponsored, they need your prayers and your hands. We will be happy for you to contact us for more details. Some need clothes, shoes and so on for this year 2016. If you think that you would like to help please contact me: Bishop Peter Yuol Gur tonjareabishop@wau.anglican.org
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Assistance Required for Matthew By Bishop Moses Deng Venerable Simon Malou of the Wau South Archdeaconry reminded me recently of just one of the people of Wau Diocese that needs help. Mr Mathew Moulang Mayom is attempting to study law in Juba. Apart from all the recent violence and upset there he is struggling because the cost of living in Juba is so much more than the cost of living in Wau. As you might imagine I am asked to help a lot of people and it is simply not possible to help them
all. So I am asking for help, from anyone that would like to support the effort that Mathew is making to become a leader in our society. We need trained and specially educated people and it a great sadness that doing this is beyond our means. Please see the letter that Mathew wrote to me to see how much he wants to carry on his study. If you would like to help please contact me it would be very good to encourage Mathew.
To Bishop of Wau Diocese, Dear Lordship I am sending this letter once again to you to remind you of your sheep, who went to you in September 2016. Your spirit of leadership is alarming the sheep of Christ and the Shepherd of God.I came to school but the tuition fees are 9,000 SSP which is beyond my hands due to many conditions such as: the issue of water in Juba, the daily transport and many other unexpected costs. Father in the church I asked for your help not because of what I will do for you personally but God in Heaven will reward you. However your consideration in this agonising condition will be highly appreciated and thank you. by your faithful Son in Christ, Mathew Moulang Mayom
Wau Diocese Teacher Training Project GENERAL PROJECT INFORMATION Location: - St John’s College, Wau, South Sudan Contact person: - Rev Peter Angui Akook Principal principal@wau.anglican.org +211 920221516 / 0955494029 Rt Rev Moses Deng Bol - Board Chair
bishop@wau.anglican.org +211 955602769 / 926954187
THE NEED The need we want to address is lack of enough trained teachers in Church Schools in Northern Bhar El Ghazal Cluster/Internal Province.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION The aim of this project is to train 60 Teachers from 12 Church owned schools in the Northern Bahr El Ghazal Cluster (an internal Province) of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan. This area is comprised of 2 Dioceses and three Area Dioceses namely Wau, Aweil, Abyei, Gogrial and Tonj. These areas were most affected by the 21 years of conflict between the Southern based Christian and anamist rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and the Northern based Islamic Government. During the war villages were raided by Government backed Islamic militias, popularly known in Arabic as Muraleen (people on the move) because they were moving on the back of horses. During the raids young men were either killed or taken as slaves and the young girls and women were also taken as sex slaves. This seriously interrupted the education system in the region as most of the young people either joined the rebel movement or went to the North where they worked for the Northern Sudanese businessmen, mostly in farms or brick laying etc. The few of them who managed to go to school in the North did so in Arabic. Since the creation of South Sudan as a new country the Government of South Sudan has declared English as the Language of instruction and Arabic will remain as one of the subjects only. So even those who have managed to get some education in the North are not able to teach in our schools. To meet the need of teacher training St John’s College of Theology and Development has lauched a three year diplopma in education from January 2016. St John’s College was established in 2011 as a Theological College to train the Clergy who were ordained without proper theological training during the war in order to pastor the mushrooming churches as the church grew so rapidly.
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Although St John’s serves the whole of Bhar El Ghazal Region, this particular project will focus on the the five Dioceses in Northern Bhar El Ghazal Cluster/ Internal Province. The five Dioceses together have 11 Primary Schools and 1 Secondary School. Most of our teachers have not gone through any teacher training. So we want to train 60 teachers by taking 5 teachers from each of the 12 schools beginning from January 2017.
SPECIFIC NEEDS Our Specific needs are the salaries to pay qualified Tutors especially from the neigbouring countries of Uganda and Kenya. The salaries will cover the cost of living, accommodation, transport and medical care and other personal expenses for the Tutors.
PROJECT COSTS We are requesting £15,000 to sponsor all 60 students. Each student costs £200 for tuition and £50 for books, exams and development fees. There are two Semesters in a year and each Semester covers four Months. So £100 is the tuition fee per student per Semester. Our plan is to pay five Tutors £25 per Month which means one Tutor gets £5 per student per month which also means one Tutor will be paid £300 a Month. The local Church will cover the cost of transport, feeding, accommodation, medical care and pocket money for their students. We estimate the cost of a student’s personal expenses is also £250 as the living conditions are currently very high in South Sudan. So a full scholarship for one student would be £500 per a year. Each student will remain a teacher in one of the church schools.
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WHO WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS PROJECT? The Principal of St John’s College will be responsible for over all management of the funds and he will be writing the narrative reports and update donors on the progress of the students. But the detailed financial report will be provided by the College Finance Officer. All work undertaken by the college staff is under the direct supervision of the Rt Rev Moses Deng Bol. REPORTING ON THE PROJECT The principal will provide narrative report which will include achievements, challenges and plans, photos of the tutors, studuents and any other relevant photos. The Finance Officer will give a quarterly report of the income, expenditure and balance as per the budgetline i.e Tutors salaries, books, exams and development activities. All the reports will be send back to donors by email to minimise costs. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND IMPACT We are using St John’s College to build peace among different communities in the region and holding this up as an example in the long run to the whole of South Sudan. So we have also introduced courses such as Peace Building, Conflict Transformation and Spiritual Development which emphasises the importance of the great commandment of loving your neighbour as yourself in all aspects including
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education. So the funds will not only equipe the teachers with the knowledge and skills they need in order to teach children but they will also learn to teach children and the wider community to embrace peace and harmony among the many different tribal communities. We also emphasise gender equality, as culturally women have not been encouraged to learn in our community. Hence we always demand that at least 25% of the students being sent to the College are female to ensure talented women are not excluded. Also the threat of islamization in this region is very evident. Most of the shops in Wau, Aweil, Kuajok and other major towns in the Region are run by Muslims mainly from North Sudan. Recently a new rebel group led by an Islamic Leader called Ali Tamim and backed by Islamic Militants from the North attacked the South Sudanese Army (SPLA) based in Raja, a town bordering the Darfur Region of Sudan. So training teachers through a Church owned College will help counter any Islamic threat by providing educational alternatives and emphasising peace through service. Many uneducated local people have no way to deal with conflict resolution other than direct violence. Education is a step towards peace building.
Coming Soon the New Wau Diocese Lent Course Lessons – the new Lent study course from Wau Diocese focuses on Gospel stories to highlight the importance of education as it teaches the story of Jesus at Easter. Available for free this course is suited to any size group and is very easy to use. Written by staff of Wau Diocese with many years of experience it comes complete with instructions for leaders.
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Action in the Community By Rev John Bol Wau Diocese always is very proud of its involvement with the local community. Despite great need and little resouces efforts are always made to reach out. Here one brief example. Rev Peter Angui Akook Principal of St. John College of Theology and Development, also a member of diocesan management team addressed the crowd of people who had their food crops damaged by flood in the meeting after a complete assessment of all targeted areas of Gogrial state. He told them to believe and keep trust in God because God knows how He can help His people. He also promised that "we are going to convey your difficulties to our partners of Wau Diocese who are always willing to help such emergency challenges in the community".
An old man is appreciated by Bishop Moses Deng Bol's administration and his tireless willingness to help the community with anything he can afford during the days of disaster such as had recently happened by flood that destroyed all food crops in the lower areas. He really blessed Bishop Moses Deng Bol that "he will keep on doing more things like this and God may blessed him with last oldest ages as a reward of his kindness". He further appreciated being sincerely honored to Bishop Moses Deng for working hard to make proper assessment to all targeted areas as much as he expected me to do.
This man is appreciated by Rev John
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Wau Diocesan Bishop, The Rt Rev Bishop Moses Deng Bol Akoon had sent me Rev John Bol as diocesan communication coordinator to officially assess all areas in which crops had been damaged by either
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flood or drought in the area of Gogrial state so that the Christian Action for Relief and Development (ECSS-CARD) administration will make a plan and and appeal for emergency support to the partners of Wau Diocese because they had usually supported it in the past. Here is a photo of crops damaged by flooding in Makuac Koordit Village of Gogrial State.
Please pray for all the people that have lost crops in the flooding and also give thanks for the partners that have given generously to help
Launching Diplomas in Business Administration & Management at St John’s College of Theology and Development By Rev John Bol
Bishop Moses Deng Bol addressed the students of St John College of Theology and development during the launching of Diploma in business administration and management in Wau on Monday 23/05/2016. He farther told them to learn more here and get back with equivalent knowledge and professional skills that will help them making a change in the community through creation of self-
employments in difference opportunities as well. Such opportunities like business initiation and other professional duties which create a job opportunities to the community so that some of the people who didn’t get a paying job from the government in the past have used that chance from them to change the community but not them to be changed in the community. “Bring a change through
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human development and professional skills” Bishop Moses stated. The opening of St John’s College of Theology and Development was really good luck through Bishop Moses Deng Bol Akoon to start from no source of Theological Education in Wau Diocese since before the time he had become ECS Bishop of Wau Diocese. Possibly it had happened to start as like a couching center of two students whom he had sent to Juba for farther studies and failed to succeed a Special Entrance Examination (SEE) from very challenging university among the best Eastern Africa Universities which is known as St Paul’s University in Limuru Kenya. Bishop Moses has decided to prepare his students with equivalent knowledge and send them back again in order to succeed next examination for the new intact of the other year. This was why he taught English at the first and later decided to have additional subjects of theological studies which he invited Rev Andrew Apiny Macham to teach part of it and some of Theological books while he also continued teach English part and Introduction to New Testament and Old Testament. The couching has gone well through until the one of the students has successfully passed Special Entrance Examination (SEE) from St Paul’s University and had completed his studies of Diploma in theology last year 2015 from that University while the other one had also continued studied In Wau as a first student for St John’s College of theology and development until he has completed his theological studies and graduated with Diploma in this year 2016 as the first graduate from St John’s College. Now a day, St John’s College of Theology and Development is currently getting itself in a good move through educational partners of Wau Diocese who can contribute financial supports, human resources and proper guidance of Bishop Moses Deng Bol Akoon’s
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visionary plan for educational training of Church leaders and others people in difference professional skills to “transform the community” as he had usual stated that “train a person for a change to change himself/herself and the nation but don’t force him/her for change” because change knows its own time or it has its own time. It is unknowingly processes which everyone can automatically experience or get himself/herself into a full changes. As there have been a lot of changes such as spiritual, mental, emotional, geographical and environmental changes and the rest are to be mentioned for a change but few for now. Let me briefly bring your attention back to the point I am trying to explain, Bishop Moses wants to train the people in difference professional skills and different knowledge of leadership styles so that they may “transform the communities” with a comprehensive knowledge of understanding the truths and modern system which consider all rights of every individuals in the community and in the society as well. Bishop Moses Deng Bol Akoon need the expansion of this college that he had told administration of St John’s College of Theology and Development to introduced two classes of difference courses early in this year. The expansion of the college was started this year 2016 to introduce a Diploma classes in teachers’ training program from January to April and business administration and management program has to be introduced from May to July, which is recently celebrated today in Wau Diocese. St John‘s College of theology and development has rapid speed of progresses that will soon help the communities of greater Bahr El Ghazal as well as all communities of south Sudan in general within the next few years by producing very qualified students with difference professional skills which will fit in any given assignment post to anyone according to the professional skills
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determined by the studied courses that one had chosen.
transformation” very soon in the next few years through God His guidance”.
Bishop Moses Deng Bol Akoon has concluded his speeches that, “through the help of St John’s College of Theology and Development, will paving a way forward to successful achievement which we hope ahead and we so called “community
Thank you very much for your participation in upgrading St John‘s additional classes of professional
A New Mission Initiative By Bishop Moses Deng
There is a very vibrant and exciting local mission initiative which we have started in Wau Diocese and is going on very well, but faces the usual challenge of limited financial support. Our Diocesan Mission and Evangelism Team have marked several areas where they want to plant churches in the Diocese including in the two Area Dioceses under Wau (Tonj and Gogrial). They have organized themselves to visit these areas on a Weekly basis to preach the Gospel as well as the message of forgiveness and reconciliation to the local communities. They have been visiting some places at least once a Month this year but we are planning for the team to be visiting different locations every Weekend (leaving on Friday afternoon and return on Sudan afternoon) next year. The team carry with them the well known Jesus film which they show on Friday and Saturday evenings, conduct an open air event on Saturday afternoon and a Sunday Service on Sunday morning.
Many people have been baptized and new Churches planted in most of the villages the team has visited this year. We have found this to be a very useful way of not only planting Churches but also for mobilizing Christians for local mission. Our main challenge in this initiative is our limited financial ability. We have asked all the Parishes in the Diocese to give 10% of their income towards this mission but the money we get is not enough to cover the cost of fuel
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for a generator (for running Jesus film) and car as well as food for the team. We estimate that each Mission trip will cost about $100 which comes to around $5000 for the whole year. I am therefore appealing to those of you can to connect us with any mission partner who
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you think may be willing to support this initiative financially wholly or partialy. This programme will one day be self sustained through the 10% contribution from local parishes, when the current economic crisis in the country has improved. Every Blessing +Moses
Orphan Girls Grinding Corn By Mario Manyang
These are not boys but girls and they are doing what is called traditional grinding of maize into flour using their own hands. Those girls are doing it because they lost their parents in the recent conflict that occurred in South Sudan whereby some people took them to work or be slave for them as they move from one household to another trying to get a living. Simply they are orphans and we, the staff of Tonj Area Diocese are trying to find possible ways of helping such children without parents to give them basic needs e.g. food, shelter, clothes, education etc, but we lack facilities to help. Tonj Area Diocese needs a grinding machine to do grinding in Tonj to make it easier to grind our maize into flour and that will reduce the hard labour of young orphans in the area. We will carry out a campaign to the Tonj Community to use a grinding machine instead of using orphaned children.
Please pray for the well being of all children that have been made orphans by the recent conflict in South Sudan. Many people do not have the correct resources to care for them and they are at risk from hunger and other threats.
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Church Leaders Plan for Peace and Stability Interaction of Civilians in Wau State By Rev John Bol
The leaders from ten churches of different denominations in Wau town held a meeting on Thursday 1/Sep/2016 under the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) to discuss the role of church on the current situation in the state. After a long discussion on how church leaders can intervene to help the civilians on the current situation and looking at the suffering of our people decisions for solving this current inconvenience and insecurity in the state were taken. The following points of intent to achieve peace and unity for the citizens of our state have been agreed by all churches:
4.We will meet the security authorities to discuss the problem of the road to be opened and to assess the safety of the people. 5.We the Church will organize regular prayer with the military. 6.As churches, we will facilitate the process of building trust between the military and the civilians (public) through conferences or public rally and help them apologize to build trust and confidence between them.
1.The role of the Church which has been known from the beginning is guidance. So we must guide our community toward lasting peace in order to have a lasting peace in the community. 2.We will organize prayers for the unity of the churches to mobilize community social interaction and peace. 3.The Churches will meet the military and the chiefs separately then make them come together for building a conference.
7.We call upon the government to allow the Church to communicate with SPLA-IO outside town. 8.The program is not part of the government, ethnicity or political program.
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9.We will play our role to help the citizens to return to their residential areas from the camp. In regarding the points above, the Church leaders prioritized to meet the Governor of Wau state, the Hon. Mayar Achom to share with him the plan and a way forward on how the Church leaders can mobilize the community to achieve lasting peace in a successful and peaceful process in Wau town.
A New Football Team Launched in Wau Diocese by Bishop Moses Deng Bol By Rev John Bol
The launching of new football team in Wau Diocese, Funded by Bishop Moses actually symbolised the unity of young people in the Diocese as well as in all communities and has shown their willingness of being united for public duty of purpose in the community as Bishop Moses Deng has done for them. Bishop Moses has found this team already organised and was named Real Khormadiir after Real Madrid which means they are expecting to become a strong team like Real Madrid players in the future. The team was really trying to produce well but there was no funds to facilitate it’s activities. The team has the intention and dream that needs well trained players and hopes to be considered for national football competitions. Later they hope to compete in the world cup competition as they have planned and expect to become in the future. Bishop Moses Deng has really been convinced by the young people's plan and was willing to join hands in supporting their idea by paying the hiring funds for a coach to train them well as soon as possible so that
they may reach their goal and will become well organized and a stronger team in the future. Then, Thokagor the captain of the team spoke on behalf of the team that they have actually appreciated Bishop Moses Deng's kindness for them organizing to hire a coach who will train them and give them playing clothes. He was telling Bishop Moses Deng more short stories about how young people come to misbehave, he emphases that “illiteracy and poverty are the main causes for young people to misbehave, some of the young people misbehave and have
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become street robbers in the nation without care for their lives. He has pointed out two considerable points, poverty and illiteracy as they are two of the major causes which is true, young people decided to become street robbers when there has no job opportunities for them or what we call “delaying activities” available for them. Another one is lack of proper education, most of our young people in the country are not educated which gives them a narrow thinking that leads to such decisions of becoming a street robber. In conclusion, Thokagor the captain of the team who spoke on their behalf requested the Diocesan Bishop of Wau the Rt. Rev Moses Deng Bol to continue supporting young people in the nation through education and sport as well as possible so that they may reduce hatred and violence among themselves in the nation. “Lack of social motivation from our leaders in the community is actually bringing us backwards, some of the young people have a lot of challenges in their family which give them a lot of the stresses that may lead their minds toward visionless ideology” he stated. There is a need for young people to be well educated and also be trained with the knowledge of sport activates so that they will later play a part for peace and unity in the nation. Bishop Moses Deng has had this idea some years ago, he has a potential plan about how to unite young people in the nation and also considers football as one of the
cooperative agencies that will bring young people together in playing teams, which can mobilize community peace through football. Football brings cooperation and self confidence among the people in the nation, Bishop Moses already had an idea about mobile national football teams which has to be named “Black Rhino” that will be moved around the nation of South Sudan to play for peace mobilization in the community. He has this idea in his mind and he has just implemented it now. He actually kept his idea until it has become true today as he has just officially launched the playing team named Black Rhino early this week. Bishop instructed them to be the best in social cooperation and self confidence for serving people as well as possible.
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Distribution of Food Aid Donated by the Anglican Relief and Development Fund to Civilians Looted During the Fighting in Wau town By Rev John Bol The Diocese of Wau through ECSS-CARD greatly received the food aid support from ARDF which have as usual supported the war affected community, especially civilians whose properties had been looted in the fighting. ARDF also supported any natural destruction across the community which damaged food crops and other property in the area and forced people to leave residential areas and shift to other places. It is already known that there had been some emergences and disasters, including war and flooding which occurred in our community also other natural disasters such as famine, drought, and heavy rain in this year. These things sometimes happen but the ECSS Diocese of Wau administration tries to respond to such acute community needs when one of the above mentioned things happens. The ECSS Diocese of Wau helps the community to convey what has affected the civilians to its partners so that they can send aid support to them when the priority
needs of those affected are clearly identified. Therefore, the recent fighting that occurred in Wau town caused the lives of civilians who remained there to be unstable due to the lack of enough shelters, food and health facilities. Then, the ARDF in the partnership with the Diocese of Wau through ECSS-CARD administration, which is the development wing of the Diocese generously donated some funds for them since the tension of the Wau situation was increasing and made more civilians IDPs in various locations of Wau town. ECSS-CARD successfully distributed food aid assistance given by ARDF to the target group of those civilians who had their property looted during the fighting. ECSSCARD had actually realized that it is a true need which required humanitarian assistance to the civilians in Wau town as much as possible. We thank our partners for making it possible to provide as much as was required by the needy civilians.
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homes for insecurity and had our property looted in the fighting�. During the day of food distribution, Mary David one of the IDPs leaders appreciated the ECSS-CARD administration and ARDF which donated this food for them. She said that “we have seen the Christian kindness through the ways the Diocese and the ARDF took care of us since we left our residential
The Diocesan Bishop, the Rt. Rev Moses Deng Bol also appreciated the continuation of food aid to the civilians based in Wau by ARDF through ECSS-CARD. He also added that this kindness has shown the civilians the spirit of kindness towards each other.
Bishop Moses is very grateful to all the people and organisations that partner with Wau Diocese to help, provide assistance and guidance. Many great things are done together that could not otherwise be done at all. If you would like to partner with us or help us please contact Bishop Moses or Rev Samuel the Diocesan Secretary using the contact details on page 29. We would be very happy to hear from you .
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Contacting Us:
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By E-mail Diocesan Bishop Rt Rev Moses Deng Bol :
bishop@wau.anglican.org
Gogrial Area Bishop Rt Rev Abraham Ngor :
gogrialareabishop@wau.anglican.org
Tonj Area Bishop Rt Rev Peter Yuol Gur :
tonjareabishop@wau.anglican.org
Diocesan Secretary Rev Samuel Mabith :
dio.secretary@wau.anglican.org
General Enquiries Rev John Bol :
communications@wau.anglican.org
Mother’s Union Mrs Mary John Garang :
mucoordinator@wau.anglican.org
A full list of diocesan staff with contacts can be viewed on our website. By Post: Hai Mozephin, Opposite Wau Teaching Hospital, C/o ECS Provincial Office, P O BOX 110, Juba, South Sudan
Warrap State Peace Mobiliser By Telephone:
Mrs Rose Aciendhel Kacthiek
Tel +211 926954187 or +211 955602769 +254 716641233
+211 914191558 roseaciendel@yahoo.com
Lord we pray for peace and reconciliation in your country of South Sudan. We ask that you will open the hearts and minds of people to forgive and look to a future - Amen
with
no
violence
and
with
prosperity for all living here. Amen.
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Please Pray With Us Pray for the hardworking clergy and volunteers of Wau Diocese who work without pay in difficult conditions. Give thanks to God for churches working together with the local community to establish peace after the recent violence. Pray for the youth football teams showing faith and unity and the hope for peace. Pray for lasting peace and strong development in South Sudan Pray for the recognition and removal of all corruption in South Sudan. Pray for all refugees, that they may one day be able to go home in peace. Give thanks to God for the work of Bishop Barham College University in Uganda. Pray for St John’s College of Theology and Development and its Principal Rev Peter Angui Akook. Pray for all farmers in our community in need of education particularly people new to farming. Pray for the children in Wau Diocese and the schooling projects set to help them. Give Thanks for the generosity of ordinary people who support our church and the work it does. Pray for the situation of food security in South Sudan so that people may have enough to eat. Pray for security in South Sudan so that ordinary people can live their lives peacefully.
Church prayers needs Pray for our Bishop the Rt. Rev Moses Deng Bol, who works so hard for the Diocese, pray that God will help him to do what needs to be done. Pray for Bishop Abraham Ngor – the new Bishop of Gogrial Area Diocese that God will guide him. Pray for Bishop Peter Yuol Gur – the newly consecrated Bishop of Tonj Area Diocese. Pray for Mario Manyang the new Coordinator of Tonj Area Diocese. Pray for all pastors, priests, deacons and assistants working hard in Wau Diocese. Pray for the Mothers Union in Wau Diocese and the good work that they do. Pray for all schools and teachers in Wau Diocese and all those trying hard to learn. Pray for the development of the Area Dioceses of Gogrial and Tonj becoming full dioceses. Pray for the new staff and teachers of St John’s College. Pray for the success of local peace initiatives in Wau Diocese. Pray for all Christians working hard to build and sustain a peaceful development in faith. Give thanks to God for the new mission initiatives in Wau Diocese bringing people to Jesus.