Forward in Partnership and Faith in the ECS Diocese of Wau
A Word from the Diocesan Bishop of Wau By Rt, Rev, Moses Deng. Mutual Partnerships Christianity is full of odd things; I think this is a true thing to say. After three years of intense ministry then the traumatic events of what we now call Holy Week and Easter Jesus is reunited with his disciples and then he leaves them. We celebrate this leaving, his ascension. Having conquered death and paid for our sins Jesus returns to be with his Father. I wonder how the disciples felt about that. But this was not Jesus simply abandoning the disciples, Jesus cared too much for that. God loves you and will never abandon you no matter what happens. The disciples were asked to wait for an Advocate to come. Jesus speaks about this in the Gospel of John chapter 14 verse 26 “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Read the whole story in the first chapter of Acts in verses 1 to 13. In our faith the Holy Spirit is the third part of a strange holy partnership that we call the Trinity. It’s another odd part of Christianity because there are three members of the Trinity yet they are all the same entity. It’s a little like me being a Bishop and also a Husband and also a Father. It’s still me but in each I am different and am known in different ways. The Trinity is really important to us as Christians and I also like the fact that in faith and love it is a partnership as well. At Pentecost which falls ten days after Ascension we remember the very public arrival of our advocate the Holy Spirit. You can read the amazing story of this in second chapter of Acts. Suddenly with flames and wind the Holy Spirit touches everyone and changes them from frightened disciples hiding away to confident preachers that can be heard in any language, what a speech Peter gives!
Page Index A Word From the Bishop......................................2 Success Through Hope and Determination..........4 Wau Lent Course in the UK...................................6 Reunited and Challenged......................................6 CARD Gives Tools to Farmers................................9 A Surprise Donation of Bricks.............................10 Sad Events in Abyei.............................................11 A New French Service Raises Funds....................13 A New Paramount Chief in Abyei........................15 Traditional Artefacts and Income.......................16 Acting Mothers Union Leader Speaks.................17 Bishop’s Training in Tonj East.............................19 2000 Confirmed in Tonj East...............................20 SSLS Dialoguein Wau..........................................22 A Short Seasonal Message..................................24 Contact Us..........................................................24 Please Pray with us ............................................25
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Since that day the Holy Spirit has helped many ordinary people to do amazing things with their faith, beyond all that anyone thought possible. The word Jesus used for the Holy Spirit was advocate, which means someone that is on your side, knows your needs and speaks for you to help you. Truly this is a great gift that God has given us. I sometimes like to think of the Holy Spirit as a kind of partner. Partners are important and essential to getting things done. Businesses have partners; we have life partners when we are married. Partnership is a thing which has a certain balance; in a good partnership there is something to be gained for each partner. Each gives something and receives something. So I think it is really important that as a diocese we have partners and I am so pleased to say that we do. Some of our partners are organisations and some are simply people. I am so grateful to all the people that partner with us, they could so easily give their time and talents to anyone but they choose to support us and our mission here in Wau Diocese. For us the benefit is obvious, a bit like the effect of the Holy Spirit we can do so much more with our partners help. Here we have many practical needs and that is where our partners help us most. Not so long ago a group of people from Poole Deanery in Salisbury Diocese, UK, came to us and stayed in Wau. Poole Deanery is one of our partners in faith and some of these people had come to teach while they were here. We had a very lovely time together but I think that it is no secret that the Poole team learnt as much as they taught. It’s really important to learn about your partners. It was a great pleasure for us to share time with our partners, there is so much we can learn from each other and benefit each other in our faith in God. In working together some of the things that make us a really strong and active church, we were able to share with our partners. This is true partnership, balanced with something for each partner. Partnership is not just about money and projects.
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Churches have supported one another since the very beginning of Christianity which can be seen in chapter 11 of Acts starting at verse 27 “It was about this same time that some prophets came to Antioch from Jerusalem. 28 One of them named Agabus stood up one day and, prompted by the Spirit, warned that a severe famine was about to devastate the country. (The famine eventually came during the rule of Claudius.) 29 So the disciples decided that each of them would send whatever they could to their fellow Christians in Judea to help out. 30 They sent Barnabas and Saul to deliver the collection to the leaders in Jerusalem.� In the idea of something for each partner, we can use the word mutuality, which means a sharing between. The Trinity that we value so highly is mutual. God shares in it, Jesus shares in it and so does the Holy Spirit. In the same way each also receives through the Trinity. The partnership that I like to think we have with the Holy Spirit is mutual; we receive through the Holy Spirit gifts and talents from God and the unwavering support of an advocate. See the gifts of the spirit in 1Corinthians chapter 12 verses 7 to 11. But I have a question, how mutual is our relationship with our partners? Do we look as hard as we should to give as well as receive? What does the Holy Spirit want that we could share? I would like to suggest some answers, what about our prayers and thanksgivings, what about living our lives in a way that pleases God our creator. If you are not sure what I mean Jesus set a really good example in the Gospels and there is much advice in the books of the New Testament. This is the standard we should try to follow. Visitors to South Sudan quickly learn that people here live a simple and spiritual life compared to many of our partners. One thing we can give our partners is a way to get closer to the God that they love; this is a very precious thing and very worth sharing.
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In fact in this precious new country of ours there are many who need help and guidance from faithful partners. Together with all our kind partners and in partnership with the Holy Spirit we can reach out with the love that God has for us and share it mutually with others in need so we all may live as God truly wants us to.
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Every Blessing Bishop Moses Deng
Success Through Hope and Determination By Rev Andrew Apiny Awach Unguceh Okello is a widow and 37 years old. Her husband died during the war, as a single parent she is challenged by the huge responsibility of raising up her two children in the right way whatever happens. She is a person who is mainly dependant on limited quantities of food aid, some of which is sold to earn a small income. At the same time women like Awach are highly vulnerable with many involved in petty businesses, menial jobs and daily labour activities to earn meagre incomes for survival. Awach in her struggles became a tea seller under a mango tree, brick maker, as well as sewer just to earn some income for survival. I asked Awach about her life experiences, she said, “You will never become a truly rich person by sitting down, you must think deeper, wider, and higher with hope, determination and an action plan. I have tried many types of tedious jobs yet I didn’t lose my hope or focus. Because I see things with a long distance perspective and believe that this will come true. When I got married; I thought I will be happy all my days, little did I know nothing is permanent in
this world, today you are happy tomorrow you are not. I realised its better to enjoy your life one day at a time and appreciate what God has given you. You should always recognize that tomorrow things may be different from yesterday. When Christian Action for Relief and Development came, gave us tools and seeds and furthermore gave training at Baryar Horticulture Training Field, then I realized very quickly that my hopes had come true. It was hope that held me up to this point, because I travel with hope and determination. Hope is the
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key. When hope is crushed, the heart is crushed but when a wish comes true it fills you with joy. I have done whatever job was available, even things I didn’t like to do, but I have done them. It’s better to do what you don’t like to do now till you get to what you do like to do. That is my personal ideology. Its with this principle I have been passing through many challenges with a lot of courage and energy hoping that I will get a better job tomorrow and this is exactly what CARD did for me. CARD has
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really wiped away my tears and made me smile again like everyone else. Today the issue of tools, seeds and knowledge are not longer a problem to me, CARD has taken care of that and those were the most top challenges on my list since they were beyond my pocket. CARD has helped with agricultural tools, seeds and above all the knowledge I needed to use them well. I am now am equipped with all the weapons to fight hunger and to sustain my life, this is a great achievement which I will go home with. To the people of the European Union who have made this project possible thank you very much, I was held up by my conditions but you relieved me, I was depressed but you brought me happiness and peace of mind to my family. You have sharpened my mind and transformed my soul, you have restored my hopes and dignity, you have given me the weapons to fight hunger. May God bless every work of your hands and make all your plans productive to continue helping the poor and marginalized people so that their dreams may come true. Rev Andrew is the coordinator of CARD the Relief and Development agency for Wau Diocese
Wau Diocese Lent Course – in Kent UK By Gwen Stavely ‘We are a small group at a village church who meet each Wednesday evening and over the years, we have used a number of programs to inspire and organize our discussions. My own feelings are that yours is probably the best. I could identify a number of reasons but there is one aspect of your course that made it particularly inspiring and it is this that I think could be made better still.
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the most profound understanding. Specifically I mean, in the week where you give us a Christian philosophy of work and the week about humility and education. People might say that the examples you give being set in an African agricultural community were not so relevant to people in Kent - partly because people think of work only in terms of selling their labour - but what you had to say would be the most exciting ideas to bring to unemployed people here. I think your churches must be exciting places to follow Jesus. Thank you.’
Because your own church in South Sudan is set in a community different from our own, I think you have helped to bring us the perspective of the universality of the truth of the word of Jesus. So, it was in those weeks' of discussion where your examples were in South Sudan that I found
In Lent 2013 Wau Diocese produced what is believed to be the first ever Lent Study from the Episcopal Church of Sudan. Bishop Moses together with three of his staff worked very hard to create a course of study that allowed groups to discuss aspects of faith that displayed the challenges of life especially as seen in South Sudan. Using their website this course was successfully shared with Christians in the UK, USA and several other countries with a forum held online.
Archdeacon Reunited and Challenged By The Ven Abraham Ngor Warm greetings from Lietnhom, South Sudan. May the Name of the Lord be praised forever and ever Amen. I would like to take this opportunity to inform you with the great joy in my heart that the loving God Who cares for His children has done a great miraculous thing for my mother's family by releasing my brother from the hardship of slavery. My brother, Mark Akol is the first born of my mother, he is now 48 years old. He was kidnapped together with his wife in the first week of January 1993. His little boy of three years old was left with the old mother. He was taken into slavery in the very hostile land of
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Arab Mesiria in Southern Kordofan. He suffered with his wife through the difficulties of raising young kids and through the hardship of working as the salve of enemies. We heard of him recently during the separation period and the separation took place immediately and there was no way for him to come to the South. Many people including his best friends and neighbors were looted and killed in the villages where they were living but God saved his life with his children.
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church saying the good things that the Lord did in his life. Prayers for the returnee family of my brother to fit with the situation in the South.
Above all Iam appealing to you my dear brethren in the Lord to give little support to this returnee’s family at least three Month period to let them wait for the next harvest. Prayers for the mother who was attacked by serious illness (tuberculosis) for the period of time that she had been in the place of hardship without medical care.
Leaving for Study, My Family Now Together. I will be going for further studies for my degree for two years. I have long planned this and it is my opportunity. I will be going with my family to Kabale in South west Uganda.
Through God’s saving power we made connection with friends from the natives of Arab Messiria who were the traders in our home area of Lietnhom. We sold cows and the money was given to the one of these friends who was doing business in Wau town and then he wired the money to his friend who made the redemption and facilitated their transport secretly in the night through the bush until they reached Abyei. Mark Akol kissed his old mother and gave thanks to God for protecting her for 20 years that he was absent. Our mother's family was reunited recently. We welcomed them and kissed them with flowing tears of Joy and great happiness as it was like a dream. They came and spent only two weeks in preparation and were baptized because they were thirsty to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. He is now an active member in the
Pray for my young kids who will be going to stay in the cold land of Kabale while there will be no good accommodation rooms and a lack of funds for renting good residential houses in the University campus.
The Returnee Family The family has 8 members these including the Father, Mother and six children.
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Mark Akol Mangong (the father 48 years old) Tabisa Nyanut Abuong (the mother 38 years old) Martin Majok Akol (The first born 24 years old) Christina Achiruou Akol 18 years old) Asunta Anok Akol (15 years old). Priscilla Abak Akol (13 years old). Mary Abuol Akol (11 years old). Daniel Dut Akol (the younger son who is 8 years old).
They are all at my house but their condition as returnees is very difficult. We tried so many means as a family to accommodate them but still it is difficult due to the many needs of homeless people. They are undermined by the local relief agencies because they say that they don’t recognize the individual repatriation or a single family’s movement. I should be leaving them behind due to the bigger future plan for serving God to get knowledge and skills to serve Him better. May the Lord provide for them as the Bible says:
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“therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” I appreciate all the brethren who have been praying for my brother for all these years until God open the way for him to come out from slavery and hardship. Many thanks to the ECS Wau diocese leadership, Baroness Cox and the team of ALARM leadership especially Rev. Dr Celestin Musekura. This is what Rev Dr Celestine wrote in respond to the good news that He received about my brother and reminded us about the deep prayers we prayed six years ago. Another miracle for one of ALARM Families in South Sudan “After 20 years of separation from his brother who was kidnapped and taken into slavery by Arab raiders from northern Sudan, Rev. Abraham Ngor, one of our staff members in South Sudan sent us a message that his brother has returned home with a wife and four beautiful daughters and two sons. Rev. Ngor writes: "God brought back my brother's family who had been
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away for 20 years. God blessed him with four beautiful daughters and two sons. Our mother's family was reunited yesterday." Read more of his praises in the email below.
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South Sudan when we cried many tears after Abraham narrated the event of the raid and we cried to God to bring this brother back home! God is never late.
I vividly remember about five or six years ago when I was serving with the team in Lietnhom,
CARD Distributes Agriculture Tools to Farmers for the Upcoming Season By Rev Andrew Apiny Christian Action for Relief and Development CARD is an indigenous South Sudanese organization and the development wing of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, Diocese of Wau. Card has been funded by the European Union for a three year food security project to be implemented in the two counties of Wau and Jur River. The 36 month project seeks to reduce the incidence of general and acute malnutrition among rural households with its objective specifically to improve the food security and nutrition of particularly disadvantaged and marginalised people in Western Bahr el Ghazal state while strengthening local institutions to better address food insecurity and climate threats. Concrete expected results of the intervention, leading to the achievement of these objectives are increased production and diversification of agricultural production, increased awareness on nutrition issues, an
improved and accessible marketing system and increased food access for vulnerable IDPs and returnees. Recently the organization procured over one thousand set of tools and distributed them to almost one thousand households in Wau and Jur River County where staple crop production is being implemented. Each household received set of tools including a rake, axe and maloda correspondently; the leading farmers are undergoing Animals Traction Training at the same time as well. While in Wau Municipality where vegetable crop production is most realized farmers received a set of tools including Watering Cans, Rakes, hand Hoes and are now undergoing horticulture training in all our demonstration plots after which they will be given a diverse range of seeds and start setting up kitchen gardens in their own homes. These activities will all be monitored by a CARD extension officer to ensure satisfactory progress.
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Cathedral Walls Ready in a Month Thanks to a Surprise Donation of Bricks By Rev Andrew Apiny The construction of the Good Shepherd Cathedral in Wau kicked off today on 11st April 2013. According to the engineer, Angelo Zaberia Athai, who is the ECS Contractor, the church wall construction is expected to finish within one month. This report came straight to the Renewal Newsletter. Angelo Zaberia together with his team have confidence that the church wall construction will not take them a long time to finalize. He continue saying, we have everything in place and my workers are very committed, hardworking people whom I believe strongly in. They will not let me down in anyway and given the fact that there are 32 workers in total this is a guarantee that this work will finish on time as planned. However, Angelo and his team have pointed out that the challenge will be just one of many more and that it is the issue of getting water and some materials for building that may affect them. Rev Joseph Mamer Manot who is the dean of the cathedral together with his curate pastors, church elders and church
members promised that he together with his curates will do whatever is possible to make sure all things for the workers will be available on time for the work to move on smoothly. They also appeal to the congregation on Sundays to contribute toward church construction in order to pay the engineers and the workers as well as buying some of the materials which are needed for construction such as cement. Although this will in one way or another be an inconvenience to us however; we still have confidence and hope said Angelo that with God all things are possible. God’s work will not stop simply because there is no water or cement. His Excellency the State Governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal State Rizik Zacharia Hassan has promised to donate 150,000 burned bricks out of which 85,000 bricks have been delivered already at the ECS’s church compound.
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The rest, 65,000 bricks will be delivery soon according the governor's spokesman. He said the government is willing to support the church project in whatever way to succeed because we are one institution; no one is working for the failure of other institutions we all want success for the betterment of our new nation. Governor Riziks donation to raise up the church wall is one of great relief to the church today. The church was in dilemma on what to do to buy the bricks. The dean of the cathedral had appealed to the church members on several occasions but there was no sign of any commitment to buy bricks.
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Things were hanging in the air with no sign of progress. But "what Governor Rizik did for the ECS is something that Episcopalians will never forget in ECS history" said the Dean Rev Joseph Mamer. Nobody knows where to get the bricks, it came as surprise to us and after the governor asked me to give him the details of the church, no later than two days after we could see the big lorry carry the bricks to our church compound. Governor Rizik's donation was most welcomed by the Diocesan Bishop Moses Deng and the church members, it is an indication that the government has a good spirit towards the church said the the Rt Rev Moses Deng Bol, Bishop of Wau Diocese
Sad Events in Abyei By Tim Flatman
You may have seen in the news reports of an attack on a village east of Abyei, with homes burned down and people killed. In fact there were three villages (Galar, Piuk and Kar) burned down, in a series of co-ordinated attacks at around 4am on Saturday morning. All the villages are around 4-6km east of Abyei town. This follows an attack on Tajalei village in
which 3 were killed on the 23rd (following a thwarted attack in March), a landmine explosion south of the river Kiir and a shooting by men on a motorcycle outside the UNISFA base in Abyei town on the 20th and a similar shooting incident on the 16th. The three villages are now deserted, as is a nearby village (I think Myikol, although I am not sure). Brave people are still
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staying in Tajalei, even though it is arguably more exposed than the other three. UNISFA have increased security there. How effective that will be remains to be seen. I also heard of two other separate incidents of people being killed, (one west of Abyei, one east) although I don't have any further information about that. All these incidents were perpetrated by Misseriya, presumably members of PDF/SAF and certainly co-ordinated by SAF. In another incident, 150 armed Misseriya tried to cross the river Kiir near Rumamer and it is believed they were trying to launch an attack on the larger numbers of people south of the river Kiir. Fortunately they were caught by UNISFA and sent back (though with no sanction). The aim of all the attacks - successful and unsuccessful, is to create fear, drive returnees out of Abyei again and deter others from coming back. Local people believe there is a 3-stage plan by Misseriya acting on behalf of and co-ordinated by the Sudan Armed Forces: 1. Loot cattle 2. Attack villages, killing burning down homes 3. Abduct children
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Currently we are in the second stage. I have been told people are tired of complaining and reporting attacks to UNISFA and to Juba because no action is taken. Juba says the issue of Abyei is in the hands of the international community, and the international community do nothing. Church leaders are travelling to arguably more exposed areas (Noong, Maker & Todac) to carry out an assessment with the aim of supporting people in the those villages with local building materials and MFI kits (basic survival, mosquito protection etc). Sadly they also report that FAO do not appear to be channelling any support in terms of seed through local NGOs this year, a decision which might lead some new returnees
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to return to Agok and rely on WFP food support rather than growing their own food in their homes. The only thing that can stop these kinds of actions in the long term is to carry out a referendum, acknowledge Abyei as part of South Sudan and allow them, with SPLA support, to defend the area. This means either the African Union forwarding their proposal to the UN Security Council to enforce (which they have twice passed up the opportunity to do), or the UNSC taking it out of their hands. UNISFA manage to persuade Misseriya to go back when they catch them in the act of attacking, but it is all a game - they send them back without sanction and then they attack again another day. Even so, Dinka would still allow Misseriya migration into Abyei for grazing reasons after a referendum placing Abyei in South Sudan, but every attack poisons the Dinka-Misseriya relationship further. We also need UNISFA to take these incidents more seriously, to provide better protection, to investigate incidents, and publish details of them where the perpetrators and their affiliations are identified, and without making perpetrators and victims morally equivalent.
Please pray for:
the families of those affected: for healing, and that they would grieve in a way that proclaims the gospel to others. those considering whether to stay in their villages: for boldness, wisdom (should they leave or stay? should they stay but send their children back? etc), and trust in what God is doing and has revealed, even when that seems contrary to the evidence around them for God's protection: the Ngok people know him as their Protector. Can he allow that reputation to be undermined? for the local church as they continue to travel into the villages as the only source of support for returnees
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the international community (especially the African Union, and UNSC): in the face of co-ordinated and systematic attacks on civilians contrary to agreements Sudan has made, how can they think Sudan will ever resolve the issue of Abyei directly with South Sudan? Every action by Sudan is intended to prevent resolution
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UNISFA: that God would purge them of those who sympathise with the Government of Sudan; that they would take stronger action against those found attacking or attempting to attack civilians; for openness; that truth would be more important to them than it is now
A New French Service Dedicated to the ECS Educational Work in Wau Diocese By Dr Sebastien Fath (in communion with Mrs Naomi Baki who made all this possible)
A long time ago, the French came to Wau (Bahr el Ghazal). They were led by Captain Marchand and stayed for about 7 months. It happened at the end of the XIXth Century. The Marchand Mission created Fort Desaix, at the root of contemporary Wau. This small page of History has been nearly forgotten. How many French know today about Wau ? Only a few. How many people in Wau know about French churches now ? Probably only a few as well. But the Gospel is full of stories which start with a few. For God, nothing is impossible. He can turn small into big ! And He can use a few people of good-will for a great purpose. To God all the glory ! Thanks to Mrs Naomi Baki, a bold witness of the restorative power of God's Grace, native from Raja (Western bahr el Ghazal), awareness meetings in churches have started in France. The Easter 2013 issue of Renewal magazine kindly shared details about a first service organized in November 2012 in Chauny Baptist Church, leading to targeted prayers and a gift of 410 euros. The aim was to encourage WAU ECS diocese in
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particular in its school work for women. Since then, Mrs Naomi Baki, accompanied by her daughter Caroline (who was baptized a few weeks later, we praise God !) has spoken again very powerfully in another Baptist Church in Compiègne (France). It is located in a beautiful chapel formerly owned by the Anglican Church (belonging to the ECS communion). Nearby stands a great castle formerly occupied by the French Emperor Napoleon the Third. This special service dedicated to Wau and its educational work for women happened on Sunday, 24th of March, 2013. Naomi Baki's strong testimony was followed by a slideshow and a short sermon (done by Sebastien Fath). As Mrs Baki advocated for the ECS work in WAU, her team was blessed enough to collect this time the amount of 1720 Euros, which is more than 2,200 US dollars. Four times more than in Chauny, we thank God ! It has been sent since to Wau diocese. Many in Compiègne Church were moved by the stories, and hungry to know more about the situation in Bahr El Ghazal. For most people in France, South
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Sudan is not yet on the map. But it will change ! Our God is a God of renewal and new beginnings, and we thank God to know that the new free nation of South Sudan will find more and more friends in France and Europe in the coming years, through committed ambassadors like Mrs Baki. We ask God to lead all of us, Christians from South Sudan and from France, to unite more in prayer and communion. Wau brothers and sisters have a lot to give to the French. Great examples of enthusiasm, creativity, enduring faith and so much more. French Christians are glad too if by God's grace, they can be used as a blessing to their brothers and sisters in South Sudan. We pray the awareness work in France will grow (in Christian and also non-Christian circles), and we pray for a growing fellowship and unity between all of us, serving the needs of the poor, the left-behind and the hopeless. To God all the praise ! God bless Wau and South Sudan !
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Abyei's New Paramount Chief Vows to Follow in "Footsteps" of Late Kuol An Article Originally from the Sudan Tribune
8 MAY 2013 - Juba The newly-appointed paramount chief of the nine Ngok Dinka of the disputed region of Abyei vowed on Wednesday that he will follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, late Kuol Deng Kuol. The former chief died on Saturday when a convoy he was travelling in with the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA) was ambushed by armed members of the nomadic Arab Misseriya tribe on as they returned to Abyei town after a visit further north. Kuol was part of a joint delegation from Juba and Khartoum that visited the area to hold talks on how the two sides could move forward with consultations to end the deadlock on the formation of a temporary administration in the strife-torn border zone. The delegation held talks in Abyei town from the 3-4 May, before traveling north to Kej for similar talks and to familiarise themselves with the activities of oil companies operating there. Speaking for the first time since being announced as Kuol's replacement at a family gathering in Abyei on Wednesday, chief Bulabek Deng Kuol, a medical practitioner, called for unity, saying he would work towards accomplishing what his predecessor had planned. "I have informally held meetings with the family members, community leaders, chiefs and elderly. In these meetings I have received assurance of support and readiness to work together which I think is very important and it is the only right way we can honour the
success of our late paramount chief", Bulabek told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday. "We need to remain united and show that we can over[come] any challenge, including this tragic incident. As to how I am going to work with the people, I have assured that them I will follow [in the] footsteps of Kuol Adol. He was not working alone", he added. STANDING TOGETHER: Bulabek was among several South Sudanese government officials attending Kuol's burial service on Monday, led by the secretary-general of the governing Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), Pagan Amum. Speakers from the delegation assured members of the Ngok Dinka community of the government's commitment to "stand together with them", explaining that the loss of their chief was not only a loss to the community, but also a great loss to the entire nation. "I would like to advise you that, [we] stand as one person with the new chief, South Sudan's deputy defence minister, Majak D'Agoot, told mourners at the burial. D'Agoot likened Kuol's death to an incident in his home state of Jonglei in 1967, in which 27 paramount chiefs were shot dead. "Twenty-seven chiefs were shot and slaughtered in Jonglei State in 1967 by the government in Khartoum because they were considered rebels. Remember Ngok people have [the] strength and courage of support. The South Sudan government delegation was sent
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on behalf of the president, Salva Kiir, [as] a commitment to stand with the people of Abyei in the desired struggle", he told mourners. He also reiterated the South Sudanese government's commitment to achieving the successful conduct of a planned referendum in October to decide the fate of Abyei, which is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan. A referendum initially scheduled for January 2011 never took place due to ongoing disagreements between Khartoum and Juba over who was eligible to participate. In a bid to end the stalemate last year, the African Union (AU) backed a proposal allowing
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only those residing permanently in the area to vote in the plebiscite. The decision effectively excludes members of the Misseriya nomads, who enter the area at different times of the year to graze their cattle, from participating in the vote. The Southern-aligned Dinka Ngok tribe comprise the majority of permanent residents and are expected to vote in favour of joining with South Sudan. Sudan has rejected the plan, but mediators stress the exclusion of the Misseriya nomads is in line with a decision by the Hague-based arbitration court, which defined the territory of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms in July 2009.
Traditional Artefacts Become a Source of Income By Rev Andrew Apiny Traditional artefacts have become a source of income rather than objects for fun according to the manufacturer of an object in Kangi, Jur River County. He told the Renewal Newsletter on being interviewed that "while people were buying them for fun but to me, relics are my main source of income in which I feed my whole family and goes as far as educating my children". He said, "initially the ideal of making these artefacts was to revise our practices and maintain the Luo waning cultures and traditional artefacts, which were badly weakened by colonial rule in 19th century. The Jo-Luo were artefacts of forest agriculturists and iron miners. However, during the English period of 18551956 they were forbidden to produce, or mine iron. Many who continue to practice mining were either jailed or killed (1938). Such brutal
behaviour led to abandoning not only the only source of income to our people but totally removing the cultural practices of the Luo people. Preliminary artefact making were our main sources of economy in those days as well as
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blacksmithing, agriculture and hunting, production of Bee Honey and fishing. My people have perfected these trades over centuries and have shared their knowledge with neighbouring ethnic groups until the foreign government made the practice of this kind of thing illegal. Today reworking artefacts to Joseph is not only about remaking the Luo practices to grind down at this defining moment but it has become a form of self-reliance, self business, it’s all about making money for prosperity. As matter of fact he is selling big numbers of these artefacts on a daily basis. Many people who drive this way, both international communities and South
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Sudanese communities, always stop here and buy, including the Luo themselves who are the makers of these artefacts and have paid dearly to have it. Each one cost 15 SSP to 100 SSP. According to Joseph this business has two sides, to tell one it support my life and educates my children as well. I have hope now that my kids will finish their studies successfully like others kids. On the Other side of the story, many people wonder how I make these beautiful relics, this again promotes Luo cultural practices nationally and internationally and preserves them from diminishing or disappearing altogether.
Mother’s Union Leader Speaks By Daniel Machar Dhieu This speech was given to all Mothers Union Members in the Five Archdeaconries of the Tonj East Area in Wau Diocese. Through the grace of our lord Jesus, I greet you in Jesus name our saviour. Am very glad and grateful to be with you today, I would like to introduce myself to you. I am by name Victoria Yar Majak I was appointed as the acting Mother’s Union leader in Wau diocese during the last standing meeting in Wau town. Some might have heard about me before, many of you are questioning themselves of my not coming to them as your leader. Here, I am telling you that I was ready to reach you at anytime but I failed to make it due to a transport problem. Indeed, we have a vehicle for Mothers Union but still there is the problem of fuel. First and foremost, I thank the Almighty God for His guidance on me to reach his people and My Bishop who has really led me to you today. I have made a strategic plan for us as women in the Diocese of Wau under the umbrella of Mothers Union (MU). So, what I want from you is hard working, look into the Acts of the Apostles chapter 9:36-42 then you will learn
that, what we doubt belongs to us as human beings. Being faithful or Christian belong to you as a person but we all know being faithful without work can easily get lost and being faithful or Christian with hard work can never get lost. As we are aware of this message then we need to cooperate and work in this family without doubt from one another, and if you see me in front of you remember I am not a leader of my own I am a leader because of you. Therefore, if you don’t cooperate with me then I will achieve nothing, this work needs us to cooperate in order to achieve our goal as we will do more things than we ever have and beyond our expectations in the future. Now, if you accepted me to work with you then we will start this way. Last time I heard that, you were having little contributions for the Diocese of Wau in your-various destinations as I did in Tonj archdeaconry when I was a women’s leader. Indeed, I doubted as well as you doubted too. However, I am now in that office of mother union that you doubted in. But there were some points that let me doubt; we were paying money to the
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Mother Union office but we were not given a receipt, and we were not instructed by the office to know the use of our money in their office, nobody even was ready to let me know the purpose of paying this money.
consumption or cash sales. On the other side, we need to open a lot of plots for green vegetables such as tomatoes, kudura, okora and many other food crops that are helpful to human life.
Today, if you agree to work with me then I already propose three positions for every women’s group in the church to run your administration in the church. You need to choose for your own church a Leader or Chairlady, Accountant and Secretary. Among these one will be coming to our office in Wau with your amount that you have organised, and she will receive a receipt and take it back to you, she will be able to explain more about our work to you at her return.
Therefore, you will get all these kind of seeds in Wau office of mother union, if you agree to work upon this order of our strategic plan on food security.
Also, the leader of the Mother's Union in your area should register all women in the church and each person should then pay 10 pounds as her membership. On other hand every woman must pay 5 pounds per month for the Mother's Union at diocese level in wau, this will help us in our daily operations to conduct workshops and the many other programs that will be run through this office, including the welcoming of visitors who may be visiting us. You may be surprised that I start my talk or work with money, this is because we heard before that being a Christian with both faith and work can never get lost at all. We all know money in town is our work as women it can be easy for us to organize a garden for us to get income, we may even think of many things that may generate money to us such as making bedsheet designs and make our own projects, and make requests to our donors to provide us with enough funds and some material such as machines for us to make uniforms for our own pupils and students. This is our work in the Diocese of Wau, by doing this it can help us a lot in our daily life. Indeed, I would like to remind you that our position as women in the Diocese of Wau is very vital. We need to extend or evacuate ourselves from growing tobacco as the main cash crops in the region and let’s turn ourselves to grow food crops either for home
Other points to note, we have some God gifted women among us who are talented in designing things as we have things like kuot in our own language this can be designed and decorated by us as looks attractive to people then it will be sold to other people and make us money. Also making soft brooms and yard brooms can act as sources of income if sold and strengthen our economic status and financial problem. Not only that, if you know how to make bleach you may also make it and this will act as sources of income in our office. As you went through the history of this nation, our nation south Sudan is blessed of many good things as for our community of Dinka, we have many important things such as honey, lulu oil and many things that we have on our land that you may be willing to offer to God if you have. However, you are allowed to come with it to the office of the Mother's Union in Wau, there you will get the person that will help you in selling them with you then you will pay what you like to give to God and go with the other remaining. Remember, if you go with remaining one, please don’t go to your own home you need to sit-down with all your three leaders as one team asked the remaining money then make sure this money is kept in your financial concerns in the church. This will help you with any condition and visitors that may come to you, and this will promote you as having good responsibility without men. After you accepted to work on this channel then you will have a box with three padlocks and this box will remain in the church. This is the most important tool of all.
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This is what I want to tell you as your leader, I want to let you know that you should let the archdeacon of your area know what is going on at the church. The same to me, if you accepted this work that I have planned I cannot do it alone without leaders above me.
Thanks you very much, may God bless you all and make you strong to defeat every temptation through our Saviour Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
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Yours in Christ - Victoria Yar Majak Acting Mothers Union Leader, Wau Diocese
Please note, Bishop Moses has confirmed that Wau Diocese has recruited a lady called Mary John Garang as Mother Union Coordinator. At the time of publishing she is in the process of taking up her position.
Training of Church Leaders and Pastors in Tonj By Daniel Dhieu The two weeks pastors training in the three archdeaconries of Tonj East County has come to an end on 21/02/2013. This training was conducted by the Rt. Rev. Moses Deng Bol bishop of Wau; all the clergies were trained on the Anglican administration system. Therefore, Bishop Moses explains in his teaching the role of the Pastor in the church as one of many roles in the church of Christ. He told the Pastors that it is the role of the Pastor to baptize new members who are joining the family of Christianity and see that they are rooted in the church with good care. A pastor needs many gifts which includes the abilities of preaching and teaching the word of God, monitoring Christians in their faith, leading congregations in vision and goal setting, and empowering members of the local congregation to fulfil the vision and mission of Christ. Not only that, a pastor will have other specific roles which are very unique to their own faith and journey. The most important thing for a pastor to note in the Church is to make sure those Christian members of a church be put in a church system that is well managed to get rooted in the church organisation. Because many people know nothing about the systems of Church unless they are told to do anything important and if we
don’t teach them in a good way then we will have achieved nothing although we brought them into the new life of Jesus. Therefore, in this administration all the pastors need to be more participatory in facilitating the situation of new members of the church, because they may become confused and create problems in the whole diocese. The Rural Deans are to take over the parishes and make reports to their Archdeaconries while the Archdeacons are to report directly to the Bishop. By following this course good management and communication can be shared. In this relation, Bishop Moses directs all the leadership in the diocese of Wau so that everyone may have a position in the Christ led ministry. Lay-readers are to teach Christians about baptism, confirmation, Holy communion and other spiritual activities in the Church before the Pastor. Lay-readers are able to lead the church when there is no pastor in the church. Evangelists are to spread and teach the gospel of Christ to the people and take the message back to the Pastor when there is need of baptisms. Evangelists have no fixed place for him or her to stay and can be moved at anytime. Not only Evangelist can be moved but both the pastors’
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lay-readers are flexible for relocation if the time comes. He added that, All baptized Christians are expected to exercise leadership according to the spiritual gifts they have been given. After the training Bishop Moses Deng Bol made a lot of important changes in the three Archdeaconries transferring pastors in charge of their churches to other areas within the diocese and some Rural-Deans to other deaneries within
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the diocese. People like Ngor, Daniel Chol were move from Ananatak Archdeaconry to Paliang Archdeaconry, and Pastors such as Peter were relocated to other parishes in Paliang and Paweng Archdeaconry. Bishop Moses concluded that every Pastor has to note this in his mind that transferring a person from parish to parish or deanery to deanery is not a crime but is administrative error in the diocese
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Up to Two Thousand Confirmed in Tonj East By Daniel Dhieu Bishop Moses Deng Bol of Wau has confirmed at least two thousand people in the three archdeaconries of Tonj east during his visit to the Tonj East area in March 2013. Places like Palal Deanery, Ngapagok, Wunlit and Ananatak in Ananatak Archdeaconry, Romic in Paliang Archdeaconry, Mafara Deanery in Makuach Archdeaconry - where 700 were confirmed and Paweng Archdeaconry. In these places the attendance was from 300 to 500 people showing that there are many Christians in the archdeaconries under the Episcopal Church of Sudan in the Anglican community.
commitment to the Church.” In fact, the Church requires priests to confirm infants and children younger than the age of reason when they are in danger of death so that they may receive the greatness of the Holy Spirit. Mature commitment to Christ and the Church is expressed in full participation in the Church.
Bishop Moses told the members in the churches that, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant made at Baptism. Whereas baptism is normally a parents' decision for their infant child, confirmation is usually received at a coming of age for most. The confirmed person becomes a congregation member at their own choosing. Avid followers of Christianity desire a full lifelong development into the faith and Confirmation is obviously a crucial step in that regard. Those who receive Confirmation are able to reap its benefits from the moment of reception. The graces of this sacrament conferred at a younger age are of great assistance to young people as they grow toward adolescence and young adulthood.
The danger in thinking that Confirmation is a “sacrament of maturity” is that we put the focus on the one receiving the sacrament rather than where it truly belongs:
But sacraments are gifts of grace from our heavenly Father – they are not earned or merited. For this reason, Confirmation should not be perceived as “the sacrament of adult
It is not achieved at a single moment but throughout the life-long deepening of our relationship with Christ. This begins in our lifetime and continues until death. Confirmation is an initiation, not a graduation!
Some religious educators believe that by withholding Confirmation until tenth grade, we keep young people involved in the life of the church for a longer period of time. Translation: “Let’s hold young people captive in order for them to receive grace from God.” How do we justify this? This attitude surely has a negative impact on young people and their experience of God and church. Is this the God we want them to know? One who withholds grace until we’ve jumped through all the hoops that our church tells us we have to jump through? If we keep dangling the sacrament over children’s heads like a carrot, we can’t expect them to have a positive memory or experience of the church or God later in life.
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It is often said among religious educators that by having a strong Confirmation program for ninth and tenth graders, we can get back those kids who haven’t been in religious formation since First Communion. But, instead of working to get teenagers back into the life of the church in ninth and tenth grade, why aren’t we working harder to keep them and their families in the life of the church after First Communion? We wait until it’s too late, and then wonder why we don’t see any of our tenth graders at Mass or active in the life of the church. The reality is that the same young people who are at Mass on Sunday with their family before they receive Confirmation are the same ones who are at Mass on Sunday with their family after they receive Confirmation. Therefore, our focus must be on keeping children (and their families) active and involved in the life of the church while they are young, rather than on “getting them back” when they enter high school. Some people wonder whether eighth graders will be able to fully understand what Confirmation means. But, does an infant understand what baptism is? Does a 7-year-old fully understand the mystery of the Lord? Do any of us? The goal of our life as Episcopalism is to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of God’s love for us each day throughout our lives said Bishop Moses Deng. The sacraments are not the pinnacle of Christian life; they are its foundation the foundation upon which we build our understanding and appreciation of how much God loves us. If we teach that Confirmation comes as a result of mature understanding of faith, then it becomes a graduation; an ending. Here: you have gained it! You have completed your classes, you have done enough service you have attended a retreat so, here you go! But Confirmation isn’t a merit badge! It doesn’t represent what we have done; it represents what we must do! We don’t merit the graces of the sacraments, and this is what makes them all the more powerful and meaningful. If we are being awarded the grace of the sacrament because of our work, or maturity, or some other condition, then it becomes something we are entitled to, rather than a gift. But it is a gift from our generous Father in heaven.
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Why wait? We would benefit greatly from the divine grace of Confirmation. I am concerned that many young adults are missing out on the extraordinary opportunity to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit because of life’s demands and distractions that begin in high expectation drives work, and more responsibilities at home. While our faith often does require us to make choices that require sacrifices, I believe that young people can enjoy of blessing and received victory. Confirmation preparatory programs must serve as springboards into the life of the church, not as obstacles. In conclusion, we are happy to have this great number received in to confirmation with the blessing of the Almighty; this is a plan that will allow the young people of Tonj East area to receive Confirmation in the church. In the meantime, be sure that we will continue to create lessons that engage young people in ways that make faith and values easy to understand and, more importantly, relevant to them. We also like to have some fun along the way, and we look forward to the growth of our youth ministry program, which will facilitate the journey from learning about God in the church to experiencing God in the life of the Tonj East archdeaconries. The Confirmation preparatory program is a bridge and there is no reason why this journey, this experience should not be a joy-filled experience! As we do this, please bless us with your support. Remember that it is always the parents’ responsibility to see that their children remain connected to the sacraments and to the life of the church, no matter how old they are. Despite the fact that Christ the King is one of only a dozen or so archdeaconries in the diocese beginning this program, many dioceses and parishes have begun to think about what strongly encourages: lowering the age for Confirmation. And, since those who receive the sacrament are able to reap its benefits from the moment of reception, we at Christ the King joyfully move that moment to an earlier time in the life of our young people, and we say: Come Holy Spirit! Sooner rather than later!
Bishop Moses has now confirmed around 5000 people in Wau Diocese, faith here is growing.
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South Sudan Law Society Dialogue In Wau Taken from the Sudan Tribune with comments by Bishop Moses Deng
Citizen of Western Bhar el-Ghazal State calls for limitations of President Powers and the Independence of Executive, Legislature and Judiciary and transparency in the making process of the permanent Constitution of South Sudan South Sudan Law society in partnership with Justice Africa and the Civil Society Resource Team on the Constitution with the support from Danish Government are conducting a three day dialogue on the constitution and the constitution review process in Western B State. The dialogue brought together participants from all three counties in the State and each County has come with at least 18 members from different categories. The dialogue commenced on Monday 13th and will come to an end on 15th of May 2013 at the University of Bahr el Ghazal in Wau. The Wau Dialogue is part of the on-going CSO constitution process whose main objectives are;
included in this process. The dialogues are facilitated by members of the Civil Society Resource Team on the Constitution. The attendance of the Wau dialogue was 150 participants, drawn from the following categories of society;
Community leaders especially Paramount Chiefs Parliamentarians Religious Leaders Women groups Youth Local authorities Academics NGOs and CBOs Police Prisoners and political parties Methodology and facilitation
The principles of good governance and democracy was outlined and an overview of the content of the Transitional Constitution given.
To enhance the participation of the citizens of South Sudan in the constitution making process
Participants were given an opportunity to put forth what they believe should be incorporated in the Transitional Constitution.
To promote civic education and the sharing of information on the constitution
To enable a coordinated effort of lobbying and advocacy for a people driven constitution
The views of the participants will be recorded and will be subsequently submitted to the National Constitution Review Commission for possible inclusion in the permanent constitution.
To prepare citizen’s at state level for the National Constitution Review Commission’s consultations
The project is premised on the conviction that the process of constitution making is equally as important as the final substance and it is therefore necessary that the people are
The facilitators have been trained to role playing, small group problem solving, simulations etc. Lecture-based civic education was minimal. The programme acknowledges the fact that participatory methods are more effective in informal learning processes Main Discussion Issues were;
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An outline and analysis of the key features of the transitional constitution
The Constitution as a Power Map with analysis of the power dynamics and power balance between three arms of the government.
The set-up , role and responsibility of the local government, councils and state governments with a keen analyses of federal and Unitary Political structures
Parliamentary and Presidential political systems
Human rights and citizens obligations with an emphasis on the rights of minority groups such as women, youth and people with disabilities
Limitation of powers , Checks and balances and Resource Management among others
Bishop Moses Comments I attended the dialogue on the first day but have not been able to return because I am very engaged with the building of the Cathedral walls. However Rev Bang Akuei the Curate of the Arabic Service in the Cathedral and many other ECS Members have been attending and showing great interest. When I attended the facilitators who were mainly from the group of Civil Society Organizations in South Sudan gave an overview of the three day conference. They shared the summary of the content of the Interim Constitution and highlighted areas that have previously raised concerns among South Sudanese such as Presidential powers which they say are too much. These powers include the following;
The President has powers to suspend some bills of rights in an emergency situation
Power to sack elected Governors
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Power to Close Parliament, appoint and sack judges among others
Other concerns include a lack of affirmative action for people with disabilities as it is with women, lack of defined marriageable age and many other issues. I think that it is a very positive thing that we are able to sit and discuss together the way that our society works and also ways that it may work better for everyone living in South Sudan.
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Contacting Us:
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By E-mail Diocesan Bishop Rt Rev Moses Deng Bol : bishop@wau.anglican.org Diocesan Secretary Rev Peter Yuol Gur : dio.secretary@wau.anglican.org General Enquiries Mr Daniel Machar : communications@wau.anglican.org Mother’s Union Mrs Mary John Garang : mothersunion@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 By Telephone: Tel +211 926954187 or +211 955602769 +254 716641233
The Right Reverend Bishop Moses Deng Bol and all the hardworking staff of Wau Diocese would very much like to wish all our friends and partners a very happy Summer, good luck with any exams and well earned rest to all that work so hard during the year.
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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.
Pray for Archbishop Daniel Deng and his new reconciliation committee, so that it may be successful in its work. Pray for lasting peace in the border lands between Sudan and South Sudan, in Abyei, Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains. Pray for innocent people returning from Sudan to uncertain futures and starting over. Pray for the Venerable Abraham Ngor and the difficult situation he finds himself in. Pray that God will provide for all in need and comfort all that struggle. Give thanks to God for the partners who come to us and share in helping us, improving life generally. Pray for those affected by food insecurity and struggling to get enough to eat every day. Pray for the health and wellbeing of the people of our diocese, especially mothers and babies. Pray for all tribal based fighting and killing to stop. Pray for South Sudanese people living in other parts of the world
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 our two cathedrals one in Wau and one in Kuacjok, give thanks for our partners who help us and give thanks to God for the generous donation of so many bricks. Pray for our theological college called St John’s, its hard working Principal, Rev Joseph Mamer and those studying there. Pray for the priests and Pastors of Wau diocese struggling to bring God’s word to the people of Warrap and Western Bhar El Ghazal states. Pray for Mary John Garang the new Mother’s Union Coordinator and give thanks for the work and leadership of Victoria Yar Majak. Pray for Rev Peter Akook Angui and all other students at Bishop Gwynne College taking exams. Pray for the new chaplaincy parish of Dakum it’s pastors and laity. Give thanks to God for those from Kuajok recently made Evangelists and Lay Readers. Pray for them as they take their place in the future of the mission of Wau Diocese.