Pennsylvania Diocese Reaches Out to Sudan
Episcopal News Service. September 7, 2004 [090704-3-A]
Pennsylvania diocese reaches out to Sudan
When Bishop Paul Marshall of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, asked 67 Episcopal congregations in late July to "act now to prevent people in Kajo Keji [Sudan] from starving to death," no one could have hoped for a more generous response.
The first installment of money was wired from Diocesan House in Bethlehem to its companion diocese of Kajo Keji by early August, and just a few weeks later trucks filled with food began making the trip from Kampala, Uganda. As of September 2, the Diocese of Bethlehem had transferred $53,722 to the Diocese of Kajo Keji, according to Canon Bill Lewellis, diocesan communication minister.
Kajo Keji County is in the southernmost part of Sudan, bordering northern Uganda. Ravaged by war for many years, tens of thousands of people of Kajo Keji had taken refuge in camps across the border. Over the past few months, many have been driven out of the camps by violence and have returned to Kajo Keji where the inhabitants had already been confronting a food crisis.
The region that includes Kajo Keji County is a diocese of the Episcopal Church of Sudan. The Diocese of Kajo Keji and the Diocese of Bethlehem formed a companion relationship in 2001.
Generosity and Compassion
In a pastoral letter read to all congregations in the Diocese of Bethlehem during the first weekend in September, Bishop Marshall described the response as one of "generosity and compassion," adding that "some of the stories of individual and parish response will stay with me forever." [The full text of Bishop Marshall's pastoral letter can be found online at: www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_50162_ENG_HTM.htm]
An email update from the Kajo Keji Emergency Response Committee included the following:
"Thanks to our true friend and partner, Diocese of Bethlehem ... What they have done will enter the history books of Kajo Keji. They have wiped our tears and tapped our backs. Their actions have given our people hope that they are not alone. They have made us see the light at the end of the tunnel ... We are very thankful for their commitment.
The committee also offered thanks to the team on the ground led by the Bishop of Kajo Keji, the Rt. Rev. Manasseh Dawidi Binyi. "They are working very hard in giving moral support and in assessing the neediest," the committee said. "They facilitate the purchasing, distribution of food, and coordinating the smooth running of the effort."
Episcopal Relief and Development [www.er-d.org], a ministry of the Episcopal Church that provides emergency assistance in times of disaster, also sent $10,000 to Kajo Keji, Lewellis said, and may soon be able to send an additional $10,000.
"Churches throughout the Diocese of Bethlehem have developed traditions of remarkable generosity –- giving beyond expectation beyond their walls to people in need, locally and globally," Lewellis said. "The Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, has for the past six years offered the example of giving away all the offerings received at Easter and Christmas. Not a percentage of the offering; the entire offering. Their Christmas 2003 offering of more than $9,000 was given equally to New Bethany Ministries in South Bethlehem and Episcopal Relief and Development for worldwide needs. Also, in 2001, Trinity Episcopal Church, Mt. Pocono, sent $10,000 to Kajo Keji for famine relief."
"The most pressing request has been for money that can be used to purchase food in Kampala, Uganda, or northern Uganda to be trucked into Kajo Keji on an emergency basis," said Connie Fegley of Reading, chair of the diocesan World Mission Committee.
Representatives of the Diocese of Bethlehem have visited the people of Kajo Keji twice over the past few years. In 2000, Connie Fegley and her husband, Dr. Randall Fegley, were among those who visited refugee-settlement camps in northern Uganda for uprooted Christians from southern Sudan.
Randall Fegley, who teaches about Sudan and Africa at the Berks Campus of Penn State University, joined three others on a 2002 trip to visit Sudanese refugees in Uganda and to study and assess educational and agricultural systems in Kajo Keji itself to determine what the Diocese of Bethlehem might offer, and to offer spiritual and pastoral comfort to beleaguered brothers and sisters there.
In 2001, Marshall joined members of the diocesan World Mission Committee on an advocacy trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with key senators and representatives and members of the State Department to make the case for alleviating the suffering of the Sudanese people.
Marshall has said he'd like to see people from his diocese go to developing countries to be involved in various kinds of ministry. "I hope we will continue to consider how we might serve Christ's neediest people," he said. "Our deeper attachment to brothers and sisters in the developing world can only mean good things."
Contributions can be made by sending a check to the Diocese of Bethlehem, 333 Wyandotte Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015. Make the check payable to "Diocese of Bethlehem" and designate it for "Kajo Keji food."
Sudanese Church Leaders' statement on the current situation in Sudan
[Anglican Communion News Service] We, the Sudanese church leaders of the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) met at the SCC Headquarters in Khartoum on August 30, 2004 to reflect on the current political situation in the country, in particular the issue of war and peace. We met at the time by which a full peace accord was due to have been signed by the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the SPLM/A, and when the UN Representative was to report to the UN Security Council on the situation in Darfur. We shared and discussed information that seems to indicate that the road to a just and comprehensive peace in the Sudan is still long.
We are deeply concerned that the progress in the Sudan IGAD Peace Process is slowing down. The parties to the IGAD peace process have been out of session since the last adjournment in July and despite the shuttle diplomacy being carried out by the IGAD Secretariat, the parties are no longer experiencing the sustained pressure from the international community, in particular the IGAD Partners, due to the new and equally devastating conflict that emerged in Western Sudan, the Darfur region early last year.
While the Sudanese people have been and are still earnestly waiting for the completion of the IGAD peace process, the situation on the ground is discouraging. The Government of Sudan seems to be preparing for war as indicated in the Upper Nile region. Early this year, the government militias in Upper Nile, assisted by the Sudanese regular forces attacked and burned down over 22 Shilluk villages. This resulted in killings, loss of property and the displacement of about 26,000 civilians to Malakal town.
Last month, in Western Upper Nile, the same militias attacked the SPLA, and during the combat the area was also devastated. Further, other activities such as the digging of trenches in towns like Juba and the instigation of the southern militias by the GoS to claim inclusion in the ongoing IGAD peace process as an independent force, show clearly that there is lack of commitment by the GoS to the IGAD peace process which has already dealt with the most contentious issues between the Sudanese warring parties.
In Darfur the GoS is involved in a brutal war that knows no ethics and international regulations of war. Although humanitarian access to the needy in the region has improved, the situation on the ground leaves a lot to be desired. The government intransigence has led to the continued insecurity. Government backed militias known as Janjaweed are still operational. The influx of civilians to the displaced camps continues. The number of the displaced has recently risen to over one million and is expected to rise in the period ahead unless the Janjaweed, who are still posing a security threat to the civilian population, are contained and the hostilities by both sides brought to end.
The Sudanese Church leaders therefore call upon the international community to exert sustained pressure on the Sudanese warring parties, and in particular the GoS to commit itself to the ongoing peace initiatives in Naivasha (Kenya) and Abuja (Nigeria) that aim at ending the armed conflicts in the Sudan peacefully as soon as possible so that the Sudanese people live a dignified life. The Naivasha Protocols have raised the hope of the Sudanese people and provided a unique opportunity for the achievement of peace. We call upon the Sudanese people and the international community to ensure that this opportunity is not lost. We further call for intensified efforts to restore security and bring humanitarian assistance to the people in urgent need in both Darfur and Upper Nile region.
Signed:
The Rt. Rev. Daniel Deng Bul
Bishop of Renk
The Episcopal Church of Sudan
The Rev. James Par Tap
Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church
The Rev. Fermo Ogilla Utong
Sudan Pentecostal Church
The Rev. Mahgoub Kago Artloke
Sudanese Church of Christ
The Rev. Daniel Oballa Okony
Presbyterian Church of Sudan
Fr. Antonious Fakious
Coptic Orthodox Church Omdurman
The Rev. Samuel G El Sadik
Ethiopian Orthodox Church
The Rev. James Lagos Alexander
Africa Inland Church
The Rev. John El Sir
Sudan Interior Church
The Rev. John Tong Puk
SCC Chairman
The Rev. Paul Chol Deng
SCC General Secretary