While Sudan's referendum occupies the world stage, everyday concerns remain a focus on the ground
Episcopal News Service. January 7, 2011 [010711-02]
Debra Morris Smith, Member of the board of the American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan
On the world stage, what has mattered most in Sudan for months now is next week's referendum. But on the ground in Sudan, where the spotlight shines depends on where you are.
Back in November, I went to the Diocese of Lui of the Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) with a team from the Diocese of Missouri, which has had a companion relationship with Lui since 2006, and Lui's other partners from the Blackmore Vale Deanery of Salisbury Diocese and the Diocese of Lund in the Church of Sweden. Lui Diocese, part of the Moru lands, is several hundred miles from the border with northern Sudan, and at least 100 miles from the southern capital, Juba, and from areas under attack by the Ugandan militia calling itself the Lord's Resistance Army. These are long distances over seldom-graded dirt roads.
The day we arrived in Sudan, I left the team in Lui and traveled to Juba for an ECS Partners meeting. On the way, I asked my Moru traveling companions if people were excited about the referendum. They said that people were keen to register and vote, but that the main message was "Don't register if you aren't sure you can vote." I asked if the Moru feared a return to war. "Oh, no," they said, "if there is any fighting, it will be on the border; it will not reach to here." I asked about church preparations for the thousands of Southerners returning from the North, but it didn't seem to be an issue.
In Juba, things were different. Most of the meeting focused, directly or indirectly, on the referendum and its consequences. The example of Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul in registering to vote would be important. What would happen to Christians in the north if the south seceded? How would the country deal with the thousands of southern returnees? The international partners and ECS leaders were all spending a lot of time thinking about these things.
After the meeting, I returned to Lui and the other missioners. Deep into our conferences (Sunday school, youth leaders, Mothers' Union, pastors), they were caught up in worries like who had received bicycles from us recently, the shortage of nurses and teachers, what was wrong with the chapel we were building and whether the diocesan office ought to move down the road. The concerns preoccupying the Sudanese conference participants were more local too: How could Sunday schools operate without supplies or funds? Could the Mothers' Union manage a small microlending grant? How could pastors promote stewardship in their parishes?
Most of all, the Moru people were concerned about their sick bishop. Bishop Bullen Dolli had been in Lui Hospital for many days, and he didn't seem to be getting better. The burden of worry for him was almost visible on the backs of his people. Shortly after we left Lui in mid-November, Bishop Bullen was transported to a hospital in Juba and then one in Nairobi, where he died Dec. 11. Our friends have continued to have pressing local concerns as they deal with hospital bills, transportation, and the burial and funeral of a beloved leader.
Lui town has changed a lot since we first went there in 2003: The exponentially larger market now has such luxuries as flip-flops, hot doughnuts and cold Coca Cola. There are bars playing Nigerian soap operas on VCRs powered by gasoline-powered generators. The church primary school has several permanent buildings; the diocese has solar-powered satellite Internet. Although the Moru still struggle with intermittent famine and the constant background threat of the LRA, increasing general security has led to lower church attendance. Young people leave the village every day seeking better lives elsewhere, and church activities suffer from the competing charms of the growing secular culture.
I can't predict how the likely secession of southern Sudan will affect the Moru people. Will they build capacity faster as a new country? Will they experience increased faith in gratitude to God? Will unforeseen, unintended consequences create new worries?
With the referendum upon them, the attention of the Moru people has surely turned to it. I pray for all those whose lives depend on its outcome. I also pray for the church in Lui in these difficult days without a bishop, for food security and for silence from the LRA. And I pray that the Diocese of Missouri will be able to return to Lui soon.