Voice of Hope Newsletter of the Diocese of Kajo-Keji

Transcription

1 Voice of Hope Newsletter of the Diocese of Kajo-Keji Issue 7 May 2014 Michael Blyth Editorial Rain Rev. Jacob Haasnoot Rain is a sign of blessing in African culture. During April we had very little rain in Kajo-Keji and people were anxious how it would affect the seeds that were just planted. Fortunately, in the beginning of May the rains started and heaven smiled at us. Also in the Bible there is a connection between rain and blessing. In Deuteronomy God says to the Israelites: if you love and serve Me, I will send rain on your land so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil (11:13-14). The opposite is not necessarily true: that God punishes us when there is no rain. In Africa people sometimes are too busy looking for reasons why things happen in their lives while people in the West can learn from the Church in Africa that God is involved in every aspect of our lives. In this issue Editorial (Rain) 1 Word from the Bishop 2 New Diocesan Secretary 3 Diocesan Youth Team 3 Growing better crops 4 Reduce poverty? (CMMF) 4 A new chance to learn 5 Bishop Anthony in Australia 6 News in Pictures 6 IDPs receive relief items 6 Contact info 6 We continue to pray that the rain of reconciliation and restoration will come down on our country South Sudan. Please join us in this prayer. An African proverb says: Let your love be like the misty rain, coming softly, but flooding the river. That is what we need in our personal lives and in our country. The Voice of Hope Issue 7 May 2014 Voice of Hope Issue 7 May 2014 Page 1

2 Word from the Bishop Rt. Rev d. Anthony D. Poggo The last five months have not been easy for the people of South Sudan following the conflict which erupted in Juba in December This conflict soon spread to other towns of South Sudan including Bor, Bentiu and Malakal. By the middle of May 2014, it is estimated that over 1.2 million people have been displaced either internally as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) or have crossed South Sudan s international border and have once again become refugees in the neighbouring countries. In Kajo-Keji we are also hosting many IDPs from Bor and other towns of South Sudan. It is also estimated that over 10,000 people have died since the conflict started. This is so sad and unfortunate. The agreement that was signed by President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Dr Riek Machar on 9 May 2014 in Addis Ababa has given us a glimmer of hope. In this agreement, the two Principals agreed to implement the cessation of hostilities agreement which was signed on 23 January They have also agreed to form a Government of National Unity. There are still a number of issues that would need to be hammered out on what and how that government would look like; the duration of the interim government, constitution making process and many other issues that are still need to be handled by the mediators and the negotiating teams from the two sides of the conflict, as well as other stakeholders. The five months conflict has affected all South Sudanese people both at home and in the Diaspora. During my one month visit in March to Perth and Melbourne in Australia, the message that I kept hearing was, we want peace in our nascent nation of South Sudan. I would like to appeal to all our peace loving people to pray for peace and also to work towards peace. One of the verses that I have quoted time and again in the recent past is Matthew 5:9 which says: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. One of the things I found out in my visit to Australia is the importance of the leadership of the church in Sudan and South Sudan to pay such pastoral visits to the Diaspora. Rt. Rev d. Anthony D. Poggo Wherever I went, the need for such visits was emphasized. Let me take this opportunity to say a big word of thanks to all who made my visit to Australia successful. Many people worked very hard in various ways in making this happen. Let me conclude by referring to the message I gave on Easter day in which I made an appeal to our leaders to enter the negotiations with the needed stamina so that peace is achieved in South Sudan. Once again I call on all our people to co-exist peaceful with each other regardless of tribes, beliefs and other differences. We should avoid revenge killings. God s word is clear that we should never avenge ourselves but leave it to God who says, Vengeance is mine (Romans 12:19). The reality about vengeance is that it perpetuates a cycle of vengeance. Mahatma Gandhi s said, An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. Pray that a peace agreement will be reached expeditiously so that the citizens of South Sudan will enjoy peace, justice, reconciliation, prosperity and development. Voice of Hope Issue 7 May 2014 Page 2

3 New Diocesan Secretary Canon Emmanuel Murye, former DS L-R; Rev. Capt. Jonathan (current DS), Rev. Justin Gorle I am glad to introduce the Rev. Capt. Jonathan Soro Bully as our new Diocesan Secretary (DS) to you. The position of the DS is constitutional; the elected person stays in the office for four years and eligible for second term of office. I had stayed for eight years. Rev. Captain Jonathan Soro was elected in the Diocesan synod of November He once served as Mission and Evangelism Coordinator in our Diocese, during the time of late Bishop Manasseh Binyi Dawidi. He is very innovative. When he was a mission coordinator, he introduced number of projects in the Diocese mainly for the youth. These projects included Actions in Truth (AIT), the Brotherhood of St. Andrew (BSA) and the mobile youth workshop for skills training. Diocesan Youth Team Simaya Anda, youth leader Our goal for mobilizing and training the youth in our Diocese is to fulfil Christ s mission through holistic teaching, evangelism, discipleship and healing for young people so that they can take their role and be active in the church. In the past months we have been visiting six archdeaconries: Logu, Kiri, Kala, Leikor, Gaderu and the Cathedral. We reached about 2430 young people with the Gospel and 22 of them received Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. During the visits we also put in place a youth structure at the archdeaconry level. In our teaching we focus on topics like forgiveness, prayer, faith and love, girls education, spiritual warfare and the role of the youths in the churches. We also guide and counsel young people in the challenges they face. We encourage education and especially girls education, because our parents are still are ignorant about this. Counselling Rev. Capt. Soro has a burden for the children and youth in his heart. This prompted him to study Children and Youth Ministry at Uganda Christian University. With his experience, I am sure he is going to work effectively in the office of the Diocesan Secretary. Please cooperate with him as he serves in this noble calling of our Saviour Jesus Christ. I wish Jonathan a pleasant time in the office. I am not leaving the Diocese but the Bishop has given me an assignment to serve as Acting Manager in the project of Community Managed Microfinance (CMMF). Youth Meeting Voice of Hope Issue 7 May 2014 Page 3

4 Growing better crops Canon Emmanuel Murye People in Kajo-Keji do not want to receive relief food but rather be given the skills how they can produce their own. They need skills, tools and seeds. Kajo-Keji is a peaceful county but the enemy we are fighting is ignorance and poverty. Please join us to fight these two giant enemies in our community. Maize farm Agriculture is one of the key projects instituted by the Creator of the universe. Many people seem to think that agricultural work is a curse. But that is not true. The first work in the world introduced by God is the work of agriculture. God directed man to fill the earth and subdue it. God uses these words to instruct man to make use of the land which he has created. Last year, the Diocese introduced a programme of training four agriculture extension workers sponsored by CRESS in the UK, majoring in vegetable farming for family use. The methodology for extending this programme to others was for each person to prepare a vegetable garden and use it as demonstration garden. This would help us to train more people in the rural area with fewer costs. This year CRESS has sponsored two people to go to Riverford Organic Centre in Uganda for the same purpose. There are some challenges that make this programme to move slowly. The trained personnel stay in there bomas. To improve their impact, they need supervision by the Diocesan agricultural field officer but we lack means of transport for this person. If this program is implemented well, we will reach many families in a year and they would have a better harvest and more income. Weeding Groundnuts How can we reduce poverty? (CMMF) Canon Emmanuel Murye One of our goals as a Diocese is to see a faithful, committed, capable and selfsustaining community in Kajo-Keji (Strategic Plan). Community Managed Micro Finance (CMMF) focuses on self-sustaining. It empowers communities by helping them to save money, which they raise in a small way. From the accumulated money, any member of the group can borrow the money for entrepreneurship activities. This year we will use our Community Managed Micro Finance (CMMF) groups to work with this agriculture programme because it is working towards household poverty reduction. Voice of Hope Issue 7 May 2014 Page 4

5 This CMMF programme is facilitated by seven community based facilitators, with a total of thirty saving groups. By 2015 the program would have reached one hundred groups covering the five payams (areas) in Kajo-Keji County. In the groups, seventy five percent are women and twenty five percent are men. The programme encourages hard working in order to eradicate poverty in the family and community. Those who are engaged in CMMF are now involved in entrepreneurship activities. In CMMF, relationship building is a key factor to maintain group cohesion. This fosters peace in the community. The programme is not only selfsustaining but also cultivates the spirit of love and unity among the groups. CMMF savings scheme ALP Learners Some of the learners are now speaking English and some female learners said that they can now read and write in both English and Bari. Their husbands and children respect them a lot for that! They also said that they have forgiven their parents who denied them the right to go to school before. We now have a group at the highest levels who are preparing to sit the Primary Leaving Certificate examinations, together with Primary 8 candidates at regular schools. Since we started this ALP, we have been working hand in hand with the county Education office. They have provided us with some of the textbooks, although we are still lacking some textbooks. We thank the county Education office for the cooperation they have shown. This is a spirit of unity in God s ministry. A new chance to learn Rev. Eluzai Loboka The Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) started in our Diocese in 2011 and is funded by Stromme foundation. We opened eight centers, one in each Archdeaconry. The ALP centers are targeting those pupils whose parents are not able to pay their school fees, adolescent girls that have dropped out of school and those who had no chance of going to school. In most of these centers we have a building or a construction for the teaching to take place but in some areas they have to teach under a tree. ALP Teachers Voice of Hope Issue 7 May 2014 Page 5

6 Bishop Anthony in Australia In the month of March, Bishop Anthony Poggo visited Perth and Melbourne in Australia. He met with many people from South Sudanese origin during that visit. Bishop Anthony preached, spoke in youth gatherings and almost every evening he met people in their homes to pray with them and to give them advice. His visit was highly appreciated by those living down under! Here are a few of the observations that Bishop Anthony made about his trip: 1. The Church in Sudan and South Sudan needs to pay pastoral and Episcopal visits to the Diaspora. This needs to be done with the knowledge of our ECSS & S Archbishop and Primate in collaboration with the local Bishop of the diocese being visited. 2. The primary reason for such visits should be pastoral and not fund raising purposes. 3. When Bishops visit the Diaspora, they should encourage the organisers of their itineraries to include people from other communities and other denominations; this enhances the unity of our people in the Diaspora. 4. A number of families experience marital challenges. Some are due to cultural changes that parents and children go through in the midst of fast changing environments. This is an issue of concern. 5. Many young people are caught in these changes with few reported cases of some young people getting involved in drinking, drugs and other crimes. 6. Most of our people in the Diaspora work extra hard to make ends meet but there are also cases of those who do not. A few people reported to me the pressures that they get from home to support relatives in medical, health and other needs. They are willing to do this but expect better understanding when they mention that they do not have the needed money handy. During his trip, Bishop Anthony received 1,000 Australian Dollars for school furniture in Kajo-Keji (this project was highlighted in the March 2014-newsletter). So far we received pledges totaling US $ 5,000. We are really encouraged by this response! This amount is half of what we are looking for and if you would assist with this project, please contact the Diocesan secretary at secretary@kajokeji.anglican.org News in Pictures Certificate Theology group at Canon Benaiah Poggo College IDPs receive relief items donated by CMS Ireland Diocese of Kajo-Keji C/O The Episcopal Church of South Sudan & Sudan P.O. Box 110, Juba, Republic of South Sudan newsletter@kajokeji.anglican.org Website: To subscribe/unsubscribe: newsletter@kajokeji.anglican.org Voice of Hope Issue 7 May 2014 Page 6