Here is an article from Episcopal Life on Line today, April 23, 2008.
that the time for action is now, Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS) addressed partners from the United States and around the world
who were invited to attend the April 21 House of Bishops meeting in Juba. The bishops and their new primate Deng, who was enthroned the previous day in a joyful four-hour ceremony at Juba's All Saints Cathedral, shared present concerns and the future vision for their Church and called on international partners, including the U.S.-based Episcopal Church, to deepen their commitment to ECS.
The Rt. Rev. Frank Gray, former assistant bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and former diocesan of Northern Indiana, accepted a call to serve as Deng's commissary in the U.S. to help fulfill the Sudanese Church's vision of developing companion relationships for each of its 24 dioceses.
Gray, whose new role as commissary was unanimously approved by the Sudanese House of Bishops, has a long-standing relationship with ECS. He has been instrumental in coordinating mission initiatives in Sudan through his work with Episcopalians in the Diocese of Virginia. One such endeavor included the construction of a new cathedral in the Diocese of Renk, where Deng had previously served as bishop.
Sudan, the third largest country in Africa, "is one of the most inspiring places in the world," said Gray. "The Episcopal Church here is very poor, and yet it is the largest non-governmental organization in Sudan." It is estimated that ECS includes four million Episcopalians throughout northern and southern Sudan.
Gray said it will be an honor to serve as Deng's commissary. "In this role I will be able to tell the story of Sudan in a different way than I have before," he said. "The Sudanese have told me that visiting them is more important even than sending money. They said: 'if you have $2000, do not send it, come and see us; if you have $4000 dollars you can bring the other $2000 with you.' They desperately want partnerships and people-to-people contact so that they can feel more a part of the Anglican Communion and the outside world."
Deng said the meeting with ECS bishops and international partners offered an important time to get to know one another. "I want to express our joy that the Lord has brought us together," he said.
"The Church of Sudan is now at a crossroad," he added, acknowledging the issues of resettling refugees who had fled the country during a 20-year civil war that claimed more than 2 million lives and displaced four million people.
"In Archbishop Daniel, ECS has a true prophet," said Gray. "He has spoken with courage in a very forthright way about the failure of the Government of Sudan to address the Comprehensive Peace Agreement."
An ecumenical delegation from the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met with political leaders in the Government of Southern Sudan to discuss some of the issues relating to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which has encountered some recent setbacks.
The 2005 peace agreement was negotiated between northern and southern government officials with the involvement of international leaders, including the Rev. John Danforth, an Episcopal priest and former U.S. Senator who was named by President George Bush as envoy to Sudan.
Government of Southern Sudan leaders Major General Clement Wani Konga, governor of Central Equatoria State, Henry Danga, deputy governor and state minister, and Charity Gaba, secretary general, welcomed the ecumenical delegation for talks about the peace process.
"The vision of a peaceful Sudan is inscribed deeply in the life of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan, and we've heard consistently from political leaders here how vitally important it is for Americans to convey that vision to their own government through advocacy," said Alexander Baumgarten, international policy analyst for the U.S.-based Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations.
Despite initial hopes for the success of the peace agreement, southern Sudanese leaders have been frustrated by the northern government's refusal to live into the major terms of the agreement, including sharing of oil revenues, drawing of fair borders, and the execution of a fair census to determine representation in the national-unity government set up by the peace agreement.
"The future of peace in the Sudan will depend, in large part, on whether or not the international community keeps pressure on the northern government to live into the terms of the peace agreement," said Baumgarten. "There is a palpable feeling in south Sudan that the American people helped make a difference in bringing about the agreement, but now that pressure has fallen off a bit."
The peace agreement set the date of 2011 for a special election in which southerners can determine whether to secede from the north or remain a unified country.
Gray noted that the government in the north, based in Khartoum, "continues to largely ignore the comprehensive peace agreement which frustrates and disempowers the south."
"We've heard from the people of southern Sudan that a unified nation is the best hope for long-term peace in the Sudan," said Baumgarten. "The problem is that if the peace agreement is not lived into between now and 2011, the incentive for a unified Sudan will not exist when the vote is taken."
Assistant Bishop Victor Scantlebury of the Diocese of Chicago, which shares a companion relationship with the Diocese of Renk, said it is essential for U.S. Episcopalians to raise their voices and interest in supporting the peace initiative by calling and writing to legislators on a regular basis.
"We hope that when our delegation returns to the United States, its report will inspire a new wave of advocacy by Episcopalians and a new platform for engagement by American political leaders in working for a peaceful future for the Sudan," said Baumgarten. "In particular, we hope to be able to speak about the ways in which the currently ongoing conflict in Darfur, as well as other regional conflicts in East Africa, are related to the hope for a holistic peace for Sudan."
The conflict in Darfur, a remote region of western Sudan where government-backed militias have carried out a program of ethnic cleansing against Darfuris for the past five years, has claimed at least 200,000 lives and displaced as many as a million people from their homes.
During the afternoon, the ecumenical delegation met with officials at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to hear about some of the challenges they face in repatriating the Sudanese diaspora who "often return with nothing in their hands," said Deng. Addressing the international partners, Deng said: "You -- brothers and sisters around the world -- have been with us during the war and we have seen the tangible things you have done. The time has come to resettle the people who have been scattered all over the world."
Addressing some of the challenges faced by the bishops, Deng said that some lack transport and other necessary means to fulfill their ministry. Gray noted that Sudanese bishops often ride bicycles great distances to make visitations to congregations and in many instances clergy serve without pay.
Deng underscored the difficulties in communicating with one another throughout the province, particularly with those who serve in remote areas. "Your presence here with us is a great encouragement," he told the partners. "We need to be connected with the world, at least through communication and prayer -- that's the most important thing for us as a Church. When you have friends around the world praying for you, God will make a blessing."
The Episcopal Church of the Sudan is growing daily, said Deng. "If you want to really establish us as a strong church and to be a very strong part of the Anglican world, these bishops need help…We need to be connected to pray for one another, because if we join in prayers, God will open other doors that are not already open."
Bishop Anthony Pogo of the Diocese of Kajo Keji said there is a sense of excitement among the ECS bishops as they meet together, along with international partners, for the first time since Deng's enthronement.
Bishop Francis Loyo from the Diocese of Rokon serves as secretary of Sudan's Episcopal Council. He said it is important to include the partners in the House of Bishops meeting so that they can hear about some of the issues and challenges they face in their respective ECS dioceses. "It's also a time of fellowship for us as we deepen our relationships with partners around the world," he said. "We look forward to continuing our work together in the future."
Also attending the House of Bishops meeting were Andrea Mann, Anglican Church of Canada's global relations coordinator; the Rev. Howard Wennes, retired ELCA bishop of the Grand Canyon Synod and interim president of California Lutheran University; the Rev. Duane Danielson, ELCA bishop of the North Dakota Synod; and two suffragan bishops in the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury, Stephen Conway and Tim Thornton.
The ECS bishops will visit Salisbury for a two-week pilgrimage prior to the Lambeth Conference in July to celebrate their Church's 35-year partnership with the diocese and the 750th anniversary of Salisbury Cathedral, where a statue of Sudanese martyr, Canon Ezra, will be erected on the west front of the building. "This is a defining link and we have been deeply affected by our partnership with the Sudan," said Conway. "Thirty five years is just the start."
While the House of Bishops was in session, Janette O'Neill, senior director of Africa programs for Episcopal Relief and Development, met with the Rev. Wilson Khamani, her counterpart at the Sudan Development and Relief Agency (SUDRA). The purpose of the meeting was to provide emergency funds to assist the bishop of Ezo to meet urgent community needs following a violent attack -- thought to be organized by the Lord's Resistance Army -- which left people without seeds for planting and farming tools.
"Sudan is beginning its raining season so now is a critical time for that," said O'Neill. "It's important that these efforts to destabilize and terrorize the population do not stand in the way of peace and settled life. ERD is very happy to be in a position to help this population to get a crop in the ground and face the future with some confidence."
Anglican Church of Canada Bishop Peter Coffin of the Diocese of Ottawa is responsible for some 70 military chaplains in the Canadian Forces. He met with Brigadier General Gordon Mica Luala of the South Sudanese Police (traffic division) and one-time Sudanese community animator in Ottawa, and a chaplain for the Sudanese People's Liberation Army to discuss the role of chaplains in the guerilla warfare, "not least of which was the observance of Geneva Conventions concerning POWs which were afforded the conventions' protections, a rare thing in guerilla warfare," Coffin said.
Scantlebury said it had been important to hear the struggles of the bishops in exercising their ministry, and acknowledged that many of the clergy work without salaries. He described the meeting as a humbling experience "because we work in very different conditions. It would be helpful for many clergy in the U.S. that serve affluent congregations to have the opportunity to work for a year or two in areas that are economically challenged."
Scantlebury described the level of poverty in Sudan as disheartening. "There is no reason for anyone in our societies or communities to go hungry," he said. "It was encouraging to hear President Salva Kiir Mayardit of the Government of Southern Sudan say at the enthronement that much of the support for the people of Sudan has come from the Church. Much of that has been possible because of the support that ECS has received from brothers and sisters in the U.S. Episcopal Church. I would urge that we begin to work much more intentionally, because there is still much more to be done for the welfare of the people here."
No comments:
Post a Comment