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Renewal is the quarterly newsletter of the Diocese of Wau in South Sudan. In this edition are special pages for the Committee of National Healing, Peace and Reconciliation.
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Together in Faith for a Better Future
A Word from the Diocesan Bishop of Wau
By Rt, Rev, Moses Deng.
Peace Be With You
“The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and
give thee peace.” Numbers chapter6 verse26
(KJB)
I think it is very true that as Christians we do
many strange things. In many churches as a
part of the worship when people are gathered
together there is a moment of blessing where
the priest says, “peace of be with you” and then
the people say it to each other and greet one
another as if they were long lost friends. This
must seem very strange to some people but
really peace is very important to us.
I must tell you that since the last Renewal
magazine my dear friend Mr Kenneth Hearn has
died. It is true that Kenneth was quite an old
man and he was also very ill with cancer. But
still it makes me sad. This news is also huge
sadness to us in Wau Diocese because Kenneth
was a man who lived to help us. In fact before I
was even a Bishop Kenneth was helping the
people of Wau Diocese. Kenneth did not live
here with us, although he did come to visit, he
lived in the UK and became a commissary for us
here to help us in all manner of ways. If you do
not know about this a commissary is a bit like an
official friend who represents you in other
places. Kenneth was also a lay Canon of our
cathedral. Sometimes his help was in guidance,
sometimes connections, sometimes raising
money or advocacy and sometimes just being
there for us in fellowship. We owe a great debt
to Mr Kenneth Hearn and I hope that you will
join with me in offering a prayer for his widow
called Thelma, his family and also offer thanks
to God for all that he did.
Kenneth very much took his inspiration from
Jesus and the time that we are in now is called
Advent, which is the time of waiting for Jesus to
come. Truly this is a time of great expectation.
Prophets in the Bible knew that Jesus would
come and that when he did come things would
Index A Word From The Bishop ....................................2
Mosquito Nets Distributed..................................5
Healing a Wounded Nation.................................6
Education Report...............................................9
The Women of A Step Together........................11
A Postcard of Peace from Yei............................12
Yei Reconciliation Workshop.............................13
CNHPR Closing Statement.................................15
Rose Asciendhel Peace Mobiliser......................17
Peace Mobilisers Charter...................................18
CNHPR in Warrap State.....................................19
Rev Nathaniel Preaches.....................................20
Fresh TEE Training Announced..........................21
I Know the Plans I have for You.........................22
Akon Clinic Roof Damaged................................24
A Tribute to the Late Kenneth Hearn................27
Development Project Summaries......................28
Contact Us ........................................................29
Please Pray with us ...........................................30
P a g e | 3 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
change forever. These are the words of the
prophet Isaiah from chapter 9 verses 6 :
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is
given: and the government shall be upon his
shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The
everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
Many people knew of his coming, the coming of
the Messiah was predicted for centuries, if you
know the nativity stores you will know about the
Angel telling Mary and if you don’t know this
story then you can read it in the Gospel of St
Luke. Just start reading at chapter 1 it will not
take long to reach that part, then go on and read
the whole story, it is wonderful.
Jesus comes to us as a wonderful councillor
with good advice, as an everlasting father that
cares and tends, he was the Son of God but it is
the last title that is most relevant to us in South
Sudan today. He came as the Prince of Peace.
It is a strange word because peace is used to
describe a thing that exists and also at the same
time a way that you feel. So to be at peace can
mean no hostility, fighting or killing and it can
also mean having an inner calm that means
nothing ever troubles you. It is not very often
that either of these two are truly achieved. But I
think here in South Sudan we must work hard
for both, our future depends on it.
I would like to thank the IGAD heads of State,
governments and friends of South Sudan
including the TROIKA for the resolution at their
recent summit for pressurizing the two leaders
President Kiir and the rebel leader Dr Riek to
end this senseless war and reach a peace
agreement in 15 days.
With this pressure I pray and hope that an
agreement will be reached before Christmas so
that all South Sudanese can celebrate the
Christmas which they missed in 2013. The
South Sudanese are people of celebration,
given the opportunity to do so in a peaceful
environment. As one of our famous Musicians
called Emanuel Kembe said in one of his songs
during the signing of CPA "peace has come so
let us celebrate every day, no one should cry
any more".
Our church is for peace in fact all the churches
in South Sudan are for peace and we know that
after so much fighting it will not come easily but
it must come. His Grace Archbishop Daniel
Deng has enabled special training for men and
women to be advocates and enablers for peace,
to work in the local community at Payam level to
help build peace. I attended one of these
training courses in Yei with some people from
my diocese. They will come back to Wau and
train more people who will be peace mobilizers.
This is a tough and demanding task, so let us
ask what kind of person can do this.
Please let me tell you, it is the kind of person
that already knows peace, the other kind of
peace. A person who has the inner calm that I
spoke of who cannot be troubled. Jesus told us
in the Gospel of John chapter 14 verse 27 as he
ate with his disciples for the last time before he
was crucified:
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto
you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let
not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid”.
Jesus gives us peace, his life’s work brings
peace, his death and resurrection brings peace
and the word he left behind in the Bible brings
peace. If you do not know this peace but would
like to have it yourself it is easy to find. I
recommend that you start by telling God that
you are sorry for all that you have done wrong in
life and asking for forgiveness. This is the start
because it was the forgiveness of God that
Jesus brought in peace. Come to church, read
the Bible but start with this very simple thing.
Remember Jesus is the Prince of Peace you will
not be refused, instead you will be blessed with
inner peace.
It was inner peace that made my dear friend
Kenneth work so hard for us, he was not
troubled by our needs but had a faith that God
would work though him. He was right and we will
miss that. It is inner peace that all the peace
P a g e | 4 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
mobilisers will have when they are working for
peace in our nation and I hope that you will all
pray for them to be sustained in the peace of
God. It is inner peace that we all need in South
Sudan to cool our hearts and help us see with
calm minds what must be done before
everything is lost in violence. We have a great
country to develop and together in peace we
can be a strong nation that can feed, care for
and educate itself. In the book of Colossians we
can read at chapter 3 verse 15:
“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to
the which also ye are called in one body; and be
ye thankful.”
You may have noticed that there is something
odd about the Bible quotes that I am using. The
fact is they are using very old language.
Deliberately I have used texts from the King
James version of the Bible. This is a most
amazing version of the Bible and a testament of
the power of God in our world. King James lived
about three hundred years ago in the place we
now call the United Kingdom. But this was a
time before it became united. It was then two
separate countries that hated each other and
fought often in very violent and bloody wars.
King James lived in Scotland and was King
James the 6th there. Then when the king of
England died he had a very strange honour
because his birth rights gave him access to be
king of England and he became King James the
1st of England. So at once he was king of
England and Scotland. It is a truly odd thing.
King James was a very strong Christian and he
believed that God had given him a chance to
unite the two kingdoms so that they could be
mighty. At this time education was very poor and
there were many different versions of the Bible,
none were very good. So King James ordered
all his best scholars to work on a new better
version of the Bible that people could learn to
read and use to become closer to God for
themselves. The scholars had to work together
to do this, it was a powerful act of unity. In doing
this King James helped to educate people to
read and he brought a lasting peace between
two peoples that made the two peoples great
together. Even now in these times, when a
referendum was held recently in Scotland to
decide if they wanted to remain in the United
Kingdom, the people decided they would stay.
Truly this shows that the unity built from the
word of God still working after so many years.
You can still buy and read the King James
Version of the Bible, this really shows the power
of the word of God. I think there is a lesson in
this for us in South Sudan.
The most amazing truth is that what God has
done through Jesus for others can be done for
us too. For each person there can be
forgiveness and a new hope of redemption. For
tribes and nations there can be a real hope for a
peace that ends fighting and a peace that come
to us personally, entering our hearts as gently
but firmly as a little baby once entered our world
as the Prince of Peace in a place called
Bethlehem.
Advent is important because in it we remember
this coming, we remember who came and why
he came to us. It is a new beginning that we can
all choose to share in and I hope that this year
you will too.
My prayer is that this year Christmas will bring a
lasting peace to South Sudan that we can all be
part of and celebrate, so that the process of
healing our nation can begin. Please let me end
with the words of Jesus from the Gospel of John
chapter 16 verse 33 that he also gave at the last
supper that he shared with them:
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in
me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall
have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have
overcome the world.”
This was printed 300 years ago in the King
James Bible, it was said 2000 years ago by
Jesus and it is still true today. I wish you all a
watchful Advent and a peaceful Christmas.
Every Blessing +Moses
P a g e | 5 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
Mosquito Nets Distributed in Maanangui IDP camp
By Rev Peter Angui Akook
The ECSSS Diocese of Wau continuously
receives relief assistance from Humanitarian Aid
Relief Trust (HART) a charitable Organization in
the United Kingdom whose partnership in the
area of relief, agriculture and education
partnership with Wau diocese has been so keenly
achieved and maintained to date.
In mid December 2013 violence erupted in the
capital Juba that forced tens of thousands to flee
the area for safety and resettle in Gogrial West
and Twic Counties. In early March 2014 Baroness
Caroline Cox arrived in Wau with her team to visit
Nyieth School and Maanangui in Gogrial West
County, Turalei and Aweng IDP camps in Twic
County. Upon her return to the United Kingdom
the team had decided to send Wau Diocese some
funds to cater for relief assistance (food) and that
was done earlier before the rains affected
transport. HART transferred more funds to buy
mosquito nets for the three thousand (3000) IDPS
living in this camp. Five hundred (500) mosquito
nets were purchased and were delivered to the
site on the 19th July, 2014.
Each group was given one hundred (100)
mosquito nets and the group distribution was
done so that the head of each household is given
his or her proportion in part. Before any
distribution was done prayers and words of
encouragement were said in order to hold
everybody in a brotherly or sisterly manner. After
everything was concluded the chairperson for this
IDP camp known as Alueldit stood up and
extended her strongly worded appreciation to us
and HART. She said “once again I would love to
convey my sincere appreciation to the ECSSS
Diocese of Wau in particular; its donors, friends
and partners in general for their continual support
and good wishes to see that IDPS are fully
supported and firmly stood up for. You are
rightfully placed on the top of our list of supporters
because your support is not limited to materials
but also spiritual support as well.”
Our grateful thanks go to HART and Baroness
Cox for enabling Wau Diocese to assist the
people that have been made homeless by
fighting and who came to us for shelter.
P a g e | 6 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
Healing a Wounded Nation
By LuAnne Cadd
"Forgiveness does not rule out the need for
justice. But unless we forgive, we destroy
ourselves" (Letlapa Mphahlele)
Reverend Bernard Suwa ends every email
with this quote. As a South Sudanese, the
significance is poignant. There is a lot to
forgive in this country, and he is committed to
making whatever sacrifice is necessary
toward meaningful and lasting forgiveness,
reconciliation, and peace in his young nation.
Healing a Nation
In April 2013, the Committee for National
Healing, Peace, and Reconciliation (CNHPR)
was formed by presidential decree, led by
religious leaders at national and state levels.
Reverend Bernard was appointed General
Secretary. “The main focus,” Reverend
Bernard explains, “is that the process goes to
the ‘grassroots’. At the end of the day, it’s the
people who are affected, who are
manipulated to fight for war that they have no
understanding of. In terms of reconciliation, it
has to be all-inclusive. We want to create
space for people to tell their stories about
their losses, their pain, their grievances and
what kind of country they want as they move
to the future. That is what we are working
on.”
Overcoming Challenges
Reverend Bernard fled to Australia with his
family during the second civil war. When
South Sudan became a nation he returned to
be part of the healing and peace process, his
family remaining overseas. He began to
pastor a small English-speaking church in
Juba, attended by some of the Juba based
MAF staff. Pilot and Operations Manager
Mike DuPuis heard about the committee
Reverend Bernard was leading, and initiated
discussion about how MAF could help.
Due to the lack of infrastructure in most areas
of South Sudan, one major challenge the
committee faces is reaching all 10 states to
implement plans for training peace-workers
and outreach initiatives.
“The committee has a clear vision for a peace
and reconciliation process based in Biblical
principles and the teaching of Jesus. The
leadership is committed to these values and
has the strongest desire to reach every
person regardless of tribe, religious affiliation,
status or location,” explains Mike. “MAF is in
a position to offer significant support. Without
reliable and consistent air transportation, the
likelihood of the CNHPR accomplishing its
objectives within a reasonable time frame is
highly unlikely, as too many of the nation’s
people groups would not have the opportunity
to participate in the process.”
“This may be the greatest opportunity that
has ever existed in this part of the world,”
declares Mike, “to reach every person with
the message of Christ’s love and bring about
a transformation within each community right
up to the national level.”
First Steps
One of the first priorities for CNHPR was to
train a core group of representatives from
every state, equipping them with skills to train
a further 40 to 50 people in their states, thus
reaching to the very heart of the country, to
the farthest villages, to the grassroots.
In September, participants for a month-long
training conference needed to reach the town
of Yei, in the south of the country. Travelling
P a g e | 7 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal overland presented massive challenges:
flooded roads, serious insecurity, and
unbearably long travel times. Over a period of
two days, using three aircraft, MAF collected
and delivered 73 representatives for the
conference. One month later, they returned
them home.
How to Change a Culture
One of the conference representatives was
Bishop Moses Deng, the CNHPR chairperson
for Warrap State and a bishop with the
Episcopal Church. Tall, like most Dinka, he
boarded the MAF flight for Yei at the small
airstrip of Kuajok, excited about the imminent
conference.
Moses explained the issues in his state.
“Mostly the cause of all these conflicts is
either girls or cows,” he laughed. “The girls
always come back to cows eventually. She is
the source of income for the parents through
marriage.” Cattle are the source of money,
dignity, and respect. If you have many cows,
you can marry the most beautiful girl. Cattle
raiding for a dowry became part of the
culture, but the violence and killing escalated
as guns became more readily available due
to the war.
Changing a culture is not easy and takes
time. “You change the mindset of a person by
instilling new values – a respect for human
life - and cut the chain of violence,” Moses
believes. “If I did not believe in Christ, I would
not have hope. You have a culture, and
violence, and now politicians who have
disagreed. What is remaining? The only hope
is in God.”
Moses described a recent meeting with a
group of Dinkas in a village of Twik County.
He talked to the people about the great
commandment of Jesus to love your
neighbour as yourself, and to do unto others
as you would have them do to you.
“Then I asked them, ‘Who wants the Nuer to
come and steal your cows?’ They all said no.
Then I said, ‘Who wants the Nuer to come
and kill your daughter, kill your children, burn
your house, and take your cows?’ They all
said no, no. And then I said, ‘If you don’t want
it to be done to you, according to the
commandment of Jesus, don’t do it to the
Nuer as well.’
“One of the chiefs asked me, ‘Is the Nuer
bishop preaching the same message on the
other side?’ I said yes. He said, ‘If I believe
that the Nuer bishop is preaching the same,
this conflict between us will not take two
years before it can stop.’ And they promised
they would not go. And they never went, and
the Nuer never came to attack them. I went
and told the Nuer bishop this. And we agreed
that we would travel together, to come to the
Dinka side and the Nuer side.”
Moses himself has experienced trauma and
through God’s grace was able to forgive. In
2005, he was arrested when travelling to
Khartoum for medical treatment. Accused of
being members of the rebel army, Moses and
his friends were beaten and tortured for
seven days in prison.
“When we were released, we were bitter,”
Moses recalls. “I wanted to join the military. I
told my colleagues that I’m not going to use
small guns. I’m going to look for a machine
gun, and they will either have to kill me or I’ll
kill them all.” But returning home, Moses
attended training run by Open Doors. “They
taught us about forgiveness and I had to
forgive them.
“It was very hard. It’s easier to forgive
someone when they say they are really sorry.
But when someone is behaving like what they
did is justified, and they are stronger than
you, it becomes very difficult and it takes
God. You must have somebody to take your
burden away by casting all the heavy load
that you are carrying, that you want to
revenge, and say ‘God, for the sake of you, I
will forgive this. And because I don’t have the
P a g e | 8 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal power to forgive alone, please help me.’ I
have tried on my own and it did not work.
“Reconciliation is beyond human capacity,”
Bishop Moses concludes. “True reconciliation
must begin between me and God.”
Training the Trainers
The first week of the conference took an in-
depth look at South Sudan’s history and
ethnic background, understanding how
experiences affect a person’s worldview. The
second week looked at identity and
stereotypes and how this contributes to
conflict. The week ended with participants
presenting cultural performances of singing
and dancing from different areas of the
country.
By week three, teaching addressed
reconciliation and forgiveness, looking at the
role of religion, traditional ways of resolving
conflicts, and case studies from neighbouring
countries. Stanley Henkeman, a teacher from
the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation in
South Africa, said, “The issues of forgiveness
– forgiving even without an apology - that
takes a special effort. It takes a higher level
of thinking.” The final week focused on
practical teaching skills to facilitate effective
dialogue and develop community action
plans.
At the end, Reverend Bernard wrote, “We
can truly celebrate the unity we have found
here. It has given me hope that away from
our country’s political challenges, South
Sudanese can find a space to live together.
Every family in this country has shed tears for
the loss of a loved one. All of us need to be
reconciled and healed from trauma. All of us
need to eliminate our own prejudices,
suspicions, and mistrust for one another.”
Reverend Bernard speaks from personal
experience. “My own mum was killed during
the previous war. We didn’t discover her until
after 14 days, when the animals had eaten
her body. Today, 30 years later, I don’t know
who killed my mum. But that doesn’t mean
that I cannot forgive and move on.”
After the conference, he shared, “I came here
loaded with anxieties and fears as to how I
would keep the Dinkas and Nuers, and other
tribes, together for four weeks without any
problems. We came here carrying a lot of
wounds, but as we began the training I saw
our participants move closer to one another. I
have been hugely encouraged to see how
people have dissolved the tensions felt during
the first week.”
We Cannot Wait
Those involved in the CNHPR training and
strategy for peace and reconciliation
recognise the magnitude of the task before
them.
“Because of the depth of mistrust, because of
the level of fragmentation within the country,
it would be naïve to think that reconciliation is
only around the corner,” Reverend Bernard
says. “It is going to be a long process. It may
not be in my generation, but that doesn’t
mean I don’t work for it. Deep, deep wounds
need to be healed. We cannot wait until all
the guns die down.
“The war in South Sudan has dehumanised
people. There is a need for us to help each
other become human again. That can only
happen at the heart level, at the point of
transformation of individuals. The issue of the
heart is at the very heart of what we want to
do.”
Beyond Human Capacity
In 2015, following this initial training
conference, approximately 550 ‘peace
mobilisers’ will travel to payams (districts)
across South Sudan to document
reconciliation narratives and needs of the
P a g e | 9 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal communities. Pray “that God would continue
to work in the hearts of people for real
change, for real transformation,” says
Bernard, “That is my cry.”
http://cnhpr.tumblr.com/ - The CNHPR conference blog http://www.reconciliationsouthsudan.org/ The CNHPR official website
Contact Details for Rev Bernard: Rev Dr. Bernard Oliya Suwa, Ph.D
Secretary General of CNHPR
+211 921 037 248
+211 955 511 800
Education Report in Wau Diocese
By Rev Andrea Ngong
This Diocese of Wau has three
schools operating under its
guidance
The three schools are:
1. Sunday Basic School in the
centre of the Diocese
2. Piantok Basic School in
Eastern Bank
3. Nyieth Basic School in
Gogrial West County
These three schools have
been constructed as concrete buildings.
School Achievements
There are 8 classes in each of the
above mentioned schools
There are also 8 latrines which the
E.C.S has dug with support from other
NGOS Like HART
Provision of the teachers incentive is
given by the Diocese
The school pupil’s enrolment keeps
on increasing every year and that
must followed by the employment of
the teaching staff.
The three schools have adapted the
same policy initiated by the ministry of
National Government and the ministry
of Education in the states level.
The School workers are planned to be
9 where by each school has 3
workers.
The Diocese has employed these
number of teachers; Sunday Basic
P a g e | 10 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
has 15 teachers, Piantok Basic has 7
teachers; Nyieth Basic has 10
teachers which brings the total to 32
teachers.
The school enrolment for these years
ranges so: Sunday Basic has 439
pupils, Piantok Basic has 812 pupils,
Nyieth Basic has 371 pupils and that
brings a total of 1622 pupils in this
academic year of 2014.
Sunday Basic school specifically has
the strict rule to the security guard in
which the guard has responsibility to
close the school gate at 8:15am and
later on open at 1: 50pm.
There is a teaching staff routine of
which the 3 teachers entitled to run
the school duties for the period of one
week then pick-up by the other 3
teachers.
We in the school have opened the
school early this year on the date 17th
/2/2014 and that is what has made us
finish our syllabus before time.
Pantok Basic School especially has
been helped by the United Nation
mission in South Sudan in
construction of 3 concrete school
offices plus books store and
reception.
Nyieth Basic School specifically has
the clinic operating within the school
premises where by the school pupils
can also go for treatment.
Pantok is the only school being
helped by the World Food Program in
provision of food items.
ANA FI program is the government
support to schools of South Sudan of
which Pantok Basic and Nyieth Basic
are getting help.
South Sudan Radio instruction (SSRI)
trained four teachers and provides
four Radios to school and this is only
for pantok Basic School.
Sunday Basic school has a nursery
school operating within it too.
School Challenges:
Insufficient training to the teaching
staff
Lack of water access for the school to
use
Inadequate school materials
Lack of enough blackboards and
school hygiene facilities
Inadequate teachers incentives
Lack of a school fence in other
schools especially Pantok and Nyieth
Basic School.
Lack of school computers, especially
for the school examinations to be run
within the school premises.
Lack of enough benches and the
school teaching staff chairs.
Ways Forward:
Enough training for teachers to deliver
the standard objectives.
A Borehole to be put in place to
provide a safe water source for the
schools.
A School fence should be constructed
in order to provide more security for
the schools children.
Ensuring enough school materials.
More computers to be provided for the
school exams.
6. Enough offices to be constructed
for the teaching staff to use.
7. Qualified teachers and good
salaries should be the priority to
ensure a good standard of teaching.
Bishop Moses would very much like to thank
everyone in Wau Diocese that contributes to
the important work of education.
P a g e | 11 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
The Women of “A Step Together”
A Press release from CNHPR - 16 October 2014, Yei, South Sudan
From the 1st to
the 28th of
October 2014,
South Sudan’s
Committee for
National Healing,
Peace, and
Reconciliation
(CNHPR) hosted
a four-week
training in Yei,
Central Equatoria, entitled ‘A Step Together:
Shared Journeys of Listening and Dialogue’.
The training brought together state chairpersons
and representatives from all ten states, and the
Abyei Area, including 24 powerful women.
“We are 60% of this nation. We must have a
strong voice in our future, and mobilise the
women in our communities so that we (men
and women) are all working towards true
reconciliation.” - Mary Nginzo, State
Chairperson for Western Equatoria
The training included sessions to address the
core causes of the conflict by exploring issues of
the past through dialogue, and creating
infrastructure for an inclusive environment of
gender equality. Including women substantively
in national reconciliation is a core value of the
CNHPR, which recognizes the pivotal role
women should play in conflict management,
conflict resolution and sustainable peace. “We
must have as many women as possible
within our process. They are in the frontline
of our suffering, and therefore should be at
the frontline in reconciliation,” says Rev. Dr.
Bernard Suwa, Secretary General of CNHPR.
The 76 participants of this training will be
equipped with the skills to train a further 50
persons in their states, so that next year,
approximately 550 ‘peace mobilisers’ will travel
to payams across South Sudan to document
community narratives and needs, as well as
local reconciliation initiatives.
CNHPR was formed in April 2013, and is
chaired by Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul. The
independent iational committee is conducting
this three-year, people-to-people process to
hear from communities how they envision the
development of a sustainable and effective
national reconciliation plan. This will eventuate
in the development of a people-driven National
Reconciliation Agenda.
Of the 76 participants 24 were women’s leaders
from across the country and four were from Wau
Diocese.
Bishop Moses is very grateful to all those
that participated in such an important event.
P a g e | 12 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
Postcard of Peace and Forgiveness from Yei
By Rev Bernard Oliya Suwa PhD
They flew in from the four corners of our vast
land to the “Small London” – a humble but
buzzing township in Yei River County, in South
Sudan. The township sits on both sides of a
dusty track road from the South Sudan capital
Juba, to Uganda and the Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC). More than half of South
Sudan’s ethnic groups were represented at this
mission – an audacious mission to touch and
reshape an invisible phenomena, that has been
summarily charged, tried, and found guilty of
nourishing decades of war, hatred, and death in
our motherland.
Like any other South Sudanese, I was weighed
down by deep scepticism and anxiety – afraid
that it would prove to be a catastrophic mistake
to gather people from different tribes who, not
too long ago, had been baying for each other’s
blood. I was wrong! As only He can do, God
rebuked me for my lack of trust and faith in His
divine ability to bring trust amongst His children
whenever it’s threatened, and faith in Him
whenever it is wavering.
From the Heavens where our Lord God, the
Almighty father watches over us, the magical
red rays of the great tropical African sun pieced
through the clouds to my West. Its mysterious
power and beauty intermittently stole my
concentration as I wrote this piece. As I turned
to the Eastern side, I could see a diverse group
of our participants from different tribes playing
volleyball in total peace and freedom – united by
the promise of peace, healing, and reconciliation
in our beloved motherland.
Just by looking at them, I saw distinct features
that are common among people from Central
Equatoria, Western Equatoria, Eastern
Equatortia, Jonglei, Warrap, Lakes, Unity, Upper
Nile, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Western Bahr el
Ghazal states and Abyei Area Administration –
all ready to search for peace together, learn
together, play together, and dine together.
Perhaps most touching of all was the fact that
one after the other, as brothers and sisters, they
shared horrendous personal testimonies from
the recent conflict together – and they sobbed
and cried together.
If ever there was evidence of God’s ability to
triumph over man-made evil, then this was it!
Convinced by this sacred belief, quietly, I prayed
to God to bring healing and reconciliation
amongst us who had gathered in Yei. I prayed,
too, that the spirit of sisterhood, of brotherhood,
of forgiveness, and of reconciliation that was so
powerfully displayed in Yei, be carried by Angels
and spread across the length and breadth of our
traumatized land.
I quietly monitored the body language of our
participants over the last four weeks, and it
gives me tremendous joy to be able to tell every
man, every woman, every girl, and every boy
that in the midst of all the pain and suffering
visited upon us by the recent conflict, our Lord
God has mercifully preserved our capacity to
forgive each other. In other words, He has
preserved that which makes us human – and
that is our humanity!
While in Yei, we had taken a bold step towards
peace together. We sat together and listened to
P a g e | 13 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
each other’s painful stories. We opened
dialogue with each other. And we proved to
ourselves, and to all our brothers and sisters
across South Sudan, and in the diaspora, that
although we are from different tribes, we are in
fact one nation – all children of God, made in the
image of God. If God loves us all, then why
should we hate each other? If God can forgive
us for our gross transgressions against Him,
then why can’t we forgive each other?
I am convinced too, that without the poisonous
ethnic chalice that we are being forced to drink
every day and night, all the people of South
Sudan would have been ready to listen to each
other, and to dialogue with each other in order to
find homegrown solutions to the fundamental
issues that have brought war and destruction on
our blessed land.
Through this article, I present myself before you
as a humble and ordinary South Sudanese. My
voice is not any louder than yours – but I am
using it to call for peace, forgiveness, and
reconciliation amongst ourselves. Use your
voice. Stand up in the name of God Almighty
and denounce the forces that want to divide us,
and set us against each other. Let peace and
freedom reign supreme in our motherland –
because you are worth it!
Let me end by thanking PACT South Sudan,
Norwegian Church Aid, Catholic Relief Service,
and Mission Aviation Fellowship whose
generous support has enabled us to embark on
this long “journey of listening and dialogue”.
END
Dr. Bernard Oliya Suwa is the Secretary
General of the Committee for National
Healing, Peace, and Reconciliation.
Email: [email protected]
Participants Hail Yei Reconciliation Workshop
Originally an Article in the Sudan Tribune
Participants taking part in a 28-day
reconciliation workshop in South Sudan’s
Central Equatoria state have expressed
optimism that the country’s wounds can be
healed.
South Sudan’s Committee for National
Healing, Peace and Reconciliation (CNHPR)
is hosting the intensive training, which
concludes on 28 October, for community
leaders and faith-based practitioners in Yei.
“I personally came here loaded with anxieties
and fears as to how I would keep the Dinkas
and Nuers, and other tribes, together for four
weeks without anything exploding,”
participant Rev. Bernard Suwa said in
comments extended to Sudan Tribune.
“Now to me, this unity is something that we
can really celebrate. It has given me hope
that left alone, away from these political
challenges that we are made to drink every
day, South Sudanese can find a space to live
together,” Suwa added.
South Sudan erupted in violence in mid-
December last year following a power
struggle within the country’s ruling party
(SPLM).
P a g e | 14 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal The fighting has largely pitted members of
president Salva Kiir’s Dinka tribe against
rebel forces loyal to former vice-president
Riek Machar, who is of Nuer ethnicity.
The Yei training is part of a three-year
initiative formed by Kiir in April [2013] and
headed by the Archbishop of the Episcopal
Church, Daniel Deng Bul, which aims to
promote national healing and reconciliation.
The eighty trainees in Yei were drawn from
all corners of South Sudan.
According to organisers, participants will be
equipped with concrete skills and knowledge
on facilitation, as well as on theories and
approaches to reconciliation.
The workshop is being facilitated by South
Africa’s Institute for Justice and
Reconciliation (IJR).
Over the next three years, the committee
aims to facilitate a nation-wide consultation
process at a grassroots level.
The purpose will be to document the diverse
narratives from communities to ensure that
South Sudan’s future reconciliation is driven
and shaped by the people’s experiences,
knowledge and needs.
CNHPR’s planned consultation process is
being held under the banner ‘A Step
Together: Shared Journeys of Listening and
Dialogue’.
Some 550 peace mobilisers will travel to
various payams (districts) across South
Sudan with the view to developing a people-
driven agenda for national reconciliation.
Similar attempts by church leaders to
reconcile feuding communities, such as in
Jonglei state, have largely failed until now.
However, participants and organisers of the
reconciliation workshop say the current
approach being adopted is already bearing
fruit.
“One of the problems with the Jonglei
process was that people wanted to be
praised for the outcome; they wanted to take
the credit and to make history,” said Rev.
John Chol Dau, also a participant.
“There is a contradiction between being a
peacemaker and being someone who wants
to receive the credit,” Dau noted.
There was also acknowledgement of the
importance of engaging with all groups within
society to promote a message of peace and
unity.
“One of these key groups is the youth in our
cattle camps, who need our support in
addressing violence,” another trainee said.
During the workshop participants provided
testimonies and have pledged to use what
they have learnt when they return to their
communities. “This to me is very positive. I
think we will have a lot of stories to tell when
we go forward from here,” Suwa said.
It has been alleged that thousands civilians of
Nuer origin were killed in Juba at the onset of
the conflict.
Members of the Dinka tribe were also killed in
Nuer areas, including one raid on a UN base
in Akobo that left 30 people dead in
December.
In April, the UN alleged that rebel fighters
killed hundreds of people sheltering in a
mosque and hospital after capturing Unity
state capital Bentiu from government forces.
The violence has displaced more than 1.5
million people, with tens of thousands of
internally displaced people seeking shelter at
UN sites across the country since the
violence broke out.
Human rights advocacy groups said the
killings on both sides of the conflict is
tantamount to war crimes, and the US
government says the perpetuators must be
P a g e | 15 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal held to account for meaningful peace and
reconciliation to be achieved.
Both warring parties maintain they are
committed to ensuring accountability for
crimes committed by their forces, but are yet
to make any arrests.
Closing Statement at the CNHPR Workshop
By Dr Bernard Oliya Suwa
From the 1st to the 28th of October 2014,
South Sudan’s Committee for National
Healing, Peace, and Reconciliation (CNHPR)
hosted a four-week training in Yei, Central
Equatoria, entitled ‘A Step Together: Shared
Journeys of Listening and Dialogue’. The
training brought together 76 participants,
including state chairpersons and
representatives from all ten states, and the
Abyei Administrative Area. The training was
facilitated by the Institute for Justice and
Reconciliation (IJR) from South Africa and
Initiatives of Change as well as experts from
South Sudan, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South
Africa.
On the 29th of October, from 10am – 1:30pm,
a closing ceremony was held with special
guest speakers: Anne Masterson, Country
Director for Norwegian Church Aid; Lorraine
Bramwell, Country Representative for
Catholic Relief Services; Hon. Bidal Cosmas
Commissioner of Yei River County; Malifida
Silvano Ali Sanguson, Deputy Mayor of Yei;
and Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul.
Closing statement from Reverend Dr.
Bernard Suwa, Secretary General of CNHPR:
I strongly believe that even before December
15th, this country needed reconciliation
because of what we went through for more
than five decades. Ours has been the mother
of all wars and some of us were born into
conflict. It’s so unfortunate that not only were
we warring with the North, we were also
warring amongst ourselves. We must
reconcile our differences if we are going to
create a great nation.
We came here to Yei carrying a lot of
wounds, but I have seen our diverse
participants move closer to one another in the
last four weeks. I have been hugely
encouraged to see how people dissolved
tensions felt at the beginning. We can truly
celebrate the unity we have found here; it has
given me hope that South Sudanese can find
a space to live together. What we have been
doing here in Yei must be seen from this
bigger perspective - that we are helping to
heal the nation; we are helping people to find
a common identity and a common vision for
building our future together.
Ours is one BIG story to be told, to be heard
and to be emulated, by other South
Sudanese, both locally and in the diaspora!
We commend our participants because we
have demonstrated that, given the
opportunity, we can co-exist, in spite of our
diversity – and not only co-exist, but create
new, more meaningful ways to move forward.
At the end of the day, whether we are
perpetrators or victims, we have all paid a
P a g e | 16 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal price in this war. Because of revenge, one
who is a victim today may tomorrow become
a perpetrator, so there is this exchange of
roles within our communities. There is no
family in this country that has not cried or
mourned for the loss of their loved ones. The
war has been far-reaching, the effects have
been indiscriminate, and we empathise with
our brothers and sisters from Unity, Upper
Nile and Jonglei states, and in Juba. The
reason we are conducting this peace training
at a national level is because everyone -
every family in this country - at one point or
another has shed tears for the loss of their
loved ones. All of us need to eliminate our
own prejudices, suspicions and mistrust for
one another, because this is not the way to
build a nation.
Therefore, if we are approaching this issue of
reconciliation, it has to be holistic. All of us,
whether we are victims or perpetrators (or
both), need to be made human again. We
need to be able to see and embrace each
other’s cultures, and build bridges across
tribal or ethnic divides. The way to build a
nation is to trust one another and find a
common identity, beyond ethnicity. Not until
our nationality where we are first and
foremost South Sudanese citizens, will we be
able to reconcile.
As the Committee looks beyond this training,
we plan to move to the various states and
with the support of these men and women
here, we will train a further 50 peace
mobilisers in every state. The trained peace
mobilisers will then engage with the
grassroots communities at the payam levels,
to continue the “shared journeys of listening
and dialogue” and document their voices and
needs.
But that’s not the end! After consultations
across the country, we will scale up the
process to both County and State levels,
where the various voices from the grassroots
will be heard at County and State
Conferences. From this we plan to develop a
National Reconciliation Agenda, based on the
voices of the people of South Sudan to be
presented at a national level.
Reconciliation can happen, but it will take
time. If we see reconciliation as a single goal,
we will be in trouble. Reconciliation is a future
we must see, a journey we must be willing to
take, and a lifestyle we must be willing to live.
Reconciliation is a lifetime commitment to
which we ALL must commit ourselves.
Reconciliation calls for all of us to be BOLD,
COURAGEOUS and SELFLESS in order to
change from a culture of violence to a culture
of peace.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PHOTOS, AND INTERVIEW ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT:
CNHPR Secretary General Rev. Bernard Suwa +211 921 037 248 [email protected]
Media Outreach: Anne McMurrey +211 954 842 557 [email protected]
Institute for Justice and Reconciliation: Friederike Bubenber (South Sudan) +211 914 492 602
Zyaan Davids (South Africa) +27 21 202 4071 [email protected]
www.ReconciliationSouthSudan.org www.twitter.com/cnhpr www.facebook.com/CNHPR
Special thanks to our partners: IJR, PACT, DANIDA, SIDA, Norwegian Government, Catholic
Relief Services, Norwegian Church Aid, and Mission Aviation Fellowship
P a g e | 17 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
Mrs Rose Aciendhel – Peace Mobiliser in Warrap
By Rev Samuel Mabith
Rose Aciendhel kacthiek was born in Mabior
yar, village in Tonj South County, Warrap State.
She is 28 years old, married with three children.
She started her Schooling at Mabior Yar Primary
School, completing her primary and secondary
education at Kakuma Refugee camp in Kenya.
With financial support from the LI TIM OI
Foundation and a friend from Germany Rose
completed a certificate in project management
at Unity College, a certificate in computer
training at the First Computer Training Centre
with a diploma in public relations and Human
Resource Management at the Cross World
Institute for professional studies in Nairobi
Kenya.
She came back to South Sudan after the signing
of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)
and started working as a CTO in the office of the
National Electoral Commission in 2010. Rose
was appointed in the same year in the Ministry
of Local Government of Warrap State as a
Gender Focal Point person. In 2013 Rose was
elected as chairperson of the Women’s
Association in Warrap State.
Madam Rose is now a member the National
Committee for Healing, Peace and
Reconciliation in Warrap State. She recently
attended a one month Training of Trainers
(TOT) event for Peace Mobilisers in Yei South
Sudan. The training was organized by the
National Committee on Healing Peace and
Reconciliation and facilitated by the South
African based Institute for Justice and
Reconciliation (IJR).
Her vision is to advocate for girls education and
creating awareness on women rights.Rose is
now supporting her community, her family and
her dream is to go for further studies if there is
an opportunity. The ECSSS Diocese of Wau,
her family and the women of Warrap State are
very thankful to the LI TIM OI Foundation for
training Rose.
Rose can be contacted by telephone or e-mail:
Telephone: 0914191558
E-mail: [email protected]
Please pray for Rose and the
work that she will do to promote
peace and reconciliation in all of
Warrap State.
P a g e | 18 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
The Peace Mobilisers Charter
We the CNHPR Peace Mobilisers, Envision for South Sudan:
Good governance and respect for human rights
Peaceful communities with common markets,
free movements with properties protected
Improvement of basic services and
infrastructure
Memorial historic sites
A sustainable peace in a multicultural society
Gender sensitive communities with respect for
women’s rights
A peaceful society with quality education for all
Harmonious and diverse communities
We commit to the following values and ideals in the pursuit of reconciliation
Conducting ourselves in an ethical manner with humility, integrity, honesty and neutrality.
Ensuring our dialogues are inclusive; all who respect the principles of dialogue will be welcome to participate.
Being peacemakers who do not take any side and see all as equal in the face of God.
All information shared with us will be treated confidentially.
Restoring confidence in our communities, to build trust and mutual understanding between divided
communities, families and individuals.
Listening patiently and carefully to what people have to say.
Being sensitive to and respectful to South Sudan’s diverse cultural beliefs.
Being polite to everyone we encounter.
Being tolerant of each individuals point of view.
Being approachable and available to everyone who wants to share their stories or seek our counsel
.Striving to build unity between our communities.
Striving to encourage peace and reconciliation in our communities.
Challenging the use of harmful stereotypes
Being humble, and honouring everybody’s spiritual and religious ideas.
Striving to enhance our knowledge of our communities by analysing the root causes of conflict, thereby
understanding its impact on who we are today.
Striving to bring love and respect to all the people of South Sudan.
Agreed in Yei, South Sudan, October 2014
P a g e | 19 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
CNHPR in Warrap State (one of two states in Wau Diocese)
By Rev Peter Akook
CNHPR has been launched since July 2013,
headed by Bishop Moses Deng Bol, in Warrap
State and a team of Peace Mobilisers has just
concluded one month of training in Yei, South
Sudan. The chairman, in the person of Bishop
Moses went with five others to Yeai to receive
training.
Warrap is a state that has been recently divided
into two new Area Dioceses called Greater
Gogrial and Greater Tonj. This was
administered by Wau diocese the mother
diocese that also created Aweil diocese.
Here are some facts and figures about the area
and people that CNHPR is trying to work with
Info About Warrap State
Warrap, sometimes spelled Warab, is one of the
10 states of South Sudan.
The state is located in the Bahr el Ghazal
region. It is bordered by the disputed region of
Abyei to the north, by Unity State in Greater
Upper Nile Region to the east, by Lakes State to
the south, and by Western Equatoria State in
Equatoria Region to the south west. The states
of Western Bahr el Ghazal and Northern Bahr el
Ghazal lie to the west
Warrap State has an area of 31,027 km². Kuajok
is the capital of Warrap state, replacing Warrap.
All states in Southern Sudan are divided in
counties, each headed by a County
Commissioner appointed by the President of the
Government of Southern Sudan.
People
The state is home to the Luanyjang, Twic, Jur-
Man Anger, Bongo and Rek subtribes of Nilotic
ethnicity. The Twic and Rek are Dinka tribes.
The main cities in the state are Gogrial, Kuajok,
Tonj, Romich, Thiet, Turalei, Akon, and Panliet.
Government
The current state constitution was adopted in
2008. Nyandeng Malek Deliech is the Governor
of the Warrap state. Madot Dut Deng is the
Speaker of the State Assembly.
Religion
The main religions in Warrap State are
Christianity, (Catholicism, Protestantism and
other forms of Christianity). A sizable proportion
of the population practices African traditional
religions.
Population by County
County Area
(km2)
Population
(2008) County
Commissioner
Gogrial
East 3,890.55 103,283 Akot Lual Akot
Gogrial
West 4,754.37 243,921
Makuc Aru
Luach
Tonj
South 7,449.73 86,592
Monydhiat
Goor
Tonj
North 11,012.05 165,222 Marco Awuac
Tonj
East 3,990.61 116,122 Madhal Chol
Twic 3,922.65 204,905 Malek Ring
Makuei
Warrap
واراب
P a g e | 20 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
Rev Nathaniel Preaches
Theme: God uses those who serve him faithfully - Text: Daniel 6:1-27
Introduction
I was so impressed with the story of Daniel,
Daniel standing up for God brings opposition, in
Daniel’s case from jealous bureaucrats (6:4-9).
When we face similar attacks in the workplace,
they often have spiritual opposition behind them.
Daniel seems to understand this since his first
reaction was to pray (6:10). Daniel was willing to
sacrifice his entire career because he trusted
God no matter what (6:23). Let’s look how the
story of Daniel goes.
Under the new rule of King Darius, Daniel
excelled in his duties as one of the
administrators to such a degree that King Darius
was considering making him head over all the
kingdom. This angered the other administrators
so much that they looked for a way to bring
Daniel down. They encouraged Darius to issue
a decree forbidding his subjects from praying to
any of their gods for the next thirty days. The
punishment for disobeying was to be thrown into
a den of lions. Daniel, however, moved out to is
house and continued to pray so openly to God
that he could be seen at his bedroom window
doing so, the bible says Daniel opened the
window facing Jerusalem. With much regret the
king gave the order for Daniel to be thrown into
the lions’ den, but not without a prayer that
Daniel’s God would rescue him (Daniel 6:16).
The next day when Daniel was found alive and
well, he told the king that God had sent an angel
to shut the lions’ mouths and so he remained
unharmed. This resulted in King Darius sending
out two decrees:
1- First decree, the people who accused Daniel
will be thrown with their wives and children
to a den of lions.
2- Second decree, Darius issued a decree that
in my kingdom all people were subject to
worship the God of Daniel.
And the Bible
said, Daniel
continued to
prosper
throughout
King Darius’
reign.
What should
we learn from
Daniel’s live
story as
South
Sudanese?
The lesson from the life of Daniel is that he
exercised great integrity and, in doing so,
received the respect and affection of the
powerful rulers he served. Let us look at
Daniel’s attitudes:
• Daniel’s honesty and loyalty to his masters
never led him to compromise his faith in the one
true God.
• Daniel was not a corrupted man in his
leadership, he was not a murder, he was not an
adulterer, he was a holy man and they found
nothing bad in his leadership.
• Daniel’s continual devotion to God brought him
the admiration of the unbelievers in his circle.
When delivering his interpretations, he was
quick to give God the credit for his ability to do
so Daniel 2: 28.
• Daniel was a man of integrity, as a man of God
it gained him favour with the secular world, yet
he refused to compromise his faith in God. Even
under the intimidation of kings and rulers, Daniel
remained steadfast in his commitment to God.
• Daniel also teaches us that, no matter who we
are dealing with, no matter what their status is,
we are to treat them with compassion.
P a g e | 21 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
However, as we see from Daniel’s example,
obeying God’s law must always take
precedence over obeying men. As a result of his
devotion, Daniel not only found favor with those
around him, but above all he found favor with
God and was held in high esteem by Him,
please read Daniel 9: 20-23. This shows us how
ready the Lord is to hear the prayers of His
people. Daniel’s strength lay in his devotion to
prayer and is a lesson for us all. It is not just in
the bad times but on a daily basis that we must
come to God in prayer.
Conclusion
In conclusion brothers and sisters at Wau
Cathedral I want to assure you, we can be
agents of peace, love, unity and prosperity in
this nation of South Sudan. Therefore we need
to adopt Daniel’s attitudes which I have
mentioned above. And to do that please go and
read the following verses with these summary:
1. Full time commitment
a. Daniel served God full time in a secular
position (6:1-3)
2. Full time faithfulness
a. Daniel was faithful during opposition (6:4-9,
10, and 23)
b. Be a full time Christian when opposition hits
(Ephesians 6:10; Acts 18:1-9)
3. Full time impact
a. Daniel’s faithfulness had an impact for God
(6:25-27)
b. Your faithfulness will, too
Let us pray and be with me in this prayer:
Lord we thank you for the message you have
delivered to us today through your Holy Spirit,
we ask you to make our faith a full time
commitment like Daniel, make us full time in
faithfulness like your servant Daniel and make
us a full time impact so that your name will be
known in South Sudan like in Daniel’s time. Be
merciful to us and forgive us in Jesus name!
AMEN, AMEN!!!!
Rev Nathaniel is the Diocesan Secretary for
Wau Diocese.
Fresh TEE Training in Wau Diocese
By Rev Peter Angui Akook
The ECSS Diocese of Wau would like to
announce that there will be three months TEE
training starting from January to March 2015 in
Akon. The ECSS Diocese of Wau TEE
department received a donation from Jump Start
South Sudan who willingly donated $3500 to
help us pay TEE staff for three months.
The staff involved are a Coordinator, Principal
and two other teachers. Where as the local
churches agreed to make a contribution towards
transport, food and accommodation as part of
the cost sharing policy.
There are four different denominations in the
area. These include Episcopal Church of South
Sudan and
Sudan, Roman
Catholic,,
Pentecostal and
the newly
founded Anglican
Church, the
breakaway one
from ECS. Any
number that each one of these various
congregations would like to send us for training
will be welcomed as long as they manage their
financial support since transport, food and
accommodation belongs to the local Church.
P a g e | 22 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
With God's amazing grace these three months
TEE training will take place as planned. May
God uplift JSSS to continue its activities of
assistance in the area. May God richly bless the
JSSS leadership and its board members
abundantly for He Himself said I will never forget
those who love me nor forsake them.
Bishop Moses is very grateful to JSSS and
all who work with Wau Docese to train
priests and pastors.
I Know the Plans I Have for You
The Speech of Bishop Moses at the 3rd Wau Diocese Standing Committee 3rd-7th Nov 2014
Brothers and Sisters we are meeting today
when our Country is back at civil war. As a
Church we must continue to pray and advocate
for peace among our communities as this is
what God has called us to do. As you know I
have just returned from Yei where I have been
attending a one Month Training of Trainers for
Peace Mobilisers alongside six other
Participants from Warrap State.
The training was organised by the National
Committee on healing Peace and Reconciliation
in order to equip five or six trainers in each of
the 10 States and Abyei with skills and
knowledge in order to enable them to train
further 50-60 peace mobilisers in each of the 10
States and Abyei.
I am appealing to all the Churches in Warrap
State and the whole of South Sudan to take the
campaign for peace seriously so that we can
unite our people as we did during the war when
the Church facilitated many peace processes
including the famous Wunlit Peace Conference
between the Dinka and Nuer Communities.
As I said to the youth during my pastoral visit to
Gogrial East, Tonj North and Twich Counties in
February this year I urge all of you to appeal to
our youth not to raid other community’s cattle as
this is against the GREAT COMMANDMENT OF
LOVING YOUR NEIGBOUR AS YOURSELF but
to defend themselves and their cattle when they
are being raided by other communities.
This is the 3rd Standing Committee meeting in
the history of the Diocese of Wau. The previous
meetings took place in 2010 and 2012. In the
very first meeting in Wau in 2010 I shared with
you the Vision of ECSS Diocese of Wau as a
united and vibrant Church in Wau South Sudan,
Sudan and beyond. I also shared with you a 10
a year strategic plan also known as Vision 2020
in which I outlined what we hope to achieve in
the 10 year period from 2011-2020.
This plan covers many activities ranging from
Prayer Ministry, Mission and Evangelism,
Training and capacity building, development,
peace building, advocacy and communication
activities. With the help of the Lord we have
been able to achieve most of these activities in
the last four years, sometimes beyond what we
planned which we sincerely Thank God for. For
example in less than four years the Diocese of
Wau has already been rated as the best in
communication in the whole ECSS. Our website,
the newsletter and the lent course are doing
very well as you will hear the details of what has
been taking place from the communication
department. We have also produced a Diocesan
Calendar with Christian and National Holidays
this year.
Our Diocesan Relief and Development Wing
ECSS-CARD is doing very well in Relief and
Development activities. For example it is
currently implementing food security and diary
projects in Western Bhar El Ghazal State and
P a g e | 23 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
has been implementing water and sanitation and
emergency relief projects in Warrap State.
The mothers’ Union department has been
implementing literacy and micro-finance
activities in the two States and the Health
department constructed one Health Unit and
income generating projects in Warrap State.
Our General Education department is doing very
well. Currently our two Schools in Western Bahr
El Ghazal State Sunday and Piantok Primary
Schools are among the best in the State and the
same applies to Lina Primary School in Warrap
State.
In terms of training and capacity building the
Diocese has been able to send a number of
people for training in various fields within South
Sudan and in the neighbouring Countries
particularly Kenya, Uganda and Sudan.
St John’s College continues to receive a good
number of students yearly. This year we
received about 15 new students and so we
currently have about 30 students in the College
with the first group since the starting of the
College expected to graduate in 2015.
Our Mission and Evangelism department is
doing very well with many new believers being
baptised and confirmed and new Churches
being planted in the two States. In the last
Financial Year I was able to confirm about 4000
people and I was not able to reach many
Parishes due to lack of time. With the
establishment of the Gogrial and Tonj Area
Administrations Rev Paul Lueth Kat will remain
as the Mission and Evangelism
Coordinator in Gogrial Area
Diocese and I have appointed
Rev Joseph Uyu Uguak as the
Mission and Evangelism
Coordinator in Wau Diocese/
Western Bhar El Ghazal State
As you know the Provincial
Standing Committee meeting in
Bor in November 2013 approved
our request for Tonj and Gogrial
to be upgraded to full Dioceses
but with a condition that we meet
the requirements before the
Bishops can be appointed.
We are currently working on the requirements
which we hope we will be able to meet in the
near future after which we will invite His Grace
the Archbishop to come and inaugurate the new
Dioceses.
My suggestion in this regard is to change the
way we have been doing our fund raising in the
Archdeaconries/Counties and try new ways. For
example we could ask each County to be paying
a Monthly contribution of 500 SSP as this can
enable the two Areas to be getting a Monthly
income of 1500 each.
I have also decided to appoint two
Administrators who will be based in Tonj and
Kaujok in order to run the Administrations of the
two Areas. The two Administrators will be
responsible for the day today management of
the Areas and will work hard to raise funds
internally and externally by writing project
proposals for the development of their
respective Areas. Rev Peter Angui Akook is the
Administrator/Bishop’s Commissary for Gogrial
Area Diocese and Rev Santino Manut Achuil is
the Administrator for Tonj Area Diocese. I have
also appointed Rev Abraham Ayom Aru as the
Dean of St Mary Cathedral in Kuajok and Rev
Meshach Magak Ruai as the Dean of St Peter
Cathedral in Tonj.
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Advent Meditations from Rev John Bol Angui
Seasonal articles to focus your thoughts in Advent.
Advent is the liturgical season that precedes and
prepares for Christmas. It is a season of hope
and of longing, of joyful expectation and of
peaceful preparation. Many symbols and
traditions are associated with
Advent, especially the Advent
Wreath with its four coloured
candles (three purple and one
pink), but also Advent
calendars, special Advent
music, food, processions, and
other traditions that may vary
from one culture or region to
the next.
This Advent in preparation for
celebrating Christmas Rev John
Bol, a Wau Diocese Pastor studying at Bishop
Gwynne College, Juba has written four
meditations on the seasonal Bible readings of
Advent. He has also prepared a meditation for
Christmas day.
The meditations are designed to make you think
about and reconsider what you know in a new
light. They are written particularly from A South
Sudanese point of view. All of Rev Jon’s
meditations will be available
each week from the Wau
Diocese website
(www.wau.anglican.org) and
will stay available until January
1st 2015.
Bishop Moses urges you to
make use of these meditations
to focus on the coming of
Jesus at Christmas and what it
really means for each of us.
The first meditation will be available from
November 30th.
Akon Brown Back Clinic Roof Damaged
By Rev John Bol Angui
In the year 2000 the organization Jump-start
South Sudan (JSSS) had potential plans of
clinic building in Akon for the community
through a partnership with ECS Diocese of
Wau. We have below a short reflection about
what JSSS has done and how it had gone
with the situation to the extent it had become
a famous organization within and around the
areas which surround Akon. It supported the
people in all those areas of South Sudan
around Warrap especially Akon where they
had been targeted for humanitarian support.
P a g e | 25 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal But after some years they eventually noticed
that there is also a great need of medical
treatments through their annual visiting
assessments to the areas and have
experience of the common sicknesses such
as malaria, typhoid and other kinds of
sicknesses which affect the lives of the
community. So JSSS built Akon Brown
Back clinic to help all the people in the
area especially children and the women.
Jumpstart South Sudan has supported
education with stationery and school
uniforms which has motivated most of
the children around Akon to continue
with their studies and also encouraged
the community to allow their children to
attend school, especially girl pupils
because they have seen Debra Ross as
an educated female and that she has become
JSSS’s president among the men and
successfully headed it. Because of this
example the community has been convinced
and allow their daughters to follow their
studies because JSSS motivated the
community with school uniforms and other
children important support. Also convinced
and encouraged is Achol Chyer Rhyan the
first woman to hold the post of Gogrial West
County Commissioner in Warrap state.
JSSS have been instrumental in supporting
the community with different items such as
blankets mosquito nets, clothes and others as
well as they could afford to do. It was a very
good way to approach the community with
the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, when
the community noticed that it was kind and of
Christian’s behavior to help others as they
have done it to them. Their support has
contributed to a rapid spreading of the Gospel
within and around the Akon area. Through
the love and kindness which they shared the
community understood the Christians’
lifestyles and attitudes toward the people
whom God created all over the world as
brothers and sisters in Christ.
JSSS also initiated the Bible school training in
Akon Payam of Gogrial West County in
Warrap State which equipped the
Christian leaders to spread the Gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ to one another
within a community as commended by our
lord. This support enabled church growing
in the community, when the church
leaders have been trained for the ministry
so that they have more experience and
knowledge of the Gospel of the Lord to
spread the words of salvation to the
people. The Christian schools are the best
P a g e | 26 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal for the church leaders to be trained in and
return for their ministries.
This training prepared the students to
succeed in some advanced Christians
schools especially St John’s Theological
college in the Diocese of Wau which has
been initiated by the Rt Rev Bishop Moses
Deng Bol Akoon in the year of 2010 to
succeed in his vision of church leaders
training in his Diocese and neighbouring
Dioceses as well. It was one of his first
visionary things to prioritize as he is the first
Bishop in the Wau diocese to initiate a
Christian school for the leaders of his diocese
and others as well. In fact the RT Rev Bishop
Moses Deng Bol Akoon first initiated this
Christian school for the intention of only
equipping three of his students who had
failed the St Paul’s University Limuru Kenya’s
Special Entrance Examination (SEE) to
prepare them for the success of the next
examination which was done and in doing so
established the school.
JSSS has also offered some scholarships as
to send some of the pastors to
further studies so that they will be
more equipped for their ministry.
The current challenges in Akon
Brown Back Clinic
The clinic building has a problem
with the ceiling in that there are the
big cracks on the ceiling which show
that it is almost ready to collapse. We
have been talking with a contractor
who has some experience of the
character of the concrete ceiling in the clinic
and talked possibly removing it and using
another alternative for it, because the ceiling
is now supported by three local wooden
pillars which were used by clinic staff to hold
up the ceiling for a time before getting a
solution. The contractor measured the
distance between the floor and the ceiling,
along the wall across from where the big
crack is. He also measured the distance
between the floor and the ceiling in the
middle of the room or where the crack has
made the ceiling lower.
We have observed,
when we have climbed
up to see what caused
the crack in the empty
space above the ceiling
until we reached the
wooden rafters and
metal sheeting for the
roof. We have got a lot
of causes and we have
taken some photos of it.
There is a great need
for support to rebuild
the ceiling in this very
important building.
P a g e | 27 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
Remembering the Ministry of Kenneth Hearn
By Bishop Moses Deng Bol
It was in 2000 when I first met Kenneth when
he and his long term Kenyan friend Joseph
Musembi attended our first Diocesan Synod
at Lietnhom, Gogrial East County Warrap
State, South Sudan. The then Bishop of Wau
Diocese Henry Chuir Riak introduced
Kenneth as a friend of Wau Diocese whom
he had appointed to represent the Diocese as
Bishop’s Commissary in the UK. In addition to
his appointment as Commissary Bishop
Henry also appointed Kenneth as Lay Canon
of Wau Cathedral. Kenneth held these two
positions until his death on--- October 2014.
As Official representative of Wau Diocese in
the UK, Kenneth served the Diocese with
dedication and total commitment. His
sacrificial service to Wau originated from his
love for Christ and the people of Wau whom
he has interacted with on different occasions
including the Lietnhom Synod and his visits to
Wau Cathedral in Wau town.
While Commissary for Wau Diocese Kenneth
worked hard to link Wau with friends in the
UK. Some of Kenneth’s achievements
includes the follow up of the Deanery link
between Poole Deanery in Salisbury Diocese
and Wau Diocese, the ladies education
supported by the Chapman Trust Fund, the
purchase of the Gospel of
Mark in the Dinka Rek
dialect supported by the
Every Home Crusade, the
Purchase of 500
Theological Books from
the USA supported by
Mile and Cooridor
Parishes in Northern
Ireland and the link
between St John’s and
Unionist College in
Northern Ireland.
Kenneth will be
remembered by the
people of Wau Diocese as
someone who loved them
whole heartedly and who
committed himself to
supporting them in
whatever way possible.
May His soul rest in
eternal peace
Every blessing +Moses
P a g e | 28 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
Community Conflict Prevention
As a country emerging from prolonged civil war, Twic and Mayom Counties are facing a lot of
challenges as far as issues of peaceful coexistence are concerned. One of the challenges that
have potential to slow down the gains so far achieved is tribal violence. Although all South Sudan
became independent on the 9th of July 2011, the issue of tribal violence has not been addressed
well, especially between neighbouring communities; there is therefore need for an increased effort
to reverse this practice.
Goal: to create youth safe environments in Twic (Dinka) and Mayom (Nuer) Counties.
Objectives:
1. To hold a five (5) day workshop in Ajak kuac Payam at the border of Warrap andUnity States to
build the capacity of youth leaders, senior ministry officials, community leaders, traditional courts
representatives, chiefs and law enforcement personnel on community conflict prevention and
responses.
2. To increase community awareness on community conflict prevention and responses, with a
holistic perspective that includes reconciliation, mediation, negotiation and peace building, by
forming a multi-sector advocacy network at the two counties level.
Community Peace Mobilisers Leaders Project
This project will target six counties of Warrap State which are bordering Lakes and Unity State,
these three states are more prone to tribal conflict in South Sudan. Nowhere has the need for
peace building been more pressing than in these six counties of Warrap State, where conflicts
within neighbours like Unity and Lake State have been particularly devastating and major concern.
Goal: To strengthen community leader’s capacity in peace building and conflict negotiation skills,
healing and reconciliation and to instil a spirit of community ownership rather than depending on
outsiders
Objectives:
Equip leaders with relevant skills in conflict negation management
Training of Community Peace Mobilisers to advocate for a culture of dialogue as an avenue for
healing forgiveness and reconciliation.
Setting up a Local Inter-Community peace committees in 42 payams
Sign community peace agreements as a crucial element of strategies to restore security,
justice and community dialogue.
Encourage accountability within communities to take up their responsibilities in peace building
and conflict mitigation.
Work closely with government, CNHPR and other development actors within the context of the
Warrap Strategic Plan.
More details of these projects are on the Wau Diocese website project page:
http://www.wau.anglican.org/index.php?PageID=propsals
P a g e | 29 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
Contacting Us: www.wau.anglican.org
By E-mail
Diocesan Bishop
Rt Rev Moses Deng Bol : [email protected]
Diocesan Secretary
Rev Nathaniel Maral : [email protected]
General Enquiries
Rev Samuel Madut : [email protected]
Mother’s Union
Mrs Mary John Garang : [email protected]
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
“Father God please help us to seek out Jesus in our lives. Help us to see his light in the darkness of our lives and learn to grow in that light to be better people living in peace.
Amen”.
Warrap State Peace Mobiliser
Mrs Rose Aciendhel Kacthiek
+211 914191558
P a g e | 30 www.wau.anglican.org Renewal
Please Pray With Us
Pray for the hardworking clergy and volunteers of Wau Diocese who work without pay in
difficult conditions.
Pray for the Archbishop of the ECSSS and current situation in South Sudan so that all violence may
be stopped and peace initiatives followed with vigour.
Pray for lasting peace in the border lands between Sudan and South Sudan, in Abyei, Blue Nile and
the Nuba Mountains.
Pray for the success of the IGAD talks to bring a peaceful settlement to South Sudan..
Pray for peace and forgiveness between all South Sudanese tribal cultures.
Give thanks to God for the work of CNHPR bringing healing and reconciliation to the people of
South Sudan.
Pray for those providing assistance to internally displaced people and the people relying on the aid.
Particularly pray for children and mothers.
Pray for all people in our community in need of education particularly girls and young women.
Give Thanks for all those who have given their time to become peace mobilisers for South Sudan.
Pray for Alueldit the chairperson of the internally displaced people in our Diocese.
Pray for the many 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.
Give Thanks for the Wau Diocese pastors living away and studying. Pray for them to succeed in
their efforts and enrich the life of our diocese.
Give Thanks for the Wau Diocese standing committee meeting and all those who attended.
Pray for all pastors, priests, deacons and for all the new people who will be taking advantage of the
new TEE training. Give thanks also for Jump Start South Sudan.
Pray for Rev Nathaniel Maral as he begins his mission work as Diocesan Secretary.
Pray for Rev John Bol and all theological students working hard to better themselves.
Pray for the newly created administrators for the area dioceses of Gogrial and Tonj.
Pray the work of the Education department in Wau Diocese, especially with projects supporting
literacy and girls education.
Give thanks to God for the valuable work of CARD in our community and the development it brings
to make life better for the future.
