Voice of Hope | Issue 6 | March 2014 Page 1

In this issue

Editorial (seeds of peace) 1 Word from the Bishop 2 Radio uniting People 3 New students at CBPC 3 Youth reaching Children 4 Come let us rebuild 5 Shonglap 5 Classrooms without furniture 6 Modern farming techniques 6 New vehicle dedicated 7 Bishop Anthony in Australia 7 Bishop’s Leadership School 8 IDPs in Kajo-Keji 8 Contact info 8

Voice of Hope Newsletter of the Diocese of Kajo-Keji

Issue 6 | March | 2014

Editorial Seeds of Peace By Rev. Jacob Haasnoot

The hot season is still with us in Kajo-Keji. It is dusty and dry. We are waiting eagerly for the rains to come so we can prepare the land and sow good seeds. James also talks about sowing seeds in his letter when he says: 'Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness' (3:18). Our country South Sudan is going through difficult times. We need people that sow peace because we desperately need that harvest of righteousness. James tells us that this only can be done when we receive wisdom from heaven. Please pray with us for church and government leaders, for all people, to sow seeds of peace so we can look forward to a bright future for South Sudan. Pray that we ourselves are peacemakers and that God's Kingdom may come to us and to this country.

© Michael Blyth

Voice of Hope | Issue 6 | March 2014 Page 2

This fighting has led to the death of innocent people and displacements of many people in the county. It is now estimated that over 10,000 people have died and over half a million people have either been displaced internally or have crossed South Sudan’s international border and have once again become refugees in the neighbouring countries. It is unfortunate to be going through this senseless war; we heard that the cause of the war was an attempted coup d'état with others disputing this view. Whatever was the cause of the start of the fighting, the reality is that this was the result of power struggle within the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). The leaders of the SPLM should have dealt with these issues in-house; instead of plunging the whole nation and region into these unfortunate deaths, displacement and destruction of property and infrastructure. Other people have taken advantage of the situation to fan negative ethnicity. Prayer The IGAD countries have been working hard for peace to be achieved. This requires the support of all people. We also need to pray for the peace process. On 23 January 2014, the two warring sides signed a cessation of hostilities agreement; this is a welcome development. We need to pray for the peace negotiations which were expected to start at the time of writing this piece. Some positive news has also come out of Addis Ababa at talks with the rebellion led by David Yau Yau. They have signed a cessation of hostilities agreement. They are also expected to start negotiations soon. Church leaders are playing an important in mediating such talks. Please pray for Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban, Bishop Arkanjelo Lemi of AIC and Bishop Paulo Yugusuk of ECSS & S.

On the night of Sunday 15 December 2013, shooting was heard in Juba. This soon spread to other towns of South Sudan including Bor, Bentiu and Malakal. These were unfortunate events coming only after two years and half years following the jubilant celebration of the birth of the nascent nation of South Sudan.

Rt. Rev’d. Anthony D. Poggo

New vehicle I would like to conclude this word with an update on the fund raising of the vehicle for the Bishop. The targeted amount of US$ 42,000 was achieved by the end of January 2014. The vehicle arrived Kajo-Keji in February. I would like to thank all those who contributed to this fund raising effort; this include the parishes in Kajo-Keji and three churches in England. Bishop Justin of Maridi and Bishop Elias Taban of Evangelical Presbyterian Church were some of the first church leaders to send their support. I would like to thank the Episcopal Bishop of Dallas who, when he heard of what we were doing, made a significant donation that enabled us reach the target. I would like to mention Honourable Manase Lomole who made the very first contribution two years before we formally launched the fund raising drive. A number of personal friends sent funds towards this funds drive; this included members of my former Bible study group in Oxford. The South Sudanese diaspora in the US mainly in Seattle, Dallas and other cities made contributions for the purchase of the vehicle.

In one meeting, I announced that we have now received the new vehicle. One pastor came to one of our diocesan staff to say that they still have one goat that was one of the three goats donated that was not sold. I replied that we would use the proceeds for fuel and a garage that we would like to construct. Once again thank you all for your contributions, prayers and encouragement!

Word from the Bishop Rt. Rev’d. Anthony D. Poggo

Voice of Hope | Issue 6 | March 2014 Page 3

New students at CBPC By Jacob Haasnoot We have started 2014 with 16 fulltime students

for the Theology studies at Canon Benaiah

Poggo College. In the Diploma group are 8

students of which three are from other dioceses:

two from Rumbek Diocese and one from Nzara

Diocese. The Certificate group also has 8

students, with one student from Cueibet Diocese

and the others from Kajo-Keji. It is nice to have a

mixed group of students from different areas.

Unfortunately we only have male students this

year. We hope we can welcome some more

female students in the future.

The Words of Hope ministry is uniting people: those who

don't attend church, those busy with other commitments

and those sick in the hospital have access to the Word of

God through our radio ministry. Our main challenge is the

time limitation of the radio station (Voice of Kajo-Keji)

where our programs are currently broadcasted. Although

our broadcasting time is limited, at least 10 listeners call

in every time with needs for prayer. Like Guo Scovia, a 14

year old girl, who was possessed by an evil spirit which

had disturbed her for long. She was thrown on the ground

by the evil spirit when she was listening to our radio

program with the topic 'The fear of evil spirits'. Two

pastors visited her to pray for her and she got delivered

and accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior.

The Words of Hope radio ministry in partnership with the

Diocese of Kajo-Keji is committed to bringing people faith

in Christ. Please join us in prayer that we may have soon

our own Diocesan FM radio station to reach out to

listeners in our county and beyond.

Radio uniting people By Julius Iga - Words of Hope radio producer

Guo Scovia

Diploma Students

Voice of Hope | Issue 6 | March 2014 Page 4

Youth reaching children Francis Candiga, Director CEF South Sudan Children are the most unreached people group in our country. Few churches have a plan to provide programs to children. While children form the greatest percentage of the congregation in the church today, yet they are most neglected in the area of evangelism. That is why Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) has the goal to evangelize boys and girls with the gospel of Jesus and to disciple them. One of the ministries of CEF is a training called Christian Youth in Action CYIA (CYIA), in which born-again teenagers are trained to reach children in their neighborhood through a five day club program. Teaching children

The CYIA-program started in South Sudan in 2011, and has since trained 46 teenagers in a four year program. The last CYIA-training was in January this year where 43 teenagers were trained. To complete the training, a student has to attend the course for 10 days each year, for four years. The students are given skills on how to effectively present the Bible lesson, a memory verse, songs and mission stories to the children. A five day club is a ministry where children are gathered in a particular home in the neighborhood and are taught the word of God through bible stories, memory verses and songs. This year teenagers were able to reach 530 children in 6 clubs and 310 children prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior.

Teenagers changed

Apart from helping the children understand the message of salvation, CYIA is positively transforming the lives of these young people who are trained. We have witnessed the youth growing in their relationship with the Lord as they serve through this ministry. Because of the leadership skills they attain during the training, most of them have been appointed as leaders in their various schools and churches.

One teenager said: “I joined this program because of what I saw in my friends at school. They were younger than me but they could preach! I always wondered where they got the courage to preach. I asked one of them and he told me that it was because of the CYIA-training”.

Challenges

Although this program is very successful, we face financial challenges to run the programs. Please remember our ministry in your prayers. It is so important to reach the children with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus and to change the life of a teenager in South Sudan. The next CYIA-training will take place from January 7th to 14th 2015.

CEF school ministry

CYIA-training 2014

Voice of Hope | Issue 6 | March 2014 Page 5

Nehemiah 5 talks about issues of land and poverty. Bishop Anthony links this with the land-grabbing in South Sudan and especially in Juba. It has become like a disease, 'grabiosis', Bishop Anthony says. "It needs to be addressed urgently before it spreads throughout the country", he adds (page 91).

The book finishes with a chapter on the relationship between Church and State and with a concluding chapter. This is a must-read for those interested in either the book of Nehemiah or the rebuilding of South Sudan, or both! The underlying message is that the Bible is relevant for our daily lives, not only to build our faith. And that is a message which is worth to be heard.

For those outside South Sudan, you can order the book through Amazon.com. For those in South Sudan, please contact the newsletter team for more information on how to get your copy of this book.

Anthony Poggo, Come Let Us Rebuild, Lessons from Nehemiah, Hertford, 2013.

Shonglap

By Canon John Lomundu

The second Shonglap-training (helping girls who have dropped out of school to make a new start) is in full progress in Kajo-Keji Diocese. We teach the girls skills so they can earn their own income. One group learned how to prepare food and especially salads. Another group designed and made clothing which is fashionable and easily sold. The pictures speak for themselves.

Come let us rebuild By Rev. Jacob Haasnoot

Bishop Anthony Poggo wrote a very interesting and relevant book with 'Lessons from Nehemiah'. In the current situation in South Sudan we could read the title almost as a prayer: Let us please stop the conflicts and continue to rebuild our country! This book is unique in the sense that it gives the reader a solid explanation of the text in its original context but it also provides concrete applications in the situation of South Sudan. That makes it a truly African, contextualized, commentary on Nehemiah.

Bishop Anthony likes to be to the point and that makes this book an enjoyable read. Let me give you a few examples of his applications. When Nehemiah in 2:3 addresses the king, Bishop Anthony talks about not taking pride in our titles. He tells us that in the ECSS&S bishops should no longer be addressed as 'Your Lordship', and he explains why. He doesn't mention here that it was Bishop Anthony's initiative to discontinue this kind of address for a bishop.

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Making of Salads Products of tailoring

Voice of Hope | Issue 6 | March 2014 Page 6

So far we have received a pledge from a partner for US$ 4,000 towards school furniture.

If you also would like to help buy a desk or any of the above furniture, please write to the Diocesan Secretary at dokkds@gmail.com or to Bishop Anthony Poggo at bishop@kajokeji.anglican.org

Training on modern farming techniques - By Canon Henry Leju

From 30th October to 4th November 2013, Kajo-Keji Ecumenical Programme (KaETP) conducted a succesful training on modern farming techniques in cooperation with the County Agriculture Department. The main objective of the course was to empower people with knowledge and skills on new methods of farming. The training was opened by the Senior Inspector of Agriculture in the County, Mr. Tomijo Julius. The participants promised to implement the knowledge and skills they learned from the training and asked for the continuation of these kind of courses to benefit more people in the County.

Classrooms without furniture

Over the last seven years, we have seen an increase in the number of newly built schools in Kajo-Keji. This is through the efforts of the government, NGOs and churches. The Diocese of Kajo-Keji built some of these schools. The new school buildings have reduced the number of under-a-tree-schools in Kajo-Keji. Some of these nicely built schools lack furniture though. Visitors will find that in some of these schools, children are sitting on the floor listening to their teacher and writing on their laps. Also the teachers do not have a table to write on! The Bishop has made an appeal for contributions to buy the needed furniture. Each school of 8 classrooms would require 144 desks at a cost of US$ 60 each. The costs for a complete set of furniture in a basic primary school (with 8 classrooms) are as follows:

Description Qtty Unit Price

Total US $

School desks 144 60 8,640 Office tables 7 160 1,120 Book shelves - measuring 180 x 120

6 125 750

Chairs 28 30 840 Total US $ 11,350

No classroom and no desks

Opening of the workshop

Nice classroom but no furniture

Voice of Hope | Issue 6 | March 2014 Page 7

Bishop Anthony in Australia

Bishop Anthony writes: "My trip to the

Australia is going on well. I am in Perth

preaching, teaching and encouraging the South

Sudanese diaspora here for the whole month of

March. I am having a very busy and fruitful time.

I have preached in five services/functions and

have been speaking in homes of South

Sudanese on almost daily basis for the first 12

days of my trip. We had a fruitful time with the

youth on the evening of Sunday 9 March. The

turn up was encouraging. One of the youth

tweeted: '@APoggo You are a blessing to the

church & the African community. Glad I got the

chance to meet you... Your words have changed me'.

Pray that these talks will touch the lives of

people. Pray also for strength, good health and

some of rest during the visit. Towards the end of

the trip I will also visit the South Sudanese

diaspora in Melbourne".

New vehicle dedicated (in pictures)

In January three vehicles were dedicated to God. Two new County cars and the new Bishop's vehicle to God.

Bishop Anthony prays a prayer of dedication for the new vehicles.

The new Bishop's vehicle on its first trip to a confirmation service The new vehicle washed clean

Voice of Hope | Issue 6 | March 2014 Page 8

IDPs in Kajo-Keji By Canon Henry Leju

Canon Henry Leju was part of a committee that looked into the situation of IDPs in Kajo-Keji County. The committee discovered 28 cattle camps with more than 2000 people, mostly women and children. The situation is severe and the needs are great. If you want to read the full report on these IDPs, please send an email to the newsletter team.

Bishop's Leadership School (In pictures)

Diocese of Kajo-keji C/O The Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan

P.O. Box 110, Juba, Republic of South Sudan Email: newsletter@Kajokeji.anglican.org Website: www.kajokeji.anglican.org

To subscribe/unsubscribe: newsletter@kajokeji.anglican.org

Closure of the Bishop's Leadership School by the Commissioner of Kajo-Keji in January

Shelters of internally displaced people (IDPs) from Jonglei State in Kajo-Keji

The Leadership School was conducted in the Emmanuel Cathedral