Nuba Mountains

Dear Prayer Partners,

The appended communication from the Roman Catholic bishop of El Obeid reminds us once again of the desperate need for prayer for those cut off and suffering in the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile and Darfur in Sudan.  Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile are being constantly bombed. It is civilians that are being targeted. Any evidence of  human habitation is attacked.  We are constantly reminded that women and children are the particular targets of this aggression. No help of any sort is being alllowed in. No journalists are allowed anywhere near these places. The one team (Daniel Bogado and Adrian Hartley)who managed to penetrate into the area and come back with footage have just received a Rory Peck Award for outstanding journalism  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20551724.
 

We need to pray.  Have we forgotten these people?  It feels like that to them because no-one seems to be doing anything to help them. We must pray and ask God to help us discover what we can do - what we should be doing - and then do it, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.

Blessings,
Trevor 

Bishop Gassis writes:

NUBA, November 30, 2012 (CISA) -The people of Nuba Mountains in Sudan are calling on the church to remember them in prayer following the ongoing bombings in the area.

“The bombings are carried out on daily basis and what saddens me most is that even the universal Church seems to have forgotten us, the people of the Nuba Mountains. At least remember us in the prayers of the faithful during Sunday Masses.”

This was said by Bishop Macram Max Gassis, of El Obeid Diocese, in whose territory falls the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan State of
Sudan where for a long time a war has been going on between the government in Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Army-North
(SPLA-North).

“The first victims of this war are civilians, especially women,children and the elderly,” said the Bishop. “Recently the church of Heban was bombed, which thankfully reported limited damage. In the month of November, Khartoum launched 330 bombs, which caused 36 deaths, mostly women and children, and 22 injuries. 30 homes and crops were destroyed.”

“No humanitarian organization is present in the Nuba Mountains and the Church is the only presence of hope for these people, with our sisters
and four doctors and surgeons (2 Americans, a German and English). The only medical facility in the area is the hospital which I founded, with a capacity of 80 patients and now has over 500.”

“Many priests walk the paths that lead from the Nuba Mountains to our structure in South Sudan in Yida in Unity State, to take supplies and medicines. The journey takes 16 hours and under the threat of Sudanese bombers. I was abroad and asked the international community to implore the regime in Khartoum to stop the bombing on civilians, and to allow food and medicine to be brought to the exhausted people.”

An Invitation to Pray

Dear Prayer Partners

I have recently been much encouraged by the increasing interest and concern I have gathered from people in regard to Sudan/South Sudan. The Christian community especially appears to be much more knowledgeable about the needs there, than Europeans and Americans could learn from the news coverage they seem to get on mainstream television.

Large parts the Church of England, for example, are much more clued up and outward looking than the recent General Synod would suggest. If the report World-shaped Mission that is on the agenda at all levels, and the quality of the Partners in World Mission conference at beginning of November are anything to go by, then there is an increasing awareness of the real meaning of partnership and an understanding of how rich we can become when we listen to Christians in what has become known as the Majority World (Africa, Asia, South America, the Pacific etc.)

As prayer partners with Bishop Gwynne College, we know that we can benefit as much from the Episcopal Church of Sudan as they can from the West. The prayer and concern is two-way, even if the distribution of wealth not.

Below are extracts from the principal's latest emails.

Trevor

"We have had a group of wonderful students these last two years."
" The students are doing well. The exam results were very remarkable. Most students got very good grades and we praise God that no single student failed last semester and no resits are required. They just need more motivational messages which I am trying to do always despite their living conditions."
"We have two wonderful female students with us. They have brought a lot of life to the college..."
"... we are triumphing well and our work is going ahead. The second staff house is done and about 12 students and the 2 females are accommodated in it.*

We are finished with the fencing and it is beautiful. The result is that the workshop has began to move out. We are taking over completely by the end of November praise God

The students are so happy the school is becoming cleaner and more beautiful. Our new sign post will be up soon - maybe next week.

No secretary yet and no new watchman but we are working on that. The part time teachers are doing wonderful work and it seems the students are happy with them. Chris and Lydia (Mitton) are a wonderful gift to us we thank God for them as they have fitted in very well. "

   * We still need to raise the funds to build a second dormitory. In the meantime staff are still living out.

Bishop Gwynne College

The college is in good heart. We give thanks that the students are all doing so well and working even above expectations. We thank God that all the students have passed their coursework as they approach the end of semester exams. We pray that they will be in good health as they face this challenging two weeks. We pray that they will use all they have learned and do as well as they able.

We give thanks for an improved relationship between students of different tribal backgrounds. (Leaving their homes and entering into a multi-cultural college in a multi-cultural city is a major challenge.)

We thank God for the good team of staff members that have come together.

We give thanks that Chris and Lydia Mitton have managed to contribute so much this last semester and we pray for them as they return to Bristol for Chris to complete his MA prior to ordination in Leeds in July 2013.

We ask God to bless Simon Lual and his family as he goes to Nairobi to for further studies.

We praise God for the continued donations to the college that have enabled more development work to take place. We give thanks that the college is at last coming into possession of the whole area allocated to it on the New Site and we pray that the wherewithal to develop it will continue to come in.

In the meantime we thank God for the patience and resilience of staff and students working in conditions that would be unacceptable in other parts of the world.

We give thanks for those who support the college in anyway. We thank God that our supporters now include people in the Netherlands. We especially pray for our academic partners – Trinity College Bristol; Duke University North Carolina; Berkeley Divinity School, Yale, Connecticut; and possible developments in Canada and Australia. We pray that the connections with BGC will be as a rich blessing for them as they are for BGC.

The Political Situation

Sadly there has been a set-back to the resumption of the flow of oil from South Sudan through Sudan. Khartoum have just reneged on the original agreement but insisting that South Sudan 'disarm' the rebels in the north. As they are not under the control of Juba and South Sudan has no practical way of doing this, it is impossible for Juba comply with this new condition. Therefore it doesn't look as if oil production will resumeany time soon.

Pray for a change in the stance of the Khartoum government. For the sake of both nations pray for that Khartoum will honour its original agreement facilitated by the UN.

We pray for the government of South Sudan that it will have the expertise, patience, honesty and resilience to improve the conditions for the people of the country as well as they can.

We ask God's blessing on the thousands of civilians in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile after renewed attacks by the Sudan Armed Forces on their homes and fields intended to destroy their crops or prevent them being harvested. Pray for those who have no food or medicine.

We pray for the situation in Abyei where poverty is intense. We pray for the UN and AU troops in the area that they may be effective in offering protection.

The Episcopal Church of Sudan

We give thanks for a successful Bishops' Conference in November. We pray in particular for the five northern dioceses – Khartoum, Port Sudan, El Obeid (includes Dafur), Wed Medani (includes Blue Nile) and Kadugli (includes Nuba Mountains).

We praise God for the resilience and hard work of Archbishop Daniel Deng.

From Juba with love ...

Dear BGC Prayer Partners,

We are so grateful for all your prayers. I write to you today from Juba where I am privileged to spend the next month, and know just how much your prayers are appreciated by the hard working people here in Bishop Gwynne College.

This new academic year sees us begin with a new first year of sixteen students drawn from across South Sudan. This means that, for the first time since the college reopened in 2010, we have all three years running together with all the students doing the Limuru Diploma. The institution is healthy and vibrant, performing well under our very able principal, Revd Joseph Taban.

And conditions in Juba are better than they were with a lot more town power in the grid, which, in turn means more steady town water supplies making life more comfortable. The development of the city continues apace with new buildings going up wherever you look, many of them multi-storey.

Konya-Konya market (which probably covers two hectares), which was completely destroyed by fire in March, is now fully restored. The resilience and resourcefulness of these people is amazing!

There remains, of course, a lot of poverty and for the less motivated and disadvantaged, life is a struggle. But for those who want to make something of their lives, the opportunities exist.

Thank you!

Trevor

The Nation

We give thanks for the enormous resilience and determination of so many young people in South Sudan who are determined to make a success of their lives. We thank God for those who persist with school into their twenties making up for lost time. We thank God that the standards of education in the schools, although still low compared to other countries, are improving all the time.

We pray that the government of South Sudan and the government in Khartoum can continue to talk to improve conditions in both countries. We thank God that the oil looks as if it is going to begin to flow again bringing in much needed income to both south and north. We thank God also for the input and encouragement into the development of agriculture, which many see as the key to the future prosperity of South Sudan.

The College

We thank God the BGC is in good heart in the days leading up to the opening of the new academic year. We pray that there will be adequate room for the students to all sleep on the New Site. We thank God for some excellent new bunk beds especially made for the dormitory that help us increase the capacity, and for the completion of the building work that will help us accommodate even more people. We pray that all the students will find the wherewithal to travel to the college, and that they will increasingly obtain financial support and encouragement from their local communities.

We pray for the new members of staff that will begin teaching this semester. Most of them have been secured to teach their speciality for one or two courses only. We give thanks that they are sharing their expertise and improving our standards significantly. We ask God's blessing on staff relationships.

We pray for our Principal, Joseph Taban, who is under so much pressure. We pray that we can find the resources to get him a secretary. We pray for our College Council and our Board of Governors who are operating well. We thank God for our logistic officer, Benjamin Disi, who gives us much experience and dedication. We thank God that Tina has been able to return to work on the library which is primed to receive a large number of new boards from the Theological Book Network in America.

We pray for those who are building on part of the BGC land so that the college can have a good income in the future. We pray that the resources for building development will continue to flow and that the college will soon be able to utilize all of the New Site.

We praise God for all those from overseas and locally who give so generously to the work of the college and its students.

Celebrating 9th July 2012

 

This picture is taken in the garden of our new house in Keynsham, between Bath and Bristol, UK. We are grateful to the local people of this place who have come to help us celebrate. We were delighted to find a Zande from Yambio living just up the road from us. Sadly the health of his family has prevented him from fulfilling his dream of returning to Western Equatoria.

Amazingly 9^th July provided the only dry and warm evening in a week of rain, so we were able to cook and eat outside.

This picture is taken in Beaminster, Dorset who had a special “Sudan Sunday” on 15^th July. The morning worship contained of a sermon and prayers for Sudan, South Sudan and the ECS. In the afternoon they invited the small town to a Dorset Cream Tea to raise funds for the Beaminster Friends of Sudan. Their most recent contribution is a set of bibles for Ephata Primary School in Juba.

~~~~~

The following is a short article that expresses Trevor's feelings following a series of negative reports of the first year of the life of South Sudan.

South Sudan - One Year On ...

 The outside world has not given very high marks to South Sudan and its northern neighbour Sudan for its first year of independence celebrated on 9th July 2012.  Somehow, reporters had a kind of false anticipation of the progress that the new countries would make following 9th July 2011.  The people in Juba that we know, however, were never using rose-tinted glasses. They knew the problems back then, and there really hasn't been any surprises.

 

They were never under the illusion that the Khartoum government were going to give up trying to keep them poor as they have done for years. They knew that they would drive out the ethnically southern from the north – indeed the exodus was well under way as soon as the referendum had taken place in January 2010. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled or been forced out of Khartoum to do the best they can in the south (where many of them, having been born in the north, had never ever lived). Disruption to trade between north and south had been happening even in 2009, and no-one really believed that the barges of refined fuel that powered the Juba electricity generators would continue to arrive. The north had long been suspected of supplying the LRA, and inciting, and pay-rolling rebellious factions in the south has been an ongoing reality since the CPA was signed in 2005.

These issues of tribal division, mistrust, armed robbery and revenge attacks are not a new thing. The period of the referendum in January 2011 was a remarkable exception to the usual round of tribal violence. The one thing that unites the people of the south is the universal oppression from the north. But both these things, inter-tribal conflict and northern oppression go back centuries.

The allegations of financial corruption surprise no-one. It has been generally accepted, and it is, of course, not confined to a few leading politicians. It is rooted in the natural instinct to survive and to provide for your family in very uncertain and difficult times. It is how human beings are – even in the West (although there they are more likely to make it technically legal). This certainly does not excuse it. But it is not new.

So what is new? First, the fear has largely gone. You can generally say what you think without risk of being picked up and 'disappeared'. The police and soldiers are generally on your side. Then there is a certain pride about being a South Sudanese, having your own identity in a world where, for most of its history, the black tribes of this remote part of Africa far from the sea have been largely ignored. And, not least, there is hope. Things may not get materially better in a hurry, but the Khartoum bullies will eventually loose power, the new relations with East Africa will increase, and the NGOs and investors (although hit by the world's current economic slump) will continue to channel resources into the country without hindrance. Peace between families and communities is high on the agenda of the Christian churches who have joined together across the denominations (and also the Muslim minority in the south) to work to dispel the traditional tribal animosities, outlaw theft and violence, and build schools, workshops and clinics.

So one year on things may seem worse than a year ago, but progress never takes a smooth curve. It's a long term venture. It's going to take generations, but with the resources and the resilience of the people there is lasting hope for both Sudans.

Trevor Stubbs,

International Consultant,

Bishop Gwynne Theological College,

JUBA

BGC Prayer Partners

At BGC and in South Sudan we are very grateful indeed for your continued prayers. Despite the many sadnesses associated with South Sudan, we still have much to give thanks for.

Monday, 9^th July 2012 is the first anniversary of the independence of South Sudan.  We pray for the government and people of this new country specially on this day. 
If you are in the area, you would be most welcome to come to our new house in the UK for a BBQ meal and celebration.  We live at 15, Cleeve Grove, Keynsham, Bristol, BS31 2HF. (Keynsham is on the A4 half way between Bristol and Bath.  Ring us on +44 117 986 9664 for more details.)

May God continue to bless you as he has us.

Trevor Stubbs,  BGC International Consultant

The College

Our Students.

We have been enormously blessed by a group of able, well motivated and hard-working students at BGC coming from tribes across South Sudan.

We give thanks to God for their dedication and devotion to his work.

We pray for them as they now enjoy home leave with their families in their home parishes, dioceses and villages.

We pray that they will be able to use their time to plant and tend crops and find other ways to help provide for their families.

We pray for their health. With malaria and typhoid a frequent and debilitating occurrence, as well as other things that beset people living in basic conditions, we pray that they will be able to get the right medicines at an affordable price.

We give thanks for organisations that are working with the ECS to provide health care in all corners of the country. We pray that the transport, weather and political conditions will all come together to facilitate greater potential for good health.

We pray for those new students preparing to join a new first year in August.

Our Staff.

We give thanks for a good first year under our principal Joseph Taban, and we pray for him and his family as they seek teaching staff to cover the curriculum from August. This is especially challenging this year as we shall have students in all three years of the diploma course.

Please pray that the right staff can be found.

College Finances.

We praise God for the many people in Britain, America and Australia who have responded to the challenge of supporting BGC in different ways.

We thank God for those who have contributed to the 500*500 Appeal for the development of the college, those who have been raising money for a generator, those who have given towards the cost of employing staff, and those who have sponsored individual students.

We thank God that local income has kept up and that there has been such an increase in local giving. We pray that this will be sustained in the coming year.

We pray for a continued international interest in the college.

Sudan and South Sudan

North- South Conflict.

We rejoice that the temperature of the tensions and border encounters between Sudan and South Sudan have cooled and that full-scale war has been averted.

We thank God that both sides are now talking with each other again, and we pray that these Addis Ababa negotiations on the border demarcation, oil production and other areas of dispute will bear fruit.

Abyei

The Sudan Armed Forces have withdrawn from most of Abyei and the area is now policed by Ethiopians under the auspices of the UN. Many people have returned to both the countryside and Abyei Town.

We give thanks that people can return to their homes and now we pray that they can begin food production with the help of the UN and other agencies. In the meantime we pray that they can get the food and other aid they need to live stable healthy lives.

We pray that the children can soon start school again.

Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile and Darfur.

The people in these regions of Sudan are in open rebellion to the Khartoum with many of them displaced to South Sudan, Ethiopia and elsewhere.

Please pray for the refugees in the refugee camps as well as those who remain in the areas of dispute.

We ask God's blessing on the churches and the NGOs working to bring them immediate relief.

Uprisings in Khartoum

In the city of Khartoum the government crack-down has been severe, but despite this the deteriorating economic situation has made life very difficult for ordinary people and many have taken to the streets in open protest of the Al-Bashir regime. This is resulting in multiple arrests and torture but the discontent is increasing.

Please pray that the ordinary people in the city, as well as the black and Christian minorities, will not suffer any more than they already do.

Economy of South Sudan

It has recently emerged that there has been a large amount of embezzlement of government funds by ministers and officials of the Republic of South Sudan. The size of the alleged thefts is more surprising than that it exists. The President has appealed to those involved to return the billions of dollars they have and no more will be said, but he has not moved to dismiss anyone. This is an indication of the delicate balance that has to be struck between powerful tribal influences, and just how fragile the South Sudanese inter-tribal coalition is.

Meanwhile the lack of oil revenue has meant that many government workers are not getting paid at all. Schools and even Juba University have closed for lack funding.

Please pray that those who have the power to act will seek to reduce the corruption.

Please pray that the people of all tribes in South Sudan will move to re-establish the self-giving Christian values that have succeeded in bringing genuine unity between different peoples.

Pray for all those suffering for the austerity measures, especially those who are no longer able to feed and care for their families in the towns and the city of South Sudan.

We give thanks for the continued foreign investment, but we pray that the wealth it generates will not all be exported abroad.

The ECS

Archbishop Daniel and the ECS as a whole is in the fore-front of negotiating peace to those inside South Sudan who have engaged in tribal conflict. They are also channelling relief supplies and facilitating many improvements on the ground.

We give thanks for the improved situation in Jonglei and ask God's blessing on the efforts being made to prevent the region from once again descending into conflict.

We thank God for the wonderful witness of hope and love that comes from much of the leadership of the ECS and other churches.

We pray for the bishops and clergy who work hard and often sacrificially for their individual dioceses and communities.

Back in Juba

Getting behind with your blog is not one of those sins you come across specifically referred to in the Bible! But apologies to all those of you looking for news. One of the reasons for the delay is that I wanted to wait until I was back in Juba so that the news could be fresh and true. What a joy to get back here at last.

The students are happy and working well. The staff new and old are applyinng themselves with energy. The environment is slightly better. At least the water is flowing readily on the new site.

BGC is in good heart, but we still lack enough buildings. As new men and women are coming for interview and to sit the entrance exam this month we are acutely conscious of the need for more accommodation. Please pray about this. Buildings are not cheap, but thank God we have the land.

In coming back I have refused to work after evening meal. I have done so much evening work in the course of my ministry that now I rejoice in the time to use that period to reflect, write and study what I want to, basically just to have fun. Not that preparing for others and being with others cannot be fun. It often is, but clergy are under so much pressure. Deadlines, debates and constantly dealing with disgruntled folk can damage the quality of what is done – especially if it doesn't allow the Spirit to flow.

Rudyard Kipling urged us to work in the garden rather than spend out time sitting in the shade and singing 'Oh, how beautiful', but what's the point of 'doing' all the time without noticing the depths of the beauty that comes from meditating on it? We need a balance.

And it is very humbling also to find the place you worked in not only doing well but in better shape than you left it. Sometimes more can be done by leaving it to others more able than oneself, whilst continuing to offer the support and encouragement and doing little bits here and there to help. It has become clear that the most important job I can do is to keeping working on our brothers and sisters in the West to contribute and invest their funds, their prayer and their love.

New avenues of support for BGC

The following is a letter to friends of Bishop Gwynne College we sent out recently.  We are happy that the college is prospering under its new principal and is being well supported by a band of prayer partners in five continents, but we are very keen to expand the work.  So this is an appeal for new avenues of support to help the college expand and build on its recent successes.
If anyone reading this would like more information about BGC, or to get on the list for updates and information, and/or become a prayer partner then sign up at or go to our website.

We have not been able to get back to Juba personally since June last year because of family commitments, but more especially Tina's broken ankle sustained on the eve of our departure in October. We are pleased to say it is getting on fine, but Trevor will be travelling to Juba alone on 20th February.

Dear Friend,
As an international consultant for Bishop Gwynne College, Juba, I am seeking further sources of income for the college.  If you have given in the past, or are giving now, you will already know the vital role the college plays in the life of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan and the new nation of South Sudan. We have alumni from north of the new border and hope that, when the political situation permits, we can once again welcome students from the whole of Sudan.

Bishop Gwynne College provides much needed training and formation for able students from the ECS and other churches. These are all serving pastors and lay workers from many corners of South Sudan.  We are affiliated to St Paul's University, Limuru, Kenya and run their diploma course, augmenting it with courses relevant to the needs of South Sudan such as agriculture, conflict resolution, church administration and leadership etc. The course is very demanding for the students, most of whom have not had proper schooling in the past.  They are very dedicated and hard-working.  However, the college runs on a shoestring.

• The accommodation is in dormitories with little space for more than a bed. The college teaching facilities consist of two rooms, one of which also houses the library and one of which is used for eating and worship as well.

• Food is very basic indeed. In contrast to the past, we do provide three meals a day but they are not large or varied enough to satisfy most appetites. Less basic food would mean students are happier, healthier and learn better, but the current budget doesn't allow for more.

• All the students have health needs.  Although we do our best we cannot prevent repeated bouts of malaria and typhoid (as well as other debilitating but treatable illnesses many of which have contracted before the students arrive). We have to take responsibility for all the health needs of the students and staff - there is no state health scheme of course.

• None of the students have any personal income. They are frequently unpaid pastors and they and their families rely on what they can grow. While they are in college they are away from home, leaving the food production to spouses and relatives. Sometimes they have been the breadwinners for not only their own families, but parents and other relatives who cannot work themselves.

• The dioceses are technically responsible for the student fees and the cost of getting to and from the college from their homes which often constitute more than one day's travelling.  The fees are currently US$800 which does not cover the cost of maintaining the student in board, lodging and medicine, and certainly does not extend to what it costs to pay and accommodate staff, cooks, security guards etc.  We have students who come with debt.  While we work hard at trying to ensure the bishops are responsible for seeing to the needs of their students, rarely are they in a position to do so without outside help. (We frequently point out that the means for maintaining the students is there if the land and cattle are used to raise cash - but the communities are not culturally inclined to do that, yet. The next generation will probably begin to accept this, but, for the present, we are working, through our students and elsewhere, to help educate the people and invest in it. We are just beginning - we have a long way to go.)

• We have a need to provide more accommodation and teaching so that the college can expand.  This will require another dormitory and shower/toilet block, a multi-purpose chapel for worship, teaching and administration, houses for staff and other ancillary buildings. It will require funds for salaries, food and medicine.  We would also like to to continue to expand the library and provide a generator so that students can study in the evenings when the town power is down (which is more often than not, given the present political situation).

Therefore we are looking for more grants and donations for the expansion of the college.  We are enormously grateful to all our past and present supporters who have helped us get the college back in business since its suspension in 2009, but we want to build on this.  

So I would be delighted for any suggestions of people who would like to invest in the important work of our college - whether it be for students, members of staff or building projects.  If you can help in any way please contact me on
Thank you.
Yours in hope,

Revd. Canon Trevor Stubbs MA, AKC.
International consultant
(One time Interim Administrator)
Bishop Gwynne College, PO Box 110, JUBA, South Sudan

Dear Prayer Partners,

Thank you for all your continued prayers for Bishop Gwynne College and the Episcopal Church of the Sudan. We hope 2012 finds you well and happy.

Bishop Gwynne College starts up again on Monday 6th.Feb. The exams at the end the last semester seem to have gone well, but of course the reults will not be out until the end of March as they have to marked at Limuru and ratified by the senate.

The students are working well. We have a new American member of staff called Dr Ellen Hankel. Daniela Rapisarda will be giving a couple of weeks in late February. I shall be there for a month from 20th Feb. Tina will remain the UK to complete her recovery from a broken ankle. Sadly for family reasons we can no longer work permanently in South Sudan.

 

We give thanks for the tremendous work of the principal, Joseph Taban, and the staff at BGC and the commitment and hard work of the students. Please pray for the staff as they seek to provide quality education in very basic and primitive circumstances.

We are very keen to get more investment in infrastructure for BGC. We have plans for a new multi-purpose chapel. This is a big project but it will provide much needed teaching as well as worship and admin facilities for the college. We also need another student dormitory and toilet/shower block. A generator in a small generator house would be a real blessing. If you can help us with any suggestions for money raising, possible charitable trusts or other sources of funding we would be very grateful. Visitors to the college are all aware of the shortcomings in the facilities we have for the work we undertake. We lag behind the standards of the local secondary schools and have a fraction of the facilities offered by other tertiary institutions. The quality of the work is high, but the facilities are pitiful. We desperately need to address this situation.

Please pray for the continued funding of the college expansion. Pray for an increase in the support to enable the college to fulfil its crucial role in the life of the new nation, both now and in the years to come.

National Concerns
2012 has not begun well for South Sudan or Sudan. There are the continued military struggles going on in South Kordofan and Blue Nile States, as well as Darfur and the refusal of the Khartoum government to allow in any humanitarian aid. The most recent news is that they have cut the road to South Sudan from the Nuba mountains to prevent refugees crossing into the south.

There is an alarming development in the dispute over the transportation of oil from South Sudan through Sudan. No agreement has been reached in the talks on the fees to Sudan for the service. Sudan has appropriated oil. In response Government of South Sudan has shut down production entirely. Both south and north are almost entirely dependent on oil (over 90% of their budgets). This means that two of the poorest countries in the world now has no prospect of development other than what comes in through investment from elsewhere.

Please pray for the governments of both Sudan and South Sudan and international efforts to bring both countries to work for peace and mutual prosperity. Pray for the UN and African Union negotiators. Pray that the agreements made may be implemented on the ground (such as in Abyei). Please pray for the oil companies and the countries from which they come (mainly China) that they will be provide avenues for future peace and co-operation.

Tribal Conflict
In Jonglei State and elsewhere in South Sudan there are very severe tribal conflicts that are resulting in many killings and much displacement.

Please pray for the Murle and Nuer Lou communities and all the other tribes drawn into this. Pray for the determination on the part of the tribal chiefs to make traditional tribal rivalry a thing of the past. We give thanks for the enormous work of the church in this field, especially Archbishop Daniel Deng and the RC Bishop Taban. Pray for the continued efforts of the Sudan Council of Churches and the continued flow of resources for this work. Pray that Bishop Gwynne College and other church training institutions and schemes will receive the needed funds to equip people for work on the ground.