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.
