Very disturbing news from South Sudan

 I have just received the following from Larry Duffee who once worked in the ECSSS provincial office and now for an NGO in Juba. Please pray. Our hearts are broken.

Dear Friends:

I have been contacted by some of you recently regarding the current situation in South Sudan. I appreciate everyone's concern.

Bottom line is, the situation is not good. Last week was an especially disturbing week with fresh reports of assaults upon civilians of a horrific scale. Further attacks by rebel forces upon the territory of Upper Nile State make it quite probable that Upper Nile will fall, possibly within the next few days. If that happens the government of South Sudan will be mortally wounded since the last remaining oil fields are in Upper Nile - without them the government has no other revenue, no other means of paying soldiers and civil servants. Once the soldiers - most of whom have not been paid for months anyway - become disgruntled there could be a complete breakdown of law and order, even in Juba, which has largely been spared the suffering being experienced in other parts of the country.

We still feel safe in Juba, though we are keeping a close eye on developments. We had staff we had to evacuate from Renk over the Easter weekend, and we are discussing evacuation strategies should we decide we need to leave South Sudan. At this point we prefer to remain here, but should conditions begin to deteriorate in Juba then we would evacuate towards Kenya.

At this point I would ask people to continue to pray for South Sudan, for the people and the leaders, and for those of us that are serving here. If conditions deteriorate or we find ourselves evacuating, I will let you know so we can keep in touch.

You may share as much as you want, and you can identify me if you like. My heart breaks for what is happening. I cannot believe I was here to cheer this country into existence and may yet see it whimper into non-existence. This country needs prayers - for the leadership to abandon their warring ways, and for the suffering people. It's all just so, so sad.

Please take care of yourselves. Regardless of what happens, the people here will still need us and we have to be prepared to continue on as best we can.

Much love,

Larry

Pray for Bishop Gwynne College

Dear BGC Prayer Partners, I trust and pray that you all have an good Holy Week and Easter. Please accept the attached ecard! The college continues to battle on positively despite the many hardships in South Sudan.

• The immediate future of the country is not positive. There are setbacks on many fronts - especially in the Upper Nile State and Jonglei, but this has ramifications for the rest of the nation - political, economic, and social. Development in education, health and infrastructure has stagnated.

• The religious institutions (both Christian and Islamic) have remained united and committed to peace-building and reconciliation across the nation. The people of faith, led by Archbishop Daniel and other religious leaders, are taking a strong, positive non-biased line telling politicians and the international community what they believe is necessary for the people of South Sudan while they struggle to minister to the needs on the ground. I attach a statement from the South Sudan Council of Churches. This link to a statement from the UK Government you might find helpful https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/south-sudan-country-of-concern/south-sudan-country-of-concern-latest-update-31-march-2014.

• The college has had good results from its exams sat just before 15th December when the violence erupted. One of two of the first years have a bit more work to do, but it was their first semester and if things continue as they have in the last couple of years, they will realise what is expected of them and their results will improve. The main problem is English and that only comes with practice. Nevertheless the results overall are very encouraging. Please pray for the students as they lead up to this semester's exams at the end of May.

• We are very grateful for a recent gift of ten computers and two printers for the new college library which is gradually coming together.  This new building gives us so much more scope. (Because of personal circumstances, I have not been able to go to the college in person this year and have no photos. However, I hope this will soon be rectified and will let you all know when some are posted.)

• Finances are a challenge but the remarkable response from so many of you has meant a huge increase in money coming to us from overseas. The local income base is very limited this year and we now rely on this giving for our running costs. We have had to suspended the 500*500 appeal for building development while this situation continues. We do not want to deflect funds from the everyday needs. All giving to the college is now going to paying salaries, feeding students, paying for medicines and buying fuel for the generator and transport. We thank God for this generosity and pray for its continuance.

• Please continue to pray for our principal Samual Galuak upon whom so much rests.  Also Esparanza Emil and Benjamin Disi, both vital members of the team that keep the college going day to day.

Blessings,
Trevor