BGC Prayer Partners Update

Dear Bishop Gwynne College Prayer Partners
We have been buoyed up by your prayers and we are very grateful to you all.
Tina and I returned from Juba yesterday restored by the sunshine and the amazing spirit of the people we have met. Despite all their problems (caused by the failure of people in key places) so many people are ready to make South Sudan work. Generations have been traumatized and damaged and it is this that leads to the outbreaks of violence by men with guns, often drunk and out of control.

The people we met are humble (but by no means powerless) Christians close to God. They, too, are traumatised, but they are open to the healing balm of God's presence. The Spirit flows freely like blood in their veins as they work for justice, peace, reconciliation, and healing in their torn world.

BGC is recognised as a key element in the task as young and dedicated students are trained to be in the forefront of the work of God in every corner of South Sudan and beyond (we have a student from the Nuba Mountains too.) These children of generations of civil war need more than humanitarian aid and resources to help them help themselves, they need our prayers and our love. Thank you for giving them that.

Find attached a fuller report of our visit.

Trevor Stubbs,

International Consultant

For your prayers in particular:

The College

• Thank God for the wonderful work of principal and staff making a little go a very long way. Pray that God will bless this work and keep them strong.
• Thank God for the ten graduates who have now mostly gone back to their dioceses and are engaged in the front line of the mission of God to "preach the word and share the love" (as is the motto of BGC).
• Thank God for the new students and those who are continuing in their second and third years - altogether forty-two students (five women and thirty-seven men). They specifically ask for your prayers for the end of November and beginning of December as they come to sit their exams.
• Thank God for some very able part-time tutors to complement the staff. Pray that they teach effectively and overcome the difficulties of transport etc..
• We thank God for the new college library and the ten new computers donated by World Vision and the evening classes in their use. Pray for the librarian as he works through cataloguing the new book donations, and the students as try to keep the library in good order.
• Thank God for keeping the college financially in the black for the past few months due to the gradual recovery of the local economy and the generosity of overseas donors.

I return with three specific prayer requests:

• Please pray that the right person be found to become the Academic Dean of the college. We are looking for an ordained pastor (male or female) with at least a bachelors but preferably a masters in theology. This is definitely a vocational post for someone who has a heart for the students and the development of South Sudan who is willing to stay in post for several years. BGC not only deserves the best, but needs the best for the work it is called to do.

• Please pray for significant overseas donations for:

a) funds to help increase the salaries of the staff. Inflation is high. Our levels of pay are very low compared to those offered by other institutions. (I was shocked to discover our principal earns about the same as a simple driver for an NGO aid charity based in Juba!). People who work for the college do so from a sense of vocation (this includes everyone – the watchmen, cooks, cleaners, logistic officers and tutors) but they all still need enough to feed their families and pay their children's school fees.

b) a grant to put solar panels on the roof of the new library to guarantee power for the computers during the day-time. We're looking for at least USD $10,000.

The Nation

• Pray for the talks in Addis Ababa and the readiness of the political leaders of South Sudan to really desire to find a peaceful solution.
• Pray that the official cease-fire is taken seriously by all sides in Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei States as we enter the dry season. Pray that we do not get a repeat of the horrific atrocities earlier this year.
• Pray for the hundreds of thousands in refugee camps in and around South Sudan and the UNHCR and IOM efforts to sustain them. Pray that the international community will honour its contributions to the World Food Programme funds.

Report for BGC Prayer Partners

Report of Visit to Bishop Gwynne College, Juba

October-November 2014

Introduction

This report to the Bishop Gwynne College Prayer Partners follows the visit of the international consultant to BGC at the end of October 2014. The general impression is that the college is in very good heart despite the terrible situation of the country. The site is clean and free of the detritus left by the former workshops. The neighbouring hotels continue to be built although relatively slowly. The new building is in full use for worship and lectures with the library upstairs. The new showers and toilets are very much appreciated.

The welcome was enthusiastic, the worship vibrant and the faith clearly present. There is much evidence of hard work on behalf of students and staff.

Graduation

Ten students graduated on 25^th October 2014 with a diploma from St. Paul's University Limuru. Nine men and one woman. A majority of these had begun at the college with a foundation year in 2010 – some as early as the re-inauguration on 31^st January 2010. The standard of the pass was impressive with some coming out with distinctions and credits in a number of subjects.

New Intake

The college now has forty-two students of which over half are in the August 2014 intake. Four of these are women which brings the number of women students to five. SPU is no longer running a Special Entrance Exam. Instead they require a secondary school certificate. This is not good news for us because nearly all of our students come from a background of disrupted and patchy schooling. However, an internal entrance exam was set. The results indicated that only ten were up to the standard we deemed necessary to undertake the diploma and certificate for SPU. The other students have however been offered the opportunity to study for a BGC diploma in theology.

Ethnic Diversity

One of the significant things about BGC is that it draws from many of the dioceses of ECSSS including Kadugli (Nuba Mountains). It is also open to applications from other churches. Interest has been shown particularly from the Presbyterian Church. In among representatives of a large number of tribes and language groups studying and living alongside each other, we have both Dinka and Nuer, the ethnic groups between whom there has been the most serious tension following the political in-fighting that came to a head last December (2013). This enables us to ensure the students understand that under Christ there are no ethnic divisions. We along belong to Jesus Christ wherever we came from. This has been a long standing ethos of the college dating back to its inception. Students stick up for each other. (The famous story of a student from one tribe facing down a drunken soldier intent on killing his fellow from another tribe in the early 1980s when the college was in Mundri is often told). Of recent, one the students (from Nuer) who fled to UNMISS during the crisis was encouraged by the Principal to come out and joined his colleagues to complete his studies. He had graduated with is colleagues and now helping at BGC Canon Benaiah Poggo Library.

Justice, Peace and Reconciliation

This has always been of concern to the college and our application of the SPU syllabus has been done in the contextually taking full cognisance of the South Sudan situation. However the emergency following the 15^th December 2013 has left the country in a state of insecurity, trauma, displacement and humanitarian need. The BGC principal has been anxious to expand the use of the college to assist in initiatives within the ECSSS (Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan) and SSCC (South Sudan Council of Churches). An opportunity arose in July-August to run a two week workshop for pastors and others at the college. This was funded by AFRECS (America Friends of the ECS). AFRECS have also offered finance for the employment of a part-time teacher in the area of peace building and trauma healing for our regular students.

Staffing

Currently the college teaching is done mostly by part-time staff that the principal has managed to attract. These are are of good quality and the standards remain high. We are fortunate in our location we can access these people from Juba University and among our church leaders. However it is recognised that this is not a satisfactory situation.

There is an urgent need for the appointment of full-time staff. We need at least an academic dean and an additional tutor who could act in a pastoral capacity as well as teacher. Finding such suitable people has not been fruitful to date.

We also need to review the salaries of all staff including the support staff as the rates are falling behind those for Juba which is an increasingly expensive place in which to live. Food prices and rents are rising all the time. Inflation is high.

Administration

The college is blessed with a top quality administrator in the form of Esparansa Emil Karl. She is intelligent and efficient and is determined that the college goes ahead. Although she is well qualified and experienced as a teacher and could command a salary far in excess of what she gets at BGC, she is committed and highly respected. Without her hard work the principal would not be able to cope with the pressures of running a college in a very difficult situation.

Principal

We are most appreciative of our gifted and highly motivated principal, Samuel Galuak Marial. He has a vision for the college that includes both practical training of humble pastors for the church in South Sudan and the advancement of academic standards. In talking with him one becomes aware that BGC is an academic institution fit for its place in the academic world with intellectual standards, without compromising on the need to train priests to work in parishes and dioceses in every corner of the country.

In addition to his learning Samuel excels at communication – a gift not often seen in South Sudan. His attention to detail has won him friends among supporters of the college around the world.

Finances

The college is in a better position than it was a year ago. The crisis of December 2013 did not help since the college relies heavily on rents from it houses and offices which, if they are unoccupied or tenants do not pay, means we have a crisis in income. In 2013 the college had an overall income of $246900 USD of which just over twenty percent ($50542 USD) came from overseas. This reveals just how vulnerable we are to local changes. However, things have picked up since February and currently all our property is occupied and rents are coming in.

Inflation has been noticeable however. Food and fuel are increasing. The cost of medicine has also gone up. Transport is a major cost to the college as it it all has to be hired in. Up until now it has not been possible even to contemplate the purchase of a vehicle and a driver.

I have undertaken to resume my efforts to attract further donations for 2015. I am grateful to our partners in the UK (Good Books & Services, Peter Green), the US (Diocese of Virginia – Mary Anne Bryant) and Australia (St Mark's Church, Warwick – Peter Johnson) for their work in collecting donations small and large. (If any of our Prayer Partners are aware of any organisation or grant-making body that might support BGC, I shall be delighted to hear from you.) This year we received a donation from the UAE for the first time – our supporters come from around the world.

Library

BGC has a wonderful new library situated upstairs in the new building. This is its fourth home since 2008 – each time growing in size and beauty. The present hall was equipped with $10,000 USD worth of shelves – mainly from a grant from the Slavanka Trust. The Theological Book Network has sent a large number of second hand books from the USA, and Dorothy Lowe has given a car load of books from her husband's library. John Lowe died in 2013. Dorothy and John served the BGC in the 1950s and 60s up until the time they were forcibly removed by Khartoum Government 1964 with all other white mission workers. The proportions of this new library means that it can host 18,000 volumes of books and still have a long way to get 13,000 books more. We are always grateful for visitors willing to bring books in their suitcases. We have average of receiving 4 to 5 books per a day.

Computers

Thanks to World Vision, BGC is now the proud owner of ten desktop computers that are established in the new library. The world Vision Program happened to be taught by professor taught our Principal from different seminaries in the US and through that connection, we got those wonderful gifts to equip our future leaders. Tuition in their use is being given after school in the evening when the generator comes on-line. During the day we have no power except for the occasional and unpredictable bursts of city power. Our dream is to put solar panels on the roof and this will give us twenty-four house use with all the benefits that modern students have of accessing material on-line. (Bearing in mind that V sat is not like fast broadband.)

Pictures

I shall upload pictures of BGC and it students to our picture website here.

Prayer Partners

If anyone would like to be included in the regular Prayer Partners email please let me know at international@bishopgwynne.juba.anglican.org. You might like to ask your friends. Please don't be shy of telling people about BGC and including us in the your prayer meetings.

Please feel free to circulate this report to anyone who is interested. It will be published on our website: www.bishopgwynne.juba.anglican.org/

Trevor Stubbs

International Consultant

Bishop Gwynne College,

Juba,

South Sudan

6^th November 2014

Visit to Juba

Account of Visit to Juba: October-November 2014

In addition to our primary visit to Bishop Gwynne College (reported separately) we also had the privilege of meeting other groups in Juba.

Justice, Peace and Reconciliation Commission

We were invited to attend the overseas partners meetings of the Justice, Peace and Reconciliation Committee (JPRC) of the ECSSS which included people (friends) known to us from the UK and USA.

The purpose of this meeting was to acquaint the partners with the current and planned work of the commission.

JPRC comes in as stage two in the process where SUDRA (ECSSS Relief Association) responds in stage one with immediate humanitarian relief.

It is evident that the degree of humanitarian response, although not in itself insignificant, is tiny in relation to the need. (It is estimated that approaching four million people - half the population of South Sudan- are suffering from food or other basic needs shortages.)

However in stage two (JPRC) the churches have a huge advantage over other bodies. Government agencies are often treated with suspicion and are seen as one-sided. But NGOs come from outside and it takes time to establish sufficient trust. However, the churches are already there with their pastors, women's groups (like Mothers' Union) and other structures preaching hope and unity in Christ. (We all belong to Christ whatever our ethnicity.)

It is against this background that we can see the importance of training not only pastors but lay-leaders in understanding trauma and its consequences and how to bring healing and reconciliation to the people.

We were privileged to visit Juna 3 IDP camp on the outskirts of Juba. This UNMISS camp shelters a very large number of ethnic Nuer who fled following the violence of December 2013 when soldiers and others with guns, often drunk, went on a shooting spree.

Confident Children out of Conflict

This charity cares for girls who have been living in danger in the twilight areas of Juba. Often abused both physically and mentally up to fifty (mostly) girls aged from one to sixteen reside at the compound next door but one to BGC. The work is the inspiration of Cathy Groenendijk, a Ugandan woman, ably supported by her husband Wim and a band of mostly volunteers from overseas (Europe and the Americas) and Juba itself.

The stories of these girls are hard to listen to. Their faces tell of the horrors they have been through – often sometimes in danger of their physical lives as well as their moral ones. These children can shock, but they are also aware of what love is because of the work of CCC.

The charity pays for them to go to school and does everything in its power to protect them from the predatory world from which they come. At the outbreak of violence in Juba on 15^th December they transported them all to Yei to a partner hostel. Some of them still remain there. Since then new girls have taken their place.

This work is totally reliant on charitable giving. We took new children's clothes donated by a parent in Wool Primary School, Dorset which were very well received.

Juba Schools

Despite being in Juba such a short time Tina was able to get to three schools while we were there.

Juba Diocesan Model Secondary School is very near BGC. It now has the reputation of being the leading secondary school not only in Juba but in the whole of the country. We conveyed letters from and brought letters back for sponsors.

The school is in very good heart and looks attractive. The only disapointment is that the new girl's dormitory remains closed because the school has decided that a house containing a large number of teenage girls in a city where, not so long ago, drunken men with guns were roaming the streets at night is not a good idea. (It is hard not to over-emphasise the impact of 15^th December 2013 and the days that followed.)

Tina also visited Ginana Primary School with a gift of USD $300 from Wool Primary School. It was our intention to deliver this in a visit in February last year but circumstances did not let us travel. The area around this school has deteriorated in recent months with children from very make-shift housing crowding in. Despite this the school has now moved on to include a Primary Seven year. They have constructed a mud and timber building (wattle and daub) to accommodate them.

St. Batholomew's Primary School, Royal Wootton Bassett also donated USD $300 which Tina took to a primary school in Munuki payam (district), a western suburb of Juba. The school is doing well under the stability of the same able headteacher it has had for the last five years.

Picture link to follow!

Trevor and Tina Stubbs

revtrev.stubbs@gmail.com

tina.m.stubbs@gmail.com

Prayer Partners Update

Dear Bishop Gwynne College Prayer Partners,

Thank you so much for all the prayers you have offered for BGC, the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan and the people of those countries in the past few months. Tina and I have booked to go to Juba on 21^st October.

The college is now re-convening for the beginning of a new semester with the potential of 32 new students as well as those continuing in their first and second years.

Ten of these new first year students will be studying for the St Paul's Limuru University diploma but the other 22 do not meet the SPU admission levels. In the present conditions in South Sudan this is inevitable. But the need to educate men and women in the ministry is urgent, so the college is offering an internal diploma for these students.

The college ran a course during the long vacation in reconciliation and peace-making which was well attended.

The ECSSS has now established a new internal province for Sudan with Bishop Ezekiel of Khartoum as its head. Archbishop Daniel's address, which includes an excellent historical summary of the ECSSS, is here: http://www.salisbury.anglican.org/resources-library/mission/sudan/news-and-info/Archbishops%20declaration%20Statement%20during%20Entrhonement%20of%20Inter.pdf/view?searchterm=declaration%20statement

The political and humanitarian situation in South Sudan is dire. Talks have taken place in Addis Abba but previous agreements have not been implemented. The latest communiqué from IGAD that commends the protocol on the arrangements for a Transitional Government of National Unity (TGONU) can be found here: http://igad.int/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=943:communique-of-the-27th-extra-ordinary-summit-of-igad-heads-of-state-and-government-on-south-sudan&catid=47:communique&Itemid=149

https://radiotamazuj.org/en/article/s-sudans-president-kiir-agrees-prime-minister-position-rebels

The mood in Juba is reported as calm but imbued with disillusionment and shame. The churches are a beacon of hope and peace, and the Archbishop, leaders of other churches, pastors and lay-leaders are outspoken in the need for an end to the forces of destruction.

The people of the Nuba Mountains and South Blue Nile continue to suffer attacks as they resist the Khartoum government. http://enoughproject.org/blogs/doctors-view-foxhole-sudan?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+enoughblog+%28Enough+Said%29

Keep praying,

Trevor.

The College

1. We give thanks for the well-attended course on Peace on Reconciliation. We pray that the participants may have the opportunity and courage to implement what they have learnt.

2. We praise God for 32 new applicants. Please pray that they will all be able to take up the places offered and manage to arrive on time.

3. Pray for Samuel and all the members of the teaching faculty and other staff at the college as they engage with this new semester.

4. Pray for those who are waiting for the results of the exams sat in June, especially those hoping to graduate in October.

The Church

Give thanks for the determination and courage of the Churches to speak out and work for peace and humanitarian relief. Pray for Archbishop Daniel, leaders of other churches and all those engaged in Christian ministry throughout Sudan and South Sudan. Pray for Bishop Ezekiel and the new internal province based on Khartoum.

The Nations

1. Give thanks for the continued work for the formation of a transitional government in South Sudan led by IGAD (assisted by the UN, AU, the Troika (US, UK & Norway), the EU, the Sudan and China and others) and pray for them as they continue to engage the parties in talks in Addis Ababa and encourage implementation.

2. Pray for the people of the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile as they continue to suffer attacks from the Sudan Armed Forces.

Further updates for BGC Prayer Partners

Dear Prayer Partners,

Thank you for your prayers which continue to bear fruit for BGC.

• The college remains among the poorest among colleges of tertiary education in Africa. But we have come a long long way from 2008 and the trend is still upwards despite all the problems in South Sudan. We give thanks for all of this.

• Give thanks for the arrival of computers for the students at the college. The first we have had since the college re-opened in 2010. Pray that we can now get connected in some way. Internet connectivity is important but very expensive.
  

• All went well for the final exams which finished earlier this month. All the students have now gone home - or at least to wherever they can find to be. We await the results which will not be published until the end of September. The graduation for those who have completed there three year diploma will be on 25th October 2014. Some of these students began in a foundation year in 2010 and have been at BGC four years. We give thanks for their commitment though tough times and their generous sponsors.

• The Principal, Samuel, has just had a two week holiday with his wife in Uganda and is now back at the college overseeing ...

• The completion of the library and foundation works to hold back the variable river that is constantly breaking down the bank. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• The neighbouring hotel has given a substantial sum which has been allocated to building a guest house for visiting lecturers and college supporters. Here is Samuel's email:

Dear Canon Trevor,

Greetings to you once again in Christ's name. I hope this email finds you well with Tina and your mother.

We are also doing well.

By God's grace, I came back from Uganda through Kenya as I mentioned it to you in my last email.

School is closed [for the recess] and we still have final touches on the library work but we are done with more basic stuffs. As you can see on the photos attached; the shelves are already in their places including the counter at the library reception. The white stripe you can see from the bases of shelves are aluminum fixed there to protect them from the water or moisture. You will see the details of these when you come to us. All these works including the labour has cost us $9,300. We thank God to find such skillful carpenter who did this great job.

Secondly, the river behind us has been causing us trouble for a couple of years now. There has been an erosion and that has taken off almost two metres from our land. In consultation with our chairman of BGC council, we released 54, 000 SSP ($11,134) from guest house project to make gabion or dyke to protect our land from this fast moving erosion. The work is still underway but I took these photos for you at least to have an idea of what we are doing here. We are going to anchor metal fence on the dyke to keep strangers off from the college.

Third, I have asked John Jal, one of the students who finished this semester to help our librarian. The purpose of this is that, I did not want him to go back to UNMISS' harsh living.

Thanks so much and God's blessings

Rev. Samuel G. Marial, BA, MAR, STM.
Principal,
Bishop Gwynne College

• The next event scheduled for the college is a short course for the training of pastors in peace and reconciliation work. Please pray for this.
  

• New applicants are due to sit the entrance exam in the middle to July. Your are prayers needed. May they be able to travel, do well and then get the money to come.

Thank you all so much for your prayers,
Trevor

Prayer Partners Update

Dear BGC Prayer Partners

There are a number of things in addition to the huge challenges to South Sudan that you could pray for at this moment. Thank you for all you do. Your prayers are keeping BGC working and effect amid much chaos.

Students

• We give thanks for the students sitting their exams. We pray for them as they try to return home.
• Sadly Juba is not safe for people of the Nuer tribe and some of the other tribes from Jonglei. Most of them have retreated to safe havens and that includes our staff and students. I have just learned that Wal Geng (a very industrious and enterprising student) is now in Kakuma camp in Kenya. I am sure he will be working there with Bishop Moses to minister to the people of all tribes.

Staff

• Simon Lual is also a Nuer. I can report that he is completing his studies safely in Nairobi. He has the opportunity of a second year at Africa Inernational University if anyone can come up with $5000 for him.
• Pray for our principal Samuel as he has a two week holiday with his wife in Uganda.

Associates

Please pray for:

• Bishop Justin Badi of Maridi our chairman of governors. Bishop Justin hopes to study for an MA in September.
• Revd. Moses Kose (Juba Diocesan Secretary) who was very instrumental in getting BGC back up and running in 2009 and 2010. Moses is currently in South Africa studying as a guest of the Archbishop of Cape Town. He has asked for our prayers as he takes his exams 16^th-20^th June. Sadly he has no money to go home to see his family before he recommences his studies in September.

Blessings to you all,

Trevor

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

BGC PRAYER PARTNERS UPDATE

Dear Prayer Partners.

Thank you for your continued prayer for Bishop Gwynne College and South Sudan. There are a number of things to add to your prayer list.

Students

• Our principal Samuel Galuak has recently been to St Paul's University in Limuru to which we are affiliated. He attended the Board of Examiners' meeting and reports that our students have done well. There are some in the first year and one in the third year which will need to resit a subject, but otherwise the pass rate has been high. Give thanks for a successful semester: August – December 2013. (The exams were completed before the onset of hostilities 0n 15^th December.)
• We still do not have all the students on site. Please pray for those prevented from attending and pray that the way may be open for them to return.

Finances

• Finances this semester are not easy. There is a shortfall in local income. Please pray that suitable tenants can be found for the vacant BGC properties in Juba.
• We give thanks for the wonderful overseas response to the on-going needs of the college. Grants have been received from Britain, the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, Canada and elsewhere.

Vacation Course

• The college is planning to bring thirty local pastors and evangelists together for a month course on Reconciliation and Peace-building in July this year. We are currently waiting on news from the USA that we have a grant to finance the initiative. Please pray that we are awarded the grant.

Administration

• Owing to our personal family situation we are unable to travel to Juba at present. However, the college has managed to send the relevant documents to me in the UK and I am now in the process of computerising the college bookkeeping and producing the 2013 accounts that will be published in due course. This is a lengthy task.
• Please pray for Esparanza Emil who is currently working hard to take on the full administration duties. We pray that when things improve in South Sudan she will have the opportunity to study for a professional qualification in administration.

National Issues

• The town of Malakal which had a population of 250,000 has now been completely abandoned by the local residents.

http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/whole-diocese-in-south-sudan-abandoned

• Peace talks between the Government and rebels are due to resume on 20^th March

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article50289

Blessings,

Trevor

Dear Prayer Partners,

Many, many thanks for your continued prayer over the past few months. You have served us well during a difficult period. I now right with much positive news an several fronts.

We give thanks for the successful BGC Board of Governors meeting at the beginning of this month which has worked to address the well-being and future needs of the college.

First they have appointed Samuel Galuak as the Principal of the college. He has been working as acting principal since January and now, with the sad parting of Joseph Taban, after due consideration it has been decided to appoint him as the college principal. Samuel has shown excellent qualities that will forward the vision that he shared with Joseph since September 2011. His experience, combined with his academic ability, make him the ideal candidate for the post. We praise God that we have found such a person for BGC when suitable people are so hard to find in South Sudan.

Secondly, the governors have appointed Revd. John Malesh as Academic Dean. John has MAs in two subjects and has been a visiting lecturer at the college since he returned to Juba in 2011. Before that he was the ECS liaison officer in Kampala where many of us expatriates first met him. John has also worked with Joseph and shared the BGC planning.

Thirdly, after 18 months of searching for the right person for the post of Administrative Secretary, the Board have appointed Mrs Esparanza Emil, Joseph Taban's widow. She is eminently qualified having the right kind of skills and a lot of experience in teaching in a primary school. She is also intimately connected to BGC of course.

Offering Esparanza this post also solves the problem of her future. She can continue in the college accommodation and it gives her a reasonable income to buy food and medicine and sufficient to pay the school fees of her three children at present.

These appointments means that Samuel has the support of two new full-time people in the college to add to the very experienced Benjamin Disi as logistic officer.

Eight new students have succeeded in passing the Special Entrance Exam and are ready to begin at the end of this month. Sadly a lot more failed than passed – we were hoping for a bigger intake this year. But the standard of English required is high and it is difficult for students in the remoter centres to get the tuition and practice in English they need.

The national government reshuffle last month seems to have gone off without any trouble. Although it took some people by surprise (especially the scale of it) it has met with fairly broad approval in the country. There is amicability on all sides and all have agreed that the President acted within his constitutional powers. The army in South Sudan, unlike Egypt and elsewhere, appears to keep well out of these kind of politics. The general impression is that South Sudan, despite its being such a young republic, is so far proving to be remarkably democratic despite its history of tribal differences. The churches and Christian message so widely heard in South Sudan is definitely impacting on the mood of the country.

Thank you.

Trevor

The College

1. Staff. Give thanks for the appointment of Samuel Galuak as the new principal and the new full-time appointments among the college staff. Pray for them all including those who continue in full-time positions as logistic officer Benjamin, and his assistant Boniface, librarian Abraham, our cleaner Esther, our cooks Dina, Margaret and Mackeline, and our site management and security staff Lako, Wani, Moses and Frazer. We pray for Simon as he prepares himself to do a one year full-time course in Nairobi at Africa International University.

2. Students. Thank God for eight new students who are to begin their first year at the end of August. Pray for those who were not successful in the SEE exam this time round and pray that they may find it possible to obtain the level of English required and can apply again.

We give thanks for a successful short-term course for potential female ordinands and ask God's blessing those the Archbishop has in mind to study at the college in the future.

We give thanks for those who have completed their three years and return to the college for their graduation in October. We pray for them as they sort out their immediate and longer term futures.

3. We thank God for our Board of Governors under the leadership of chairman Bishop Justin Badi, and we pray for the College Council which meets to help the principal implement the policy of the Board.

4. We thank God for the new two-storey library building erected by the local developers to replace the former dormitory now too close to the enormous hotel under whose shadow the college now finds itself.

The Nation

We praise God for calm and industry at the political level of South Sudan. We pray for the new ministers and their departments. We pray for the continued flow of oil.

We pray for the army and those who lead it.

We continue to pray for an early settlement of the Abyei question.

We earnestly pray for the people of Blue Nile, the Nuba Mountains and Darfur who still suffer so heavily in the Republic of Sudan. May God bless the UN and AU peacekeepers deployed in both countries.

We pray also for Christians who live in Khartoum, Port Sudan and the cities of Sudan.

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.