Prayer Points

October 2009

Prayer Answers, Thanksgivings and Petitions

1. The College

Praise God for the way things are working out in the existing building. We now have quotations for a complete overhaul of the building. Essential repairs to the windows and doors etc., restoration of the water supply and the replacement of the toilets, complete internal painting and decorating and the varnishing of all the shelves are all quoted for. One of our let properties has come up for re-letting and it looks as if this will just about facilitate the work. We are also going to built on a new kitchen - which in Sudanese terms means a ten feet square piece of concrete with a zinc roof and half open sides. The cooks put their charcoal burners on the floor.

Pray that those who still occupy houses without paying the proper rent (if any) will soon be sorted out. We don't want to go through the law because we want to remain friends - but at the same time we cannot run a college without the income we are due.

Pray for the existing students who have now all been recalled to recommence their studies on 30th January 2010. Please pray that they will all be in a position to return and prosper.

Pray also for those who are being proposed to begin in a new first year in 2010. We pray that we may get the applications from the right candidates and that they are properly supported by their communities and dioceses.

We give thanks for the progress Tina is making with the library in cleaning and re-cataloguing. This is a mammoth task and we thank God that there will be other volunteers on hand from the end of September.

Pray that we may be able to get all the new books we need into Juba in time for the studies. Many of the books in the library are old - some very old. Few books have been received since 1980.

We thank God for the continued support of St Paul's, Limuru.

Praise God for the way that the necessary members of staff are becoming available. Pray for those still making u their minds about their availability. May the Lord open the way for them to come if that is his will.

2. The New Site

We still await developments regarding this. Things are going forward beneath the surface. Pray that there may be visible progress. This will become urgent before the beginning of the new year.

Continue to pray that the suggestion of a BGC Guest House will indeed come to pass and that the investment sought by Anglican International Development will be found.

3. The Schools

Pray for Tina as she revisits the primary schools to build up and establish the links that are increasing from the Diocese of Salisbury. Getting to these schools is not easy without transport of her own.

4. Sickness

Thank God that both Archbishop Daniel and Bishop Peter had thanksgiving services last week for their recovery. The archbishop is back in full-time work. Bishop Peter has to take it steady for the next few weeks but he is now back home in Lainya.

5. The Nation

Violence continues to erupt in Jonglei. On 21st September 100 people (including 50 soldiers and policemen) died in a raid on security compound in Jonglei. Much of this it seems is due to angry young men, many psychologically damaged as a result of the traumas of the war, going on the rampage.

Pray for healing.

Pray that the availability of weapons will be restricted.

Pray for the relatives and friends of those who have lost their lives in this most recent violence.

Give thanks that two young people (one a 13 year old girl) managed to escape the LRA last week. Pray for them as they come to terms with the horrors of the experience of being captive for many months, and pray for the many children who still remain captive in the bush.

Pray for the international community and those who work here from abroad in places where they are at great risk.

Pray for Muslims in the Sudan who struggle to pursue their faith amidst the pressures of extremism.

6. The Church

We rejoice in the enthusiasm and devotion of many very brave Christian people. Pastors and lay people risk their lives to proclaim the peace of God.

We thank God for the very close relationship between the denominations and the good relationships between the Christian leaders.

Pray for the work of the Sudan Council of Churches.

Pray for the bishops of the ECS as they come together at the end of October to elect new bishops

Calling All Angels!

This is a general appeal from the new Bishop Gwynne College.to everyone who is coming to the Sudan.

Tina is digging the library out of the dust and re-cataloguing. However there are very few books newer than 1985. We are aim to teach the diploma at the level determined by St Paul's University, Limuru in Kenya and they have furnished us with their book list. Sadly, very few of the books are already in the library.

Good Books in Bridport have undertaken to get the books for us but getting them to Juba is the hardest part of the exercise. (The other day it cost us $200 to get books out of the post office here even though full postage was paid for their transport in America). The easiest way is for anyone coming to Juba to fill up their baggage allowance for us. Ethiopian Airways, for example, allows two items of luggage per person not exceeding 23 kilos each. This means each person can bring in 46 kilos!

So if you are coming to Juba, or you know of anyone coming, we would be exceedingly grateful if you could check with Good Books, Bridport (email address on the right of this page) before you come and see if they have any books ready to bring.

Very many thanks. You are indeed all angels!

Our Latest - Juba and Limuru

It's a long time since we put a few things in our blog and much has happened since the last one.
In early July we had a conference of the ECS Theological Commission. It met in Juba next to us and made decisions about the five provincial theological colleges in the Sudan, of which Bishop Gwynne College is one. One of the decisions was to become re-affiliated with St Paul's University in Limuru, Kenya.

St Paul's University, Limuru

A visit to St Paul's was requested so Trevor and others visited Kenya in mid-August. The university began life as a theological college on its present site in 1903 and theology remains one of its major disciplines. Limuru is about an hour north of Nairobi and is quite high. This means that it was much colder than anticipated and in the evenings, when the temperature dropped to around 12C,Trevor ended up wearing three shirts on top of each other! The visit was very successful, however, and we were most encouraged by the welcome we were given. We will be applying for affiliation when we begin with the students in the New Year.

Part of Limuru Library - we have a long way to go to reach their standards

It has now become quite clear that we have no chance of getting a new college site sorted out before January - let alone any buildings on it - so we are reconciled to having to be confined to the existing building for at least the first term of the year. Making something out of the little we have is not so much a problem as our African friends had believed. We believe that with proper management and making good use of a small income and a small place we can provide a good enough standard of accommodation for fifteen students to teach at the highest standard we are capable of. We hope to employ just one full-time member of the academic staff in the first instance and use visiting lecturers as the numbers increase. So we are putting £1000 of our Bridport money into repairs, painting and decorating. We have ear-marked a different room for the library away from the side of the dusty road and on the cooler side of the building. We plan to install solar panel electricity so that there is light for the library after dark (usually just after 7 pm). The college has had no electricity for several years. We are also paying the arrears on the water bill so that we can have running water again and bring the toilets back into use. We are building a new kitchen lean-to so we can cook on this site for the first time. The old library and the rooms on the east side will be used as dormitories and what used to be a series of offices, one for each member of staff, will become study rooms for the students. In August 2010 we will have to open a new dormitory but we should still have enough teaching space for the forty students we hope to have by then.
Tina is now spending most of her time cleaning and cataloguing books. We are using the American Library of Congress system that they employ at Limuru. This means researching on the Internet for all those older books that do not have the number on the fly leaf. Unfortunately many of the books are in poor condition having been covered in a very thick layer of dust left on shelves - some of which were broken - and oiled high on a table.
Tina has made return visits to some of the primary schools to take letters sent by the Salisbury Diocesan schools. These were very well received. Large numbers of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) who were living in makeshift accommodation in Juba have now returned to their home areas. This has meant that the numbers of children in some of the schools are greatly reduced. Two small schools on the outskirts of the town, which Tina visited for the first time, have been particularly affected by this. These schools have some of the poorest conditions, the children do not even have chairs unless they have brought them themselves from home. Those without have to sit on the dirt floor. One school has three classes in different areas of the church because of lack of classrooms. Those who have experienced 'open plan' will know how difficult this is.

A school yard after heavy rain. It became a sea of mud with a lake in the centre.

We are now well settled in our permanent accommodation. We have got five easy chairs, a dining table and some plastic chairs. We bought a bookcase and a set of five low tables which are locally made and solid (even if the legs are of different lengths!).
Our cooking is becoming more adventurous. Robin has introduced her favourite Mexican food - tortillas, guacamole and salsa. And we ate our first crop of moringa leaves from the demonstration garden. They don't really taste of much, but if you know they are rich in nutrients it makes you feel good. Pulling all the leaves off the stems though takes quite a long time - it is reminiscent of dealing with red-currants.

Our first moringa leaf meal. The leaves have to pulled from the stems

August/September 2009
Prayer Answers, Thanksgivings and Petitions
1. The College
Give thanks that Trevor has now been formally appointed at Bishop Gwynne College. The old college has now been completely wound up and we can start planning for the return of the students in January 2010.
Please pray that those who owe the college money may pay it all up to date, so that we will have sufficient income to restore the existing building and employ a new member of staff. If everything that is owed is paid we can make ends meet until the end of the year when we expect the 2010 income to commence.
Give thanks for a very successful visit to Limuru, Kenya that took place on 13th August which has settled the curriculum for the foreseeable future. We were made very welcome and feel extremely assured that we have a good solid basis on which to build up quality teaching in the future.
Please pray for Tina as she gathers people to help her start the process of restoring the library.
Please pray as we begin the process of finding the right staff to teach the syllabus in 2010.
Pray also for the students who will shortly be receiving letters of recall and those contemplating applying to begin for the first time in 2010.

2. The New Site
Give thanks that a little progress has been made in this direction.
Please pray that those who can make things happen here will be inspired to work hard so we can begin to put together a construction schedule.
Pray that the suggestion of a BGC Guest House will indeed come to pass and that the investment sought by Anglican International Development will be found.

3. The Schools
We give thanks that Tina has managed two more Juba primary schools - this time in the poorer western suburbs.
We pray for these children and the staff that seek to teach them. Neither of these schools has any furniture. One has three classrooms inside the church with mud walls in a poor state of repair. There is no furniture in either school. Children sit on the dust floor or bring their own plastic chairs. All that they have is a blackboard and exercise books and pencils supplied by UNICEF.
Please pray that there will be sufficient resources to pay and train the teachers, and enough income in the children's families to feed them and pay their school fees.

4. Sickness
We rejoice that both Bishop Peter Amidi and the Archbishop are recovering.
We thank God for all those who contributed to the care of Bishop Peter of Lainya needed a triple heart by-pass and after being taken to Nairobi was finally transferred to India where he had a successful operation. He is now in Kampala with his children making a full recovery.
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Archbishop Daniel was admitted into hospital in Khartoum with a recurrence of his stomach ulcer. He has now left hospital and is due to return to Juba in three days time.
We thank God for this.
We pray that he can have a well deserved break and that he may have time to recover properly.

5. The Nation
We give thanks for a peaceful resolution to the Abyei crisis, and the quite definite reluctance of the Government of South Sudan to return to war. There has been real rejoicing here following the announcement the international Court of Arbitration that allowed the Dinka tribes to be part of the south - even though the question of the oil wells is still not fully resolved.
Please continue to pray for the Governments of National Unity and South Sudan.
Pray for those seeking to resolve the issues of the census and those working to ensure that fair elections take place on the date decided on in April 2010.
Continue to pray for Dafur. Although it is a long way from Juba the people there desperately need the same opportunities coming to the south as a result of the peace here.
Please pray for the international community as it puts pressure on politicians to work for peace.

From busy Juba

Sorry about the delay! Many people have been wanting things since we got back to work - not least the Church Times if you read it, and a new column beginning in October in the Sarum Link.

... And life has been much busier here of late now the college is finally wound up and we can begin the new venture. We have been sorting piles of dusty files going back decades and the building needs to be put back into good repair. Not that we have got any money yet, of course. We are owed thousands of dollars in rent from the houses that are leased out - but that doesn't mean the occupants want to cough up. It's all very frustrating but, as always, patience is the name of the game.

We hope to decorate one of the biggest rooms and reinstate the library. None of it has been painted since the early 80s. We shall to be using the Library of Congress classification system so Tina will have her work cut out cleaning, sorting out, and cataloguing. Nothing of this has been done for many years if ever. When we decide what we will be teaching next year we will order the books we need and get folk to bring them out. This is one of the many things we need to do in the next month or so, too.

The new site is going to take time to establish. Please keep of it in your prayers. We know we shall be in the same building for at least the next twelve months and may be longer but even if everything else falls into place immediately, putting up buildings and fences will take much money. It will all come when we need it. We have all we need for now. We will crawl, then walk before we can run. Of course, some of the local people have very high hopes than we can come in with millions and present a working university within a few years. But that doesn't happen anywhere in the world, and it is not the way Creation works either. Nevertheless you can understand the frustration of Africans when they see what is happening in other continents. The message is, if you want to invest in something really worthwhile take a look at the plans for theological education here.
Last week Trevor spent 4 days in Limuru near Nairobi, Kenya to visit a university there that we will affiliate to. We received a wonderful welcome. The place is very attractive being sited in the highlands north west of the capital - about an hour's drive. They have about 900 students, and 300 in affiliated colleges doing the diploma courses.

The region was the first region of Kenya to grow tea, and there was a visit to the original tea estate where we were treated to an explanation of how to grow tea and walked around a bit of forest as well as the tea. Then followed a wonderful lunch on the lawn of a lovely house built in the European tradition with all kinds of flowers and shrubs (including fuchsias!). At 7000 feet, though, it was all quite cool (15C). Many layers required - and a hot water bottle at night. Glad to be back in warm Juba (28C).

Next week Tina is off to visit two more local primary schools. Watch this space....

Thanks for your prayers.

Prayer Requests - July

Hi to all our Prayer Partners
Thanks again for all your prayers. We are now comfortably settled in our permanent house - formerly occupied by the Archbishop. We are sharing this house with Robin Denney and things are working out well. We were fortunate in managing to retain the same bed which we had got used to. On the plus side this house has ceiling fans and electric light in the kitchen. We also have a pleasant covered outdoor area facing east which gives good afternoon shade. On the down side the shower doesn't work - yet. We thank God for the blessing of such a comfortable place - a palace compared to what many people here live in.

July 2009
Prayer Answers and Thanksgivings

1. Visit to the UK. We had a wonderful time visiting many places and talking about the Sudan as we went. We have been delighted by the interest and the response. We give thanks for the great hospitality that we received in the form of food and overnight stays - we slept in a total of 12 different beds from Cornwall to Yorkshire! The encouragement we have been given is very much appreciated.
2. We thank God for those who have contributed to our project from the UK - financially but especially in real concern. We thank God for the developing links between primary schools in the Juba and the diocese of Salisbury.
3. The meeting of the heads of the provincial theological colleges in Juba on 8th - 11th July was a very successful event. We give thanks that all the colleges managed to attend together with representatives from Salisbury and the US. The conference was very comfortably housed in the ECS Guest Houses.
4. We thank God for an easing of the situation between the Bari and Mundari tribes north of Juba. We continue to pray for Bishop Micah and others as they continue to address the problems.
5. We thank God for the progress of the Demonstration Garden on the ECS Guest House site.


Prayer Points
1. Peace and security. The situation in Abyei is very tense at the moment. In two days' time (22nd) the International Court of Arbitration will pronounce its judgement. Whatever that is, one or other of the parties (if not both) will be disappointed. There is oil involved. Pray that the horror of a return to war is greater than the threat of a loss of revenue or of face in this situation. The implications of any military clash here are massive for the whole of the rest of the Sudan, both North and South.
- Continue to pray that God's Kingdom may come on Earth (especially in the Sudan) as it is in Heaven.
2. Bishop Peter Amidi. Bishop Peter has been taken seriously ill with angina that requires a multiple by-pass operation. He was taken from Juba to Nairobi and thence on to India for an operation. The ECS are trying to find some $10,000 to cover the expense of all this. Pray for his speedy recovery and for his wife Linda and all their young family and dependants.
3. Former Bishop Gwynne College. We have still have not got over all the problems of ending the old administration. The severance pay came to far more than expected owing to some technicalities of poor record keeping. This has left us with nothing in hand. However, removing something that has been continuing in an unsatisfactory manner for so long is bound to be painful, and take some getting over. Things cannot heal until the hurt has been treated. Please pray for all former members of staff and those charged with winding up the affairs here.
4. The new Bishop Gwynne institution. We still need to get the agreements necessary within the ECS for the demarcation of the new site. This has proved more problematical than at first anticipated because of a long history surrounding this particular piece of land. Pray for patience here and skill for those involved in the negotiations from parish, diocese and province.
- Pray for the archbishop as he considers the recommendations and requests from different quarters regarding the new college.
- Pray for us as we seek to find ways to implement people's dreams but at the same time do not want things to change around them.
5. The Theological Education by Extension (TEE) programme. The TEE programme has not yet been able to be fulfilled due to insufficient consultation. Pray for us all here as we try to discover all the complexities of the situation so we can get something properly started. There are many loose ends laying about that have not been properly addressed. Pray for those, including the Archbishop, involved in discovering them and enabling new progress.

With our prayers for love and blessings,
Trevor and Tina Stubbs

Back in Juba!

Trevor and Robin on the new garden site

After what seems like an age travelling England we are now back in Juba. Things have changed a bit even in six weeks. New buildings, noticeably more traffic, cleaner streets but also reports of youth crime on the increase. Sadly a young man offered to help an older pastor across a full flowing stream with his motor bike. As they got it up the farther bank the young man mounted it and rode off with it! This sort of thing was unheard of in the time of war. Peace and increasing prosperity has its downside!

On the peace question, things seem, on the one hand, to be more positive today with our President of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir, reported as 'ruling out any return to war despite disagreement with the (Islamist) National Congress Party over the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.' Both sides had "tasted the bitterness" of war and there should be no return to it. On the other hand the problems surrounding the dispute over Abyei are mounting. We need your prayers.

As for prosperity, however, things are not so great. Many government workers have not been paid, and this is directly affecting the church too. For example, anticipated rent income of several thousand dollars for the college has not been forthcoming. This will severely affect our ability to pay staff in the future if things are not resolved. In another case a bank has gone down with a lot of money, some it belonging to the church.

On a brighter note the wet season in Juba has meant things are growing well. Robin Denney, the agriculturalist, has prepared a garden behind the guest houses here as a demonstration garden. We gave her £100 towards the labour to clear the land and build the fence against 'marauding goats' from the fund given us at our leaving do in Bridport. See the before and after pictures - and Robin above.

The garden before the work


The garden after the work.

Our visit to England was well timed as we made the most of the good weather there. We slept in 12 different beds (mostly together)! Our travels took us through Cornwall to see parents, Bristol, London, Salisbury, Wiltshire and Dorset, concluding with Derbyshire and Yorkshire. Many thanks to all of you for looking after us so well and giving us a chance to talk about the Sudan. We have now about recovered!

The latest news here is that the Archbishop has at last moved and we are to take over his house and share it with Robin (pictured above). At the moment it needs a good clean and then we have to find some furniture from somewhere! The guest house manager is allowing us to take the same bed with us but we don't have anything else there at all at the moment. So we are going to have to find a few sticks. In the meantime we shall remain where we are. The new house is only a few yards away from where we are.

We shall update our prayer requests next week. In the meantime thank you all for your continued prayer. We would just ask those of you who know Bishop Peter Amidi to keep him especially in your prayers. He has been transferred to Nairobi with a heart problem.