Joyful in Praise and Strong in Faith
A Word from the Diocesan Bishop of Wau By Rt, Rev, Moses Deng. Learning to Grow I am a very fortunate man, God blesses me really very much and although life can be a challenge it is generally good. Recently I was able to go to the coastal town of Busan in South Korea and attend the World Council of Churches meeting there. If you are reading this and do not know where South Korea is, I suggest that you take a moment to stop and have a look in an atlas map book. You will see that South Korea is a long way from South Sudan and a very different place. In fact it was more different to South Sudan than anywhere that I have ever been. The language that is generally spoken there is Korean not Arabic, Dinka or English, so I had to learn some Korean words. Without them I could not ask for food in a restaurant or speak to a bus driver. South Korea is very developed, much more than I expected. Also there were many types of food that I had never seen before and much of it sea food. We have no sea in South Sudan so I ate a lot of sea food because I understand that it can add good nutrients to your body and this is an important thing. But despite all these odd differences I was made very welcome by Korean Christians there that believe as we here believe, I really am a most fortunate man. I trust in God and my faith is always repaid. But I wonder do we always accept differences and change so well? When you read this copy of Renewal you may read about the excellent work of CARD the development wing of Wau Diocese. South Sudan needs much development and this development means change. Rev Andrew who works so hard with his dedicated extension officers reported recently a sad situation. Many farmers are unwilling to try growing new types of vegetable crops. They would rather keep growing the same staple crops that they have always grown and know well. This situation is sad because there is very little diversity in the
Index A Word From The Bishop ....................................2 What Rebecca Wishes she had known................5 Diocesan Synod in Tonj........................................6 A School PTA Meeting.........................................9 Paying for Prayers ? .........................................11 Introducing Samuel............................................12 Serious Flooding in Wau Diocese......................14 HIV/AIDS Conference.........................................17 Nyieth School Roof at Last.................................20 Farmers Market Committee Training................22 ICCO Nutrition Training.....................................23 Relationships, Marriage and Family Life............25 Contact Us ........................................................27 Please Pray with us ...........................................28 food available for everyone to eat. The health of our bodies is most important and strongly connected to the kind of food we eat. So it is very important to get a good range of nutrients and vitamins, which is only properly available in a diverse diet made of many different crops. I can understand however why a farmer may be reluctant to try new crops, it is a risk. Unless you know that a new crop will grow well and produce many egg plants or tomatoes you must trust the person giving you the seed. What happens if they will not grow or only produce a few crops?
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What will you do with no food for yourself and family? There is no doubt change involves risk and trust involves faith. If you read about the farmer called Rebecca you will see that she grew egg plants and tomatoes under advice from CARD which she had not done before. They grew really very well with enough to sell and have some for herself. This helped to improve her diet and the diet of those she sold crops to, a very worthwhile activity that Rebecca wished she had started earlier. Rebecca trusted, had faith and her faith was rewarded. This time of year is special, we call it Advent which means coming. It’s the time we set aside to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ our Saviour as a baby on Christmas Day. This day is significant because the coming of Jesus meant change, you can see this in many of the books in the Old Testament of the Bible. This is what the Prophet Isaiah said about Jesus in Chapter 9 at verse 6:
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was behind a greeting like that. 30 But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: 31 You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great, be called 'Son of the Highest.' The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David; 33 He will rule Jacob's house forever - no end, ever, to his kingdom." 34 Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man." 35 The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you; Therefore, the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God.” This must have been a very shocking thing to happen to Mary and yet her response shows an amazing trust in God. This amazing response is so important that it has become a special prayer that is included in church services all over the world. It is known as the Magnificat or Mary’s Song.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Micah and Zachariah both also knew Jesus was coming, and with him change was coming too.
Mary’s Song
For one person in particular the Advent of Jesus meant very great change that required a lot of trust. This person was Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary was visited by an angel who spoke to her and told her that even though she was a virgin she would have a baby who would be the Messiah. This is how the story is told in the book of Luke, it is in the first chapter and we start at verse 26:
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.
“26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth 27 to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name, Mary. 28 Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her: Good morning! You're beautiful with God's beauty, Beautiful inside and out! God be with you. 29She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what
53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
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This is a truly wonderful response and shows great faith. You must remember that for Mary there were many risks in this. Mary was an unmarried virgin and it was not uncommon for women in Israel at that time to be stoned to death. As it was Joseph, who was intending to marry Mary, could easily abandon her and make her a social outcast that everyone would shun. But Mary trusted and had great faith in God. She accepted this great change to her life and all the risk it involved. As we all know now Mary’s faith was truly rewarded. Faithfully Mary did all the things that were asked of her even if at the time she did not really understand them. I recommend that as part of your Advent preparations you read the whole story in the Gospel of Luke or the Gospel of Matthew. Despite the hardship of travelling to Bethlehem and when arriving having no room to give birth in Mary did not lose hope and on Christmas day she gave birth to our Saviour Jesus Christ – what a blessed event, which would change everything forever. But what about us here in South Sudan are we faithful? Do we trust the God that loved us so much that he gave us Jesus. Do we always do what God wants of us, do we all really know what these things are? Are we behaving sometimes like a farmer who is told that they could grow more types of crops but is not willing to try? Does the thought of change frighten us?
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Jesus came to bring change because God loves each one of us, knows us all like children and knows that we need change. It can be hard to accept sometimes and sometimes difficult to understand but as Rebecca found out by growing new plants, change can bring surprising results and many benefits. By having trust and faith in God you too can be rewarded by change. Life in South Sudan must change, it must improve and anyone that experienced the recent floods will know that we cannot accept things staying as they are. Anyone who cannot get enough food knows, anyone that cannot get an education knows, anyone that has experienced cattle theft or wife beating or sickness knows. We must leave this country a better place than when we found it or the independence that so many fought and died for will mean nothing! Change starts with us and all that is really required for Jesus to bring change to our hearts and lives is to accept him. Trust Jesus, who even now is coming to us and have faith in him. Then I promise that you will grow spiritually as a person and the harvest in you will nurture and feed this young and still very confused nation to help it grow too. If you still have doubts then think about this through Advent. A young girl called Mary looked in to the eyes of an Angel who told her that she would give birth to the Messiah and simply said “I am the Lord’s servant”. What trust, what faith and what hope for the future. Every Blessing +Moses Deng
If you thought yes to any of my questions then it is likely that you need to learn to grow. Don’t be mistaken I do not mean that you need to be taught how to grow more crops, but that you as a person must learn to grow and just as a plant increases become more than you were before.
Take a moment now before reading on to be still and listen for God. When you have then please take time to pray for real peace and development in South Sudan not just as a nation before God but for each person before God too.
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What Rebecca Wishes She Had Known By Rev Andrew Apiny Rebecca Abuok is a CARD beneficiary who received vegetable seeds for production after attending horticulture training on a demonstration plot in Masna Talim, Wau Municipality. The project which is funded by the EU, managed by ICCO and implemented by CARD aims to increase agriculture diversification of crops in the areas of intervention among a target group of IDPs/returnees and residents in Wau and Jur River County. Unfortunately the target beneficiaries most of them are not familiar with vegetable production especially cabbage or Egg plant, as such there was a lack of seriousness in the project, however a few farmers had given a little time to this idea and Rebecca was one of those farmers who cultivated vegetables for the purpose of trying them out. Regrettably Rebecca was sad after she had seen the high yield and good quality of her trial products and the benefit of these new crops especially at the time when the cultivation period is overdue and seeds were no longer available to her. Rebecca admitted that she was ignorant and wished she had known the outcome of this growing earlier, she would have cultivated enough for her home consumption and had enough to sell. But now the time is over and what is worse there are no more seeds. Rebecca was one of those farmers who was very negative about this diversification of crop production at first but like a bolt from the blue she was soon among the top farmers who sold their products. She soon got to know that the benefits are significant. From her crop production that Rebecca sold; she got 350 ssp.
She is not the only one who thought this way, there are many ignorant farmers who despite the seeds being available are now saying I wish I had known. I wish I knew that it would become so important to say to those who didn’t cultivate enough diversification of crops, earlier this year. Although project staff had taken a great deal of care to warn the community of the importance of vegetable crops and trained farmers on demonstration plots on how to plant them. In spite of that, most farmers took it for a joke were very sceptical and resistant to the project activities without proper analysis or clear understanding of the project. As such they had given less attention to it because they were not familiar with these new crops and put more effort on staple crop production that are their usual home-grown production. However few individuals who opted for these usual crops did very well or better than their expectation and are now wishing they had tried the new crops too. Rebecca being one of those tried the new crops explained the benefit from her best experience she said, “When I cultivated these vegetables crops I didn’t know that some good thing will come out of these crops, to me, it was a matter of try and see the outcome, since I don’t know their benefit. In addition the CARD extension
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officer had been constantly telling me to plant them, so I gave them a trial there after, it’s with regret to say I am sorry for my ignorance and inflexibility. What I have got from this product had enabled me to buy nice dresses for myself and also a portion of these tomatoes and egg plants were used for home consumption. So for the last two months the issue of food sources has been taken care of. Anyway I have now known the importance of these crops for human consumption as well as a source of income. I didn’t know at all it could be a source of income; I wish I knew before, I would have cultivated enough of them and harvested more. I would have had more than enough to sell and consume. Nevertheless, I hope in the future I will do much better next season; it’s for that very reason I have preserved enough seeds for the next season”.
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vegetable benefit, despite the fact that, the CARD extension officers had taken enough time to explain the usefulness of these crops. Most of them held on to the ignorance they had, this hampered the diversification of crop productivity greatly compared to the logical framework of verifiable objectives and indicators in which we intended to make achievements of food supply. It’s sad that progress is so slow in coming, but we are glad that some farmers have seen it making sense and tried it themselves.
Many of our beneficiaries were very sceptical and resistant to planting vegetable seeds when the project was introduced. Indeed they caused this mindset which was a lack of knowledge about the news crops; the majority of farmers were not aware of this
Diocese of Wau 2nd Diocesan Synod in Tonj By Rev Andrew Apiny The 2nd Wau Diocese Diocesan Synod held from October 7th to 11th this year was sadly interrupted by flooding, at the outset it was scheduled to be held in Tonj North in Ananaataka Archdeaconry but due to flooding it was rescheduled to Tonj Town, in the face of the fact that it was reorganized to Tonj town all the same the issue of flooding remained a very big challenge. Some of the archdeaconry representatives who were invited for the meeting
didn’t show up. Out of 20 archdeaconries expected to attend the meeting only fourteen archdeaconries turned up for the meeting. The rest of the delegates were held back by rain and because of flooding many roads were blocked. Despite that the meeting went on successfully with the rest of the delegates, though there were some stoppages here and there because of rain, the meeting continue anyway.
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In his opening remarks, Diocesan Bishop Moses Deng acknowledged and appreciated those who managed to come for the meeting, He apologised for inconveniences caused by flooding which resulted in changing the venue of the meeting from Ananataka to Tonj Town and the shoddiness of the other archdeaconries who failed to came to the meeting. He also spoke of the uniqueness of the synod, “This is a very important meeting in the diocese because of it's nature it normally takes place every two years. This is where policies and decisions which govern the diocese are made so thank you very much for your effort to be here�. After a brief speech he declared the meeting open and welcomed the reports from each archdeaconry. Fourteen archdeaconries reported that for the last two years from 2011-2012 about 40,000 souls were evangelized and baptized. Greater Tonj Area Diocese have a remarkable number of new believers followed by Greater Gogrial, and Greater Wau respectively, even though Mission and Evangelism teams are not well
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equipped with tools such as Bicycles, Jesus Films, and pamphlets as per the report in all archdeaconry designates there is a viable indicator that, Mission and Evangelism remain the first priority in the Diocese of Wau. Even though the Diocese of Wau has achieved much in Mission and Evangelism, the challenge at hand, is that church structure is still underprivileged in accordance to the archdeaconry's representatives’ reports. The archdeaconry deligates said that church structure is now the most predominant predicament facing the Christians today across diocese, with thousands of believers worshiping in the thatched buildings which need renewing on a yearly basis while other members are prayer under trees. The situation is even worse during the rainy season. Christians have to stay indoors until the rain is through and then they start their services sometimes when it's conventional rainfall, people will be locked inside for the whole day without a service, this has become an inconvenience to the Christians.
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All archdeaconries reported that, the issue of vast numbers of clergy who are without a theological education background, not even academically trained, remains a great deal. From the report 98 percent of the clergy are primary school leavers, some have never even finished primary school education. The Diocese has a long way to go in training it's dedicated staff. It is against that background that St, John's College of Theology and Development was opened for clergy who need education and training. The principal of St, John college of Theology and Development, reported to the Diocesan Synod that so far at least fourteen students from different archdeaconries of Wau Diocese were admitted in college, unfortunately some archdeaconries didn’t send their clergy to College due to a lack of school fees. Bishop Moses stressed the seriousness of this and that it is a must for every archdeaconry to send one person to St, John's College. Fees at the college have been made affordable and based on individual living condition. It is simple to educate pastors in the Diocese of Wau; With the
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presence of St, John's College in the Diocese, there is hope that things will not remain same, unless people don’t take up the opportunities in front of them. The Report from all archdeaconries on development activities revealed that in all archdeaconries at least every archdeaconry has one to three primary schools operating which summed up to 49 schools in the whole Diocese out these five are in concrete buildings, and the rest are operating within church buildings, while others under trees. Some lack of qualified teachers and text books. It is critical that the Diocese finds mechanisms to address these issues otherwise some of the schools will eventually close. Agriculturally the diocese has achieved much in the two Archdeaconries of Marial Baai and Wau through its development arm C.A.R.D. The development coordinator reported that, 1816 Agriculture tools were procured, these includes Rakes, Hoes, Axes, Maloda, Watering cans and were distributed to 482 beneficiaries and 150 tools were distributed to eighteen demonstration plots. Fourteen
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ploughs were distributed to 14 lead farmers, 30.2 kg of diverse production crops were distributed to 151 beneficiaries these include okra, onion, cabbage, cucumber, Egg plant, tomatoes and pumpkin. In addition to 5,908 kg of staple productions crops that were distributed to 289 beneficiaries, this included sorghum, maize, Cassava and groundnut.
covering two archdeaconries out of 20 archdeaconries. Some of these archdeaconries are very vulnerable and really need support but due to financial limitations the project couldn’t cover the whole diocese. Nevertheless the C.A.R.D. manager is trying his best to gather in some funds to support the rest of the archdeaconries with agriculture tools and seeds.
C.A.R.D. also has three motorcycles for its extension officers, one car for the project activities, one laptop, one printer, desk with chairs and two cupboards, all of which are available in the diocese for the project.
After the synod a SOMA team arrived in Tonj to conduct five days of training on marriage for pastors and their wives. .
The only challenges now in sector of the food security project in the diocese is that it is only
Rev Andrew is the coordinator of CARD the Relief and Development agency for Wau Diocese
Sunday Primary School, Parents Teachers Association (PTA) Meeting By Samuel Mabith Madut It was on the morning of Saturday 5/10/2013, when parents attended the meeting which was conducted by school and church administration. The meeting aims: 1. To discuss conduct and the discipline of pupils. 2. To discuss the new school uniform and registration. 3. To discuss next year’s school fees.
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The meeting which was conducted by the RT. Rev. Moses Deng Bol, and attended by the Diocesan Administrative Secretary Mrs Clarice Achieng, School Head Master Mr Paulino Aguer, Teachers and Class Monitors.
Agenda point number one was the discipline of the pupils in the school. The school and the church administration gathered with parents and discussed the issue of discipline of children in the school. They agreed that, any one of the pupils violating the rules and regulations, fighting or quarrelling with teachers would cause that pupil to be dismissed from the school compound without any warning. Agenda point number two, was the issue of the changing the school uniform to have new one next year. The school, together with church administration and the parents agreed that, the school uniform should be changed in the next registration. The girls will have a full- dress and boys will wear short trousers. According to the Ministry of Education policy the pupils from the age of 15 years and above will not be allowed to join morning school unless he or she joins adult literacy at noon time. This rule was made because the adult boys and girls misbehave and
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are disruptive. If the teacher tries to control them they do not believe what the teachers say. On one occasion, the one of the pupils came with a knife intending to wound one of the teachers. That is the reason that made people change the system to the new system because of the threat of disruption made by strong pupils. Finally, agenda point number three was the issue of the school fees next year. The school administration suggested that the lower classes should have to pay three hundred and upper classes will pay three hundred and fifty South Sudanese pounds, different one hundred pounds from both side. During the discussion, the PTA opposed this and requested not to pay that amount because of their situation. They requested the administration to pay at least fifty pounds on the top, the school agreed their request. In summary, all these agenda points above mentioned were discussed by the school and church administration with the PTA. The meeting finished successfully by the grace of God. Mr Samuel Mabith Madut is the Acting Diocesan Communication Officer. See more images of the PTA meeting in the Wau Diocese website at: http://www.wau.anglican.org/index.php?PageID =ptameet
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Paying for Prayers? By Rt Rev Moses Deng Bol South Sudan faces many challenges and there are often things that I hear which make me sad, but recently I heard of something that made me very angry. Reports have come from Yei in the very South of our country that certain Pastors are asking people to pay them for saying prayers or giving blessings. This is called Prosperity Gospel and is contrary to the way God wants us to behave and I cannot keep silent about this. It is true that even in South Sudan it costs money to have a church and provide all the things that a church needs to exist and even pastors must eat. It is not wrong to donate money to a church for it to carry on its work. But what is very wrong is that some pastors want to trade prayers like they were fruit or mobile phones for their own profit and not to run a church to the glory of God. Straight away I think of the passage from 1Timothy Chapter 6 verse 10: “Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.” The only reason that some pastors think that they can sell prayers is to get money and make themselves wealthy. But this kind of wealth only comes at the cost of their own souls. Lust for money, putting it before all things, has a way of blinding a person and taking away their humanity. I have seen this and the effects of this in my travels to the UK, USA and in many other places. Remember that Jesus told us himself in Matthew chapter 6 verse 19 to 21: "Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or - worse! - stolen by burglars. 20 Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. 21 It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”
This is so important and something that I want all my priests, pastors and workers to understand always. It makes me so cross to think that people believe they can trade the very thing that God gives us freely. How can a price be placed on the love of God? Our God loves us unconditionally, by this I mean that there is no boundary to God’s love. God loves you like a brother or a sister or like a Mother loves a new baby, without questions, without stopping to think and with total commitment. The salvation that Jesus suffered for, gave his own blood and even his life for was given to us for free as a gift. We are reminded of this in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 & 9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.” How stupid then to think that you can pay for faith or sell it like market goods. Let us be clear – salvation is a free gift that no amount of money can buy. Worse still there is a lazyness to this, because people are paying for something that they should do themselves. In Romans chapter 10 verse 13 it is plainly stated: “for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” It really makes me so mad that because they lust for money people that have been trusted to lead in faith are taking advantage of people that cannot understand the message of Jesus properly. St Paul teaches us much in the book of Romans, I highly recommend that you study it, just read this passage from chapter 5 verses 14 to 18 that explains the gift that Jesus won for us. “Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ,
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overflow to the many! 16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.”
As Christians we should seek to try to become more like Jesus in the way we live. Jesus did not set a price on his ministry nor did he ask for payment after he was resurrected. Jesus actually told us that God already knows us and all our needs, so if we think that we need something we can ask God directly in prayer (we can also thank God for what we have too!). This is shown in John chapter 14 verses 13 – 14: “From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it. That's how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. 14 Whatever you request in this way, I'll do.”
God loves us so much, if you pay for someone to pray for you, or to bless you, you are wasting your money. Why pay a heretic when all you have to do is just ask God, through Jesus? So if a pastor asks you for money to say prayers or give a blessing, refuse to have anything to do with them. If they are from Wau Diocese please tell me about them, my contact details are on our website – http://www.wau.anglican.org.
In fact I would like to suggest that we should pray for our misguided and greedy brothers and sisters so that God will open their eyes to see that what they are doing is not acceptable. Then they may stop this disgraceful practice and return to the true faith that they were freely given; as a gift from the almighty God that loves them. Every Blessing +Moses
Introducing Samuel - My Personal Testimony By Samuel Mabith Madut My name is Samuel Mabith Madut, I was born on 15th Jan 1987, in a place called Mayen Jur Manger. I’m 26 yrs old, I’m single; I’m looking forward to having a good wife. I have three brothers and one sister. I joined Wau high school in 2011 and I hope next year in April that I will finish my Sudan school certificate. My Father is called Madut Agiu Athian and my Mother is called Teresa Nyanuer Deng. Professionally they were both farmers. Sadly my father died and my siblings and I we remain half
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orphans. This picture you see below is when I reflect back of my life before and how bad it was, it makes me feel bad. Before I became Christian my life was terrible, we suffered a lot, even I did not know that God will change my life. Because our father was not there, he had died before when we were small, we were remaining half orphans with our mother, she was the one who remain in charge of us, Mother and Father at same time. At the time our father died, my elder brother was 5 yrs old and I was 2 yrs old my younger brother was just 3 months old. My father was the only son among his three sisters and all his sisters were married. We lived with our uncle, he has really taken care of us when we remaining alone. His name is called Michael Kuach, he was the one who ran two families at that time, his house and our house until we grew up. But one day I saw the light of God, God has shown me the light by opening my eyes to see and know His word through His people whom He called. These people are: James Baak who is now ALARM Country director, Abraham Ngor Mangong (at the time he was acting Archdeacon in our home) he is Principle in St, John’s College of Theology and Development, Peter Garang Deng the Bahr el Ghazal coordinator and RT, Rev: Moses Deng Bol, Bishop of the ECS Diocese of Wau. These people as you know some of them they were the ones who showed me the light of God. They advised me to be strong in faith and take up the cross and follow the Christ. I’m still praying to God to promote my life to bring up my people which were in bad life before to be in good life as God
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almighty created human beings equally will change our lives. That light I saw, I will follow it till the end of life; I will never and never forget my Lord Jesus Christ. That is all my life before, it is very long story really but I have summarized it.
My Prayer. Oh! God change my life as you have called me from the darkness and I have seen your light shining upon me Lord. Though I have sinned against you be merciful upon me Lord. Let me have a good understanding Lord be merciful upon me Lord. Let me lead your people in a good direction with your mercy upon me Lord. Amen. Samuel is the new Communication Officer for Wau Diocese a task that he does unpaid in his spare time while he pursues his own studies.
Please take a moment to pray for all the people that volunteer their time and work for the ECS Diocese of Wau that together they may bring the Kingdom of God to the people about them.
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Serious Flooding in Wau Diocese By Rev Andrew Apiny
The recent flood which erupted out nationwide has become the foremost apparent threat to the people of South Sudan, it encompasses all
evicted, mostly the affected population (which is estimated to be 1,348 households of 8,090 individuals) was in the Counties of Twic (Makuac Wet Chengtong, Abiei, Ayen Amuol) and Gogrial West (Akon South). What is worse to mention in all these counties is that most of the roads in these Counties are visibly blocked and others are broken down by the floods,
angles of life. Unless something is done very urgently, chances are high for other unpredictable and unavoidable circumstances to materialize. ECS pastors told the Renewal Newsletter in the Diocesan Synod held in Tonj South Warrap State,on 7th to the 11th Oct 2013, that floods has demolished many houses in the four archdeaconries Gogrial West, Gogriel East and Tonj South and Tonj East respectively. Thousands of people have been displaced in the four counties or archdeaconries of Tonj South, Thiet village, Agarwan Muortok, Kueikou, Mabior, while in Tonj East Malual ador, Panyei, Tarweng and Abyei. Not only that in Gogrial South, East and Twic counties countless villages were
houses are submerged, residents animals in addition are moving over the water finding nowhere to rest and children are fishing since fishes became available everywhere you go. People are drinking contaminated flood water as well as using it for household consumption. The chances of infiltration of water born diseases is very high, as a matter of fact, some of the residents were already reported as seriously affected. According to the Report on InterAgency Flood Assessment in Twic and Gogrial West Counties 22 - 25 August 2013 all the
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health facilities in the two counties visited indicated that since the onset of the floods, there has been drastic increase in the number of admissions and outpatient cases, with some serious cases particularly children and pregnant mothers. There are also increased numbers of diarrhea cases in all the functional health facilities in the Counties of Twic and Gogrial West. This increase in health cases the health personnel’s in the health facilities attributed it to the floods and use of flood water. The impact of floods in the state was further exacerbated by the fact that, the rainy season came with increases in the cases of malaria and water borne diseases like diarrhoea and respiratory infection diseases. On top of all this danger are snakes that are more available in open spaces especial those not adapted to wet conditions. At least five people were reported to have died in the church from coming in to contact with snakes. Snakes are forced by flood waters from the bushes and since the dry places are few the probability of finding them in an open place is very high. This combined with the fact that children are not familiar with them, unknowingly they step on them and they are bitten. Crocodiles, had also killed six people, the number of goats and cattle lost to crocodiles and
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snakes is not accurately known but thought to be high. According to Archdeacon Joseph Mayuang crocodiles are available in all flooded areas, where people pass them they ambush and attack people, usually fatally. Beside human health complications, Livestock are not exempt from these scenarios, disease outbreak has also been reported in flood affected villages in the four Counties, animals like goats and sheep are worst hit as they lack sleeping and grazing land, since the whole area is covered by water. Looking at this, health and nutrition as the most pressing needs of those affected by the floods including provision of food to a vulnerable population affected by the floods. For now the current coping mechanism available
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to the population includes collection of wild food and exploitation of natural resources which is really just fishing in the swamps. Although there are enough fish for everybody the challenge is a lack of fishing equipment such as hooks and fishing nets. Some had resorted to practices of relationship support and labour on other people’s farms as a means meeting their food needs some also reducing the number of meals eaten per day. Beside that farms are subjected to devastation, in Tonj East Archdeaconry, and Tonj South archdeaconry, both groundnut and sorghum farms were washed away by floods. Chief Joseph Alambeny Apuoth and Archdeaconry leader of Tonj South, told Renewal that, in 2014 hunger is not going to be an option, it will be a fact, there is going to be big food insecurity in the region. The recent rain had obliterated many
farms. Some farmers who had cultivated ten to fifteen fedans are now in the same shoes with those who did nothing, it’s a very frustrating scenario because a lot of effort, energy and time had been injected on the farms and all of this went in vain. Gogrial West and Twic Counties were the worst hit among all the Counties of Warrap state with about 9,000 people directly affected.
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In Warrap state every year floods destroy crops, houses and basic infrastructure, including roads. Accessibility to reach affected communities is very difficult since roads quickly become impassable... Warrap is frequently affected by flooding, at least once every year floods destroy crops, houses and basic infrastructure and roads, this is the fact that the state lies in swampy areas. Yet there is no response strategy or mechanism put in place to strengthen links with disaster emergency partners, encourage or support the inclusion of longer term flood mitigation measures and coping mechanism projects. Christian Action for Relief and Development, the development arm of the Episcopal church of the South Sudan Diocese of Wau, is appealing to disaster development partners to assist. The most vulnerable population which was hit by flood. According to the report on InterAgency Flood Assessment in Twic and Gogrial West Counties 22 25 August 2013, and the Christian Action for Relief and Development report on Church Flood Assessment in in Tonj East and Tonj South, Gogrial West and Gogrial East counties 10,800 people are directly affected and are in need of humanitarian assistance. Most of the affected locations are inaccessible by road, meaning humanitarian air assets will be required for any response. Malaria and diarrhea/sickness are on the rise in all the affected areas. The capacity of health facilities to respond to these emergencies is currently inadequate.
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Key Priorities for Intervention. NFI & ES: provision of loss NFI & ES items comprising of blankets, mosquito nets and plastic sheets for the 10,800 households affected by the floods. Health and Nutrition: Replenish the stock of drugs at various PHCC and PHCU at various health facilities in the affected counties and strengthen disease surveillance activities to address flood related sickness. Health clusters to make immediate requests to logistic cluster for air assets to transport medical supplies and equipment to places inaccessible by road. In the event the logistical complications become overwhelming CARD will request for UNMISS air assets as a last resort for transporting medical supplies be considered.
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Food security & Livelihood: Provision of twomonths food assistance for the 10,800 individuals who are considered to be vulnerable and stressed by the floods in the Payams of Makuac, Wet Chengtong, Abiei, Ayen Amuol and Akon South in the Counties of Twic and Gogrial West. Preposition livestock vaccines and drugs: Make these available in affected areas and continue monitoring livestock diseases. Fishing nets and Hooks: The provision of fishing nets and hooks for 10,800 households who are vulnerable and affected by floods in the areas of intervention for their sustainability.
HIV / AIDS Conference in Arua Uganda By Ven Andrea Ngong The Venerable Andrea Ngong Deng recently joined an HIV AND AIDS Conference in Arua Uganda with South Sudanese bishops and the church leaders on 12TH & 13TH September 2013.The Conference was Organised by the Pan African Christian AIDS Network.[ PACANET]. The Church Leaders of the Republic of South Sudan considered the fact that HIV and AIDS constitute a global challenge to humanity and the church in particular; 
Subscribed to the vision of the Pan African Christian AIDS Network
[PACANET] of; an HIV and AIDS free Africa where the impact has been mitigated.
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Mindful of the mandate of the South Sudan AIDS Commission to fight against HIV and AIDS and in line with the millennium development goal number 4, contributing to the global commitment of Zero infection, Zero Stigma and Zero deaths. Observed the major contributions and effort by the Church and sign that work towards the eradication of this pandemic and the achievements so far attained but in view of the challenge that still remains.
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4. The Church shall encourage SAVE [Safe practice, Accessibility to medicine, Voluntary counselling and Empowerment. 5. The reinforcement of sex education and quality family life.
The Church Leaders from various denominations in the Republic of South Sudan meeting in Arua Uganda therefore committed as follows: 1. To constitute an inclusive nationwide network providing a synergy for all actions towards mitigating the effects and subsequently eradication the HIV and AIDS pandemic. 2. To harmonize the Christian faith motivated response, to HIV and AIDS challenge with adequate and appropriate biomedical intervention. In the light of providing a holistic solution, the Church Leaders therefore resolved as follows: 1.The entire Christian body should be encouraged to know their current Zero status. 2. To ensure that VCT facilities are accessible. 3. To have premarital HIV tests and counseling.
6. Discourage harmful tradition, norms and values. 7. The Church should educate members on how to fight stigma and discrimination. Church Leaders in the meeting said that they represent the church of Jesus Christ in South Sudan with the mandate to seek and to save that which was lost according to Luke 19: 10, 2 Chron 7: 14 and Mark 16: 10 hereby declared: 1. That, Christian standards of fidelity, holiness and abstinence be strongly adhered to. 2. That, Christ like compassion should be the watch word towards all specific and general actions providing a solution to HIV and AIDS. 3. That the Church integrate adequate education and training programs to better equip its members and the general public to successfully face the challenge brought about HIV and the AIDS pandemic.
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4. That, family values of mutual love respect and care should be promoted and safeguarded. 5. That every congregation should form an HIV and AIDS awareness and follow up committee which shall ensure adequate counseling psychosocial support to those infected and affected members. 6. That, irresponsible sexual behaviour should be discouraged. 7. The Church Leaders observe 1st December as World AIDS day, they said we set aside the first Sunday of December every year as a special day for prayers and Support to HIV and AIDS program. Recommendations of South Church Leaders are as follows:
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1.Networking among the churches, Government, NGOs and PACANET. 2. Regular conference of church leaders on HIV and AIDS. 3. Resource mobilization by all the stakeholders to achieve the goals for combating HIV and AIDS. 4. Adequate systems and structure for better implementation at all levels [ Payam, County, State and National] The Bishops and the Leaders of the Churches in South Sudan were totally unilateral and clearly very willing to adhere to this commitment, and they declared this as the way forward towards providing a collective successful response to HIV and AIDS pandemic.
Almighty God knows my commitment in South Sudan otherwise the people should not. Glory be to His name. And thank you for sharing this Article with me. Regards Venerable Andrea Ngong. HIV and AIDS Coordinator from Wau Diocese More articles on the work of Rev Andrea can be seen on the Wau Diocese website: http://www.wau.anglican.org/index.php?Pag eID=hivoutreach http://www.wau.anglican.org/index.php?Pag eID=hivmessage
Please pray for Rev Andrea and his mission to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS to a people who very often simply do not understand. Give thanks to God for all the kind people who give their time and money to protect people and treat those who have become infected.
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Nyieth School Roofing Begins October 2013 The roofing work has started on the site of the Nyieth school project, but unfortunately not all of the school can be roofed for the fact that there are not enough funds to allow us to complete the work. Even so the part that is going to be roofed would still lack windows and doors, inside and outside plastering of the walls, labelling of the floor inside the rooms and painting as well. But really we desire to progress so we start. These are the materials being brought to accomplish the work that stagnant for almost five years since 2009. In fact, the community of Nyieth was so excited to have received the following items: 1) 2) 3) 4)
Iron sheet =60 Pcs Ring beam 3m =20 Pcs Ring beam 2m =30 Pcs Timbers 2 by 6 =10 Pcs
5) Timbers 2 by 4 =50 Pcs 6) Timbers 2 by 3 =90 Pcs 7) Nails of iron =25Kg 8) Nails for wood =20Kg 9) Roll =2 Pcs 10) Cement =30 Bags 11) Caps =10 Pcs 12) Bricks =20,000
In the picture above are people who are supporting the engineer who is up on the wall during the fixing of the ring beam level. Some of the bricks in the wall were washed down by the rain so they first replace the ones that have gotten lost on the top of the wall.
The local community was very happy to see work start, help was offered and the following was done by them as a local contribution:
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1) Offloading of the materials being brought by a vehicle. 2) Upload and offload the transport 20,000 bricks to the site for construction work. 3) Accommodation of the engineers provided. 4) Cooking for the people working on the roofing. 5) Sand donated to mix with the cement. Garang Ngor has been an instrumental person who had worked hard for the ECS for a couple of years. Garang has worked on the ECS cathedral construction work in Wau and is hoping to complete some of the remaining work such as ECS cathedral in Kuajok. This was erected by the Samaritans Purse and the windows for churches being also constructed by the Samaritans Purse in the whole of the Diocese of Wau. While Garang is standing on the wall up, he is giving instructions to his supporters on how to give him mixed sand up for beam fixing. A man in green shirt and holding a paper in his hand is called Marko Atak Akook who is a teacher in Nyieth School. He is talking to them with joy and filled with happiness. Here are some of the school children who really want their school be completed. One of them said to the workers “never leave it again half way but complete it so that we will be using it before Christmas break” He again asked them a typical question that people
asked me to answer him. Is it one separate wall consisting of three rooms that is going to be roofed or both two? I answered him, as funds allow us to, then why not all of them. Hearing my answer of the two walls he just interestingly laughs with a very good smile. I’m so impressed by this boy who really values education more than anything else in his life. He is the son of the late pastor Ruben Akol Akol and his name is Thiep Akol.
Here also are more pictures from the work that was started in October 2013. Please enjoy them. We really want to get this project finished because it will be a good asset for the people of Nyieth not just school children. The building will teach children and adults that have missed schooling because of our past. It will also be used for meetings and gatherings such as immunization clinics or HIV/AIDS teaching. As I hope that you have seen the local community really wants this and is willing to work and help to get things done.
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CARD conducted Farmer’s Marketing Committee training in Kangi and Wau By Rev Andrew Apiny On 3 and 4th of October 2013 Christian Action for Relief and Development (CARD) rolled out Farmer’s marketing committee Training which is one of the project component activities. The three day training was basically to focus on the commodity networks, market links and the price trends in the areas of project intervention. The participants comprised of 24 persons who are traders, farmers, payam leaders that were selected from different Bomas of Kangi Payam in Jur River County and Wau Municipality. The reason for the training was that it was found out that Farmers in the villages have a lot of challenges with their products after harvest, perishable products like vegetables are much affected. Groundnut, sorghum and so forth are spoilt or wasted due lack of a means of transport to the markets and also in addition inadequate marketing information among farmers or traders in local towns. This had badly affected the farmers to the point of giving up farming vegetables in particular. There is a shortage of food generally so vegetable growing should increase not decrease. This is all due to the fact that traders in town are not aware of what is going on inside the villages, and the farmers lack a means of transport or a communication network to share information among themselves. As such the local traders are purchasing food commodities from neighbouring countries while local commodities end up at the dumping site
and are wasted. This is why such training is so important and why we conducted it for farmers’ producers, and traders it’s very important for farmers and traders to be linked.
The project through a marketing committee will attempt to look at the market structure, conduct and performance of the different market tiers at village, Boma, Payam, urban and County levels with an aim to disseminate and coordinate information. It also aims to link market or trade actors in each of these tiers in such a way that benefits will accrue to the target groups; in terms of improved access to markets, better prices and increased sales. The marketing committee will link up with the Directorate of Planning at the State Ministry of Agriculture Forestry & Irrigation who already has established a marketing collection mechanism drawing information from interventions at locations intra-State, together they will find mechanisms of information exchange between States.
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The Project will make information on prices, updated weekly available on marketing publication boards which will be fixed in the churches, markets and public areas. The marketing committees who have undergone training will be given bicycles by the project as they are key in the dissemination of marketing information since their role is to collect and disseminate relevant market information to the local population, ensure regular updates (weekly) on nearby local markets and outside urban markets (through SMoAF&I and CARD), submission of local market prices and the availability of commodities to the SMoAF&I
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(weekly). Once fully established they will be connecting (bulk) traders to farmers and farmers groups while facilitating negotiation on prices, quality and quantities. CARD will collaborate with other states in order to get information on their demand and the prices of commodities in major markets. The project staff will explore and select modes or channels of communication and disseminate market information to producers and traders by means of sign boards, radios, newspapers and other means while seeking to transfer the facilitating role from Local NGOs to Government (Linking with the Chamber of Commerce).
ICCO Conduct Nutrition Training By Rev Andrew Apiny
The Food Security and Thematic Programme (FSTP) project in Western Bahr el Ghazal state is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the ICCO-Cooperation. The project works in the two counties of Jur River and Wau County.
The ICCO-Cooperation is the lead agency of this consortium it’s members include DORCAS, Aid International (an International NGO), Christian Agenda for Development (CAD) a national NGO, Christian Action for Relief and
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Development (CARD) a development organization of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan Diocese of Wau and lastly the Catholic University of South Sudan - Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Science (CUoSSFAES). Nutrition training was conducted seeking to reduce the incidence of general and acute malnutrition among rural households in Western Bahr el Ghazal state, South Sudan. The specific objectives were; to improve the food security and nutrition of particularly disadvantaged and marginalised people in Western Bahr el Ghazal state and to strengthen local institutions to better address food insecurity and climate threats. It’s upon this basis that the nutrition training was conducted to equip selected cadres from the consortium, health facilities and local administration (Payam level) with basic knowledge in nutrition, malnutrition, its causes and effects to enable community sensitisation through nutrition education. The training was
also aimed at mobilisation to empower the selected cadres for involvement, and full participation in sustainable food security activities that will prevent malnutrition at household and community level. This training was to equip selected (targeted) participants
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with knowledge in Nutrition, malnutrition, its causes and effects. In South Sudan statistics indicated that malnutrition rates have soared because of poor health conditions, suboptimal maternal coupled with child feeding and care practices, not to mention food insecurity. This has been compounded by high rates of poverty and illiteracy, long years of civil strife and recurrent environmental shocks (e.g., floods, droughts). The 22 per cent prevalence of wasting (Weight loss) is significantly higher than the WHO 15 per cent threshold for nutrition emergencies. Among children under 5, stunting affects 34 per cent and underweight affects 33 per cent. Although little data exists on the prevalence of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, they are almost certainly widespread given the general malnutrition situation; for instance, only 2.6 per cent of children under 5 currently receive vitamin A supplementation. Among young children, South Sudan has a heavy burden of communicable diseases mostly associated with under nutrition, such as fever, acute respiratory infection and diarrhoea. At the same time, appropriate health-seeking behaviour is limited and the health system struggles to meet the needs of the country for primary care. At any given time, 45.5 per cent of children have a fever, but only 3.4 per cent receive treatment. A mere 16 per cent of children are fully immunised. South Sudan’s health infrastructure is being rebuilt and remains heavily dependent on nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and external funding. Aid officials estimated in 2006 that NGOs provide 85 per cent of primary health care services, which reach only 25 per cent of the population.
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IYCF practices are also highly inadequate. Inappropriate breastfeeding practices and low dietary quality of complementary foods are recognised as the major causes of under nutrition in infants and young children. Throughout South Sudan, only 20 per cent of infants are exclusively breastfed and just 15.8 per cent of children 6-11 months receive complementary foods. Dietary diversity is limited and food preparation methods prevent mothers and young children from consuming many of the accessible nutritious foods. Environmental health and hygiene are also problematic, with only 48.5 per cent of households having access to improved drinking water sources and only 6.9 per cent of households safely disposing of excreta. Environmental health and hygiene are underlying causes of Malnutrition. Access to and availability of food in this heavily agrarian society have suffered because of widespread poverty, the protracted conflict and resulting
mass population movements, the seasonal hunger gap, climate conditions such as floods and drought, cattle raids, and continued inter-ethnic violence. More than 90 per cent of the population lives on less than 1 United States (US) dollar per day and nearly one-third, or 31.3 per cent, of households experience poor food consumption. With 76 per cent of the population unable to read and the economy still being weak, food security will be precarious for the foreseeable future.
Relationships, Marriage and Family Life A SOMA Mission to Tonj in Wau Diocese 9th – 19th October 2013 By Rev Chris Strain Following the successful previous visit to Wau in February I responded to the invitation to be part of a small SOMA (Sharing of Ministries Abroad) conference in a wet Tonj (60 miles south east of Wau) in October. From team member I was elevated to leading the small team of five which included a Kenyan couple! I responded to the invitation as I felt the Lord wanted me to go back to the Diocese to strengthen our Deanery links and projects and
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to share with the pastors and some wives at the end of their Diocesan Synod as part of the SOMA team. We were warmly received as the MAF plane landed on the roughest of airstrips I have ever seen and had a great time with the delegates. Personally I found the time quite demanding with the heat, changes of temperature and mosquitoes doing their worst, but this is life for the Dinka and Luo peoples. We were very conscious of the need for sensitivity and appropriateness in a culture which is so different from our own. Wealth is measured in the number of cattle, bride price and arranged marriages are the norm, women marry young, love is not easily expressed, roles are very different from those in the UK, polygamy is very common, birth control is not practised, children are disciplined differently and there is a history of violence in the country and in communities and even families. We were
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keen to share Biblical principles and to listen hard rather than come too quickly to points of application. We spoke of God’s big picture and ideals, acknowledging the gap between experience and God’s best. We listened to stories and I preached through Philippians noting especially its relational themes. It was really good to have Martha and Kennedy with us from Kenya as they could understand the African context well. At the end between storms certificates were presented to all and delegates went home resolved to put it into practice! Throughout the conference God was at work in and his presence evident in so many ways. Bishop Moses hopes for another SOMA mission to the diocese next year. Maybe you would be interested! Do talk with me if you would like to know more. You can also go to www.somauk.org
Rev Chris Strain, of St Luke’s Parkstone Poole, is a priest of the Diocese of Salisbury and part of the link of fellowship that Wau Diocese has with Poole Deanery.
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Contacting Us:
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By E-mail Diocesan Bishop Rt Rev Moses Deng Bol : bishop@wau.anglican.org Acting Diocesan Secretary Mrs Clarice Achieng : dio.secretary@wau.anglican.org General Enquiries Mr Samuel Madut : communications@wau.anglican.org Mother’s Union Mrs Mary John Garang : mucoordinator@wau.anglican.org A full list of diocesan staff with contacts can be viewed on our website. By Post: Hai Mozephin, Opposite Wau Teaching Hospital, C/o ECS Provincial Office, P O BOX 110, Juba, South Sudan By Telephone: Tel +211 926954187 or +211 955602769 +254 716641233
Bishop Moses Deng Bol and all the staff of Wau Diocese would like to wish a joyful and peaceful Christmas celebration to all supporters and friends of Wau Diocese. “To us a son is given”. We look forward to 2014 and more development.
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Please Pray With Us Pray for the hardworking clergy and volunteers of Wau Diocese who work without pay in difficult conditions.
Pray for farmers and growers in Wau Diocese that they may provide the good nutrients that people need and be fairly rewarded for doing this. Pray for lasting peace in the border lands between Sudan and South Sudan, in Abyei, Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains. Pray for all people affected by the recent flooding so that they may recover swiftly and rebuild. Pray for schooling in our community and all people that give time to educating others. Give thanks to God for communities such as Nyieth working together to improve life generally.. Pray for those affected by food insecurity and struggling to get enough to eat every day. Particularly children and mothers. Pray for people in our community affected by HIV and AIDS that they may get the help they need. Give Thanks for the peace agreement signed in Gogriel. Pray for the good work of SOMA and all those who receive their tuition. Pray for South Sudanese people living in other parts of the world.
Church prayers needs Pray for our Bishop the Rt. Rev Moses Deng Bol, who works so hard for the Diocese, pray that God will help him to do what needs to be done. Give Thanks for our recent Diocesan Synod and the chance to share problems, solutions and developments before God. Pray for our new communication coordinator Samuel Mabith Madut that he may discharge his duties well. Pray for the priests and Pastors of Wau diocese struggling to bring God’s word to the people of Warrap and Western Bhar El Ghazal states. Pray for Rev Andrea Ngong, HIV/AIDS Coordinator and give thanks for the work and leadership that he undertakes in this difficult work. Pray for priest and pastors everywhere to avoid the temptation to sell prayers to vulnerable people. Pray the work of the Mother’s Union in Wau Diocese, especially with literacy and financial planning. Give thanks to God for the valuable work of CARD in our community and the development it brings to make life better for the future.