A message from Yournew Wol...

I filmed this greeting from Pastor Yournew Wol in Malek Alel, Aweil South in July last year. The building is the Aweil Bible College which has been instrumental in the development of leaders in the church, government and community. Yournew Wol has been instrumental in establishing churches throughout the Aweil region, as well as in Nairobi and the Kakuma Refugee Camp on the Kenyan border. He is a gracious and wise leader, and deeply loved by his community.

A gift for Darfur...

Today we have sent $1500 AUD to Pastor Yournew Wol Kuot which will be used by a team that have been caring for the Darfurian refugees in Aweil. While Joseph Mawien and I were in Aweil last year we met people from Darfur who had fled the genocide. And when we visited Malual Kon in Aweil East we visited the refugee camp (pictured) where the Darfurians were being fed by the World Food Program. For the past six years we have heard of the ongoing civil war in Darfur and the devastating impact it has had on the African tribes. But hearing about it on the tv news is very different to being there and meeting the victims face to face.

What touched me most was hearing Rev Angelo describe the way the churches in Aweil were caring for the Darfurian refugees. They provide them with food, shelter and clothing and with their limited resources were providing care for the sick and wounded. I was impressed with the way Christians were caring for Moslems. Angelo told me "now they have become our brothers".

I had no hesitation in telling Angelo we would support him. For so long I have felt totally helpless in the face of this disaster and it was a relief to know there was something we could do. I asked Angelo "Please tell the people of Darfur that they have sisters and brothers in Australia who know about their suffering and pray for them."

$1500 isnt a large amount of money, but a dollar can go a long way in Sudan. As well as being very compasionate, Rev Angelo is a discerning man and will enusre the money is used for the maximum benefit. And as he provides for their physical needs, he also shares the gospel of Christ. It's nice to know we can be a part of this wonderful ministry.

Let me know if you would like to get involved...

Partnership...

When this photo was taken Joseph and I had just presented 2 posters to the COC leaders in Malek Alel. At the back of the picture are Pastor Ronald Ruay and Pastor Philip Akot and in front Joseph and I are sitting alongside Yournew Wol. Behind is the mud wall of Aweil Bible College.

Melinda Rawlins, one of our Elders at Magill COC, had taken photos at our commissioning service and then produced these posters as a way of demonstrating the partnership between our communities. The text at the top reads "United Sudanese Fellowship and Australian Churches of Christ - Partners in Mission". And the verse at the bottom is based on Phil 1:3-6 "We thank God every time we remember you. We pray with joy because of our partnership in the gospel, being confident that God who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion." The poster has a compilation of photos including the joint congregation surrounding Joseph and myself as they prayed for us and sent us on our way to Sudan with their blessing.

Wherever we showed the posters in Sudan people would crowd around enthusiastically. Whenever they recognised someone they knew in the photos there would be shouts of excitement. It was a powerful way of demonstrating the links between Churches of Christ and the Sudanese community in Adelaide, and how we have joined together to reach out to our sisters and brothers in Aweil.

As we showed people the posters, and as we presented them to the men pictured, Joseph and I assured people that the two communities we represent are commited to standing with them, supporting them and working with them. Wherever I had the opportunity to speak I assured people how for many years we have heard the news of suffering in Sudan. At first all we could was pray, but after some time we found we could help refugees settle in Australia and support them in providing for their relatives at home. Now however we have the opportunity to be directly involved in supporting people in South Sudan. The posters, we told them, are a way of showing that their Christian family, both Sudanese and Australian, are reaching out to join hands with them across the oceans.

Now our challenge is to work together to make this a reality. In my next few blogs I will introduce you to specific areas of need and opportunity where we can assist Christian leaders in Aweil. Im praying you will be moved to become involved in some of them. In some cases it may be churches supporting churches, or pastors linking with pastors. But there is also work to be done with hospitals, clinics, schools, agriculture and government. There is great potential, and even small contributions can make a great change to the people of Aweil who have so little.

So lets pray together that God, who began a good work in us, will now bring it to completion.

Yournew Wol...

This is a photo of Joseph with an old friend and ministry colleague, Yournew Wol. Yournew Wol was working in Khartoum in the 1980s as an electrical engineer. When there was flooding in 1988 Yournew was working at the hospital and met an American named Paul Douglas. Although raised a Catholic Yournew had a deeply personal spiritual experience which changed his life, and through the guidance and support of Paul Douglas commenced a journey which would lead to the establishment of Churches of Christ in Kenya and Sudan. Paul left in 1990, but was able to sponsor Yournew in his Bible College studies in Zimbabwe, where he studied with Wol Wek. In 1995 they both moved to Nairobi and started evangelistic work amongst Sudanese refugees. In 1999 Yournew started a new work in Kakuma refugee camp with Victor Deng (who I have mentioned earlier). Some of the members of my church at Magill, and several leaders within the Sudanese community in Adelaide were members of Churches of Christ in Nairobi or Kakuma as a result of the ministry of Yournew Wol and others. In 2001 Yournew Wol and Victor Deng returned to Sudan and commenced a ministry in Aweil East at Malual Kon (which I wrote about in the article featuring Pastor Philip Akot). The following year they began another congregation in the Awiel South county at Malek Alel, and this is where the Aweil Bible College is based.

When I met Yournew a few weeks ago he was the Commissioner of the Aweil South County. As my sister Anger put it "The people love him so much they called him to be their Commisisoner." Certainly Yournew is a highly respected leader, not only within the church community but within the government and the wider community. We had only just left Aweil when we heard the Governor had dismissed the Government, including Yournew Wol, and so I am unsure where that leaves him placed. However I know many within Churches of Christ will be hoping that Yournew will soon be free to focus more energy on church leadership once again.

Next I will tell you more about another young pastor who has taken much of the leadership while Yournew has been involved in the government.

Links with our partners...

Yesterday was a tough day. I was emotionally exhausted from the previous day. Mother Adut cooked fried fish for our dinner – Joseph’s favourite – but soon my stomach was churning and by morning I vomited. The day was hot and humid and dusty and I was feeling physically and emotionally very weak. Joseph asked if I would eat lunch and I tell him I think I can eat some rice. I really would like an orange, and within minutes Adut brings me an orange. I tell her she can read my thoughts. Her English is only a little better than my Dinka, but the way she takes my hand, and the care in her eyes communicate her deep care and concern.

In the afternoon we walked to the markets where I spotted Angier and called out “My Sister!”. People stared at this strange greeting: A young Dinka woman with long straight hair, Canadian accent and stylish western clothes hugging a tall, bald Kawaja. I tell her we have heard the police have been arresting women wearing pants and that I told Joseph if they tried to arrest her I would like to be there to see it. She laughs in agreement. “Oh yeah, let them come. I will read to them the constitution!” She tells me about taking a very sick man to the hospital and telling the officials “I don’t care what title you have, this man needs to be treated”. She will make a difference in this town.

With Angier is Yournew Wol. Yournew is now the Commissioner of Awiel South County but previously has been instrumental in establishing and coordinating the development of Churches of Christ in Northern Bahr El Ghazel and the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. While working in Khartoum in about 1980 Yournew met Paul Douglas, an American who was working in the hospital and together they worked to establish Churches of Christ in Sudan. Through the work of Yournew and others they established a church in Kakuma, a Bible College in Aweil South and have planted churches and established clinics in various parts of the Aweil region. The work continues to be supported financially by the American churches through the coordination of Paul Douglas. I want to talk more but Yournew and Angier need to leave so we say “Awk bi-eawk”.

This morning we visit Philip Akot, the COC Pastor I met briefly in Juba, and I learn more about the ministry of our churches here. We discuss the way we might work together and he is enthusiastic about building relationship with churches in Australia. We hope to be able to visit soon and see “with our own eyes”. But already I sense a partnership developing.