Bishop Grant and Doctor Wendy 2014-04-22 03:16:00
Refugees Arrive…
Akula: a forest of tiny ‘pup-tent’-like dwellings fronted by cooking fires and filled with children. The tiny faces peeking out to stare at the “Kawaja” (white folks) walking by, break into sudden and delighted smiles as we greet them. Dozens of little hands try to hold mine as we wind our way to the ‘church’ – a large tree around which 3,000 Christians from many denominations are gathered. The new refugee camp of Akula, now one month old, is already sheltering 33,000 with more arriving daily.
Glimpses of the stories of those who have fled here for shelter were seen in the prayer requests.
“My sister died on the way. Her children were suffering from dehydration so they were brought here for medical care without being registered. Now they are with me, but they are not registered, so I cannot get food ration cards for them. Pray that I can get rations to feed them”
“My husband Jacob has been missing since December 15th. I can get no news. I pray to know if he is alive or dead.”
“Not all of us are here. Our beloved elders…”
A few stand up to share their reflections.
“We should not be surprised at the calamity which has fallen upon us. It says in the Bible that these things can happen. But be encouraged, for nothing, not even this, can separate us from the love of God.”
“It was quarreling that brought us here. We must forsake quarreling.”
Sadly, poignantly, many tried to make sense of overwhelming evil: “It was our greed. It was our idolatry”
The congregation breaks out in song.
“Let us greet one another, and when Jesus comes, we will all love one another.”
“Let us kneel together before our Jesus”
Grant is invited to preach: “Jesus hates suffering and death. He wept at the tomb of his friend, Lazarus. A couple of weeks later, he gave himself to die on the cross and to rise again, defeating suffering and death. Because Jesus rose from the dead we know that one day there will be no death, there will be no suffering – God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. And on that day people from every tribe will be together around the throne – white people and Chinese and Arab and Nuer and Anuak and Dinka and Murle – so we should get used to being together now!”
Snap shots of life in the Horn of Africa:
Gambella
February: We had a wonderful time with a team of engineers and architects who came to help design new structures for the Gambella Centre so we can accommodate a new theological college in next year.
March: The rain is coming soon – we worked hard to organize the construction of as many new, simple church buildings as possible before the rains come in April – 30 new churches under construction. It seems that we now have about 80 Anglican congregations in this part of the world.
Addis
March: While Wendy was in Canada visiting her father, Grant preached and led worship at St Matthew’s, our English congregation; collected large piles of used clothes for refugees in Gambella; met with house group leaders from a non-Ethiopian part of our Episcopal Area (a country about which I can’t say too much); arranged for our Opo priest (David Onuk) to attend a one month course on Bible translation (David and two others have now finished translating the Gospel of Mark into Opo, the first book of scripture in their language)
Mekele
March: Grant spent three days doing Bible teaching and leading worship with a congregation made up of students (some Ethiopian, some from other countries) whose only common language is English; learned of at least three other university cities where groups of students are meeting to worship in English in new Anglican congregations … the Bishop is always the last to know.
Egypt
March: With Wendy back we headed to Egypt: Grant teaching New Testament exegesis of the passion narrative of Mark’s gospel at the Alexandria School of Theology, as well as having diocesan meetings and preaching at five different congregations.
Gambella
Last night: Back in Gambella our deacon, Gabriel Luot was arrested in Gambella on his way home to Sherkole refugee camp from our monthly clergy training session. Fighting between Dinka soldiers from South Sudan and Anuak from Abol the previous night (one from each side killed just a few kilometers outside of Gambella town) has heightened tension against the Dinka – and Gabriel is Dinka. Darash, our Anuak (!) priest went to the Gambella police and was able to get Gabriel released.
Today: David Onuk, John Bol and Isaac Pur work in our office meeting room, translating the gospel of Mark into the Opo language. Today they will finish Chapter 15 and 16 and then bring it to the Opo people and read the whole thing on Easter day – then the process of editing will begin.
Still today: Two Anuak women have been walking around our compound cursing the Gambella Anglican Centre and trying to pull up our fence in an attempt to extort thousands of Birr (Ethiopian money) from us for land they (falsely, according to local authorities) claim to own. This claim might have had more weight if there weren’t several others also claiming ownership of (and therefore compensation for) this previously uninhabited and unused land, and all of whom refuse our offer to take these claims to the municipality where the land ownership history and title deeds are known and kept.
More today: A Regional Dean for the Anglican Diocese of Malakal, South Sudan, displaced by the war, came for help to give him transportation and food/accommodation as he makes his way to Addis, and then to Kenya to be re-united with his family.
Again…today: We had a very helpful visit from leaders of the ‘Ethiopian Network of Religious Leaders living with HIV-Aids’, an organization started by our deacon, Ayano, now deceased.
Tonight: We discover news of “Koma” people (the name of the Opo people who live in South Sudan) who have fled to Opo villages in Ethiopia to escape forced conscription into the so-called ‘white army’ of South Sudan. Their villages having been burned, they are now being housed and fed by our Opo Christians.
Right now: We welcome Michael Anyar’s wife Elizabeth and their five children, now needing to flee threats of violence against them due to their Dinka ethnicity. They will stay in our compound until we can arrange transport for them to Addis.
In Gambella the refugee situation caused by the fighting in South Sudan continues to worsen. The latest official (UN) figures cite 92,448 registered South Sudanese refugees in the Gambella region with 13,000 listed as waiting registration. Estimates predict between 150,000 to an unbelievable 300,000 arriving by the end of this year, nearly doubling the population in this already under-serviced area. Christian friends from all over the world have been providing much needed support for our ministry among these new exiles.
Visits to refugee churches will dominate the next month. Pray for these dear Christians who need to know that their suffering is caused by human evil and is not a result of God punishing them (sadly a common explanation for their plight).
Reflection
One day, as I sat in my home in Santa Fe, this reflection came to me in response to a bible study. Oh Lord, Almighty and Gracious King,Words don’t begin to describe your glory.Music from the heart is a sweet sound to youYet it fails to portray your splendor.With thanks…
Bishop Grant and Doctor Wendy 2014-03-19 05:49:00
We do not grieve…
…as those without hope 1 Thess 4:13-14
Tukal: A Gambellan home
As we all sat in the tukal, -sisters, brothers-in-law, father, mother, grandchildren, friends and relatives, the sunlight streamed in the door, glancing off the feathers of inquisitive baby chicks, and falling softly on the faces of those who had gathered to share their grief. War had a face. It was the suffering face of our friends and colleagues in Gambella as family after family heard of this son killed, that brother gone missing, that dear friend no longer alive. I was struck that there was no denial of grief as parents and relatives shared their hope in Jesus. Death had taken the one they loved from them, and Jesus had taken their loved one from death. Both hope and grief had equal place. And we were privileged to share in this with them.
I’ll let Grant share more with you about Gambella and the nearness of war.
Running Away
Next door to us, South Sudan is at war. The trouble started, it seems, as a dispute between two groups of soldiers in Juba – one group backing the President, the other backing his ousted Vice-President. Within days the whole country was involved in a conflict which has killed thousands, and displaced hundreds of thousands. Despite the newly signed peace treaty, many, in the colloquial English of this region, are still “running away.” When I was a kid to “run away” was a sign of cowardice; here it simply means survival – you run or you die.
The conflict, part political, part ethnic is, for us, very personal. We have many South Sudanese friends, and many here in the Gambella region of Ethiopia with roots (and family) in South Sudan. Almost every day we hear from our priests, staff members and parishioners that they have had a family member killed in South Sudan. Many, many tell me that they have not heard from family members – some reported to have fled, one reported to have been imprisoned. Soon after the fighting started it became clear that it was unsafe in Gambella for one of our priests. Michael was serving a Nuer congregation, although he is himself is a Dinka. We have had to send him and his brother-in-law (who is part of his extended family) to Addis Ababa for their safety, at least for now.
The Gambella region is surrounded on three sides (south, west and north) by South Sudan and Sudan. Some of the towns where we have churches near the border have been overrun with large numbers of people fleeing the fighting in South Sudan. The UNHCR and the World Food Program are working hard to meet people’s needs, but there is always a delay, so people turn to the churches to help. For example, in Matar, where I went a couple of weeks ago with a truckload of food and other essentials, there were about 4,000 refugees waiting for their new camp to be built just outside another town called Nininyang. It is now ready and they are being moved there, but more refugees are arriving daily. I am told the camp will have 17,000 people soon.
This past week I visited another new refugee camp, this one near the town of Dimma. The landscape was bleak – not much soil, just rocks and barren trees, devoid of any foliage in the heat and dust of dry season. I met on Saturday afternoon (under a tree, not that that helped cool anyone off…) with leaders of the new Anglican Church in the camp. They are receiving adequate food and shelter from the UN and the WFP. They have tukals (huts) to sleep in, but no place for a community shelter for worship, or other meetings (such as a place to teach their children – it will be some time before a school is set up). They also need clothes. They had to leave their homes in Sudan in a hurry and many literally had to flee with the clothes on their back. I had about $150 with me and spent it all in the Dimma market buying what clothes I could. More will be sent this week with Wilson, our priest from Dimma. Hopefully we can also get the church some shelter.
They asked me for bibles in various languages, to license their lay readers, and to baptize about 70 people. Their last request: they wanted me to name their church. Because Jesus, Mary and Joseph also had to “run away”, and were themselves refugees in Egypt, the new refugee church took the name, ‘Holy Family’. Interestingly, the people in Holy Family Anglican Church put their own twist on the name: they saw themselves as a holy family, a family transcending ethnicity, drawn together to worship the one God and Father because of what the Lord Jesus and his Holy Spirit have done for them.
On Monday morning I led worship at the camp. I was told that there were about 600 members but 800 turned up. We started at 7.30 am, so that we could worship in the coolest part of the day. We kept it really short (2 and a half hours) since we had a lot of baptisms. We also had the Eucharist which many had not had in a while. Amazingly, I caught a glimpse of the kingdom at this service — although a large part of the fighting in South Sudan is ethnically-based violence, this church had made a decision. They would worship together in spite of ethnic and language differences – so we sang and prayed in Anuak, Nuer, Dinka and Murle (my ten minute sermon had to be translated into three of those languages which made it at least 45 minutes…). I was so grateful to be able to experience this inter-ethnic worship – kind of an ‘in your face’ to the devil, I think.
Arriving back in Gambella town I received news of more refugees arriving at already established camps in Sherkole and Pinyudu, and even more people being kept at the border in the Tiergol / Akobo region and in Lare. We have also housed a few refugees here in the Gambella Anglican Centre, as they transitioned to new areas.
I am very proud of our churches and our staff. We have worked hard in the last year and a half to see our ethnic diversity here as a strength of our church: Dinka, Nuer, Anuak, Opo, Mabaan, Jum-Jum (and now Murle) are in one church and pray and work together. In this new, rather tense, situation, our church members have supported and protected one another. “Ethnicity,” culture and language are not unimportant, but they are secondary to membership in Christ’s body.
Some reports in the press characterize the South Sudan conflict as “tribal.” Two things are important here I think. First, the conflict is much more about political power than ethnicity, although obviously ethnicity comes into it and a conflict like this gives opportunity for old (even ancient) scores to be settled. In the present conflict, Dinkas have been fighting against Dinkas and Nuer against Nuer, as well as Nuer against Dinka (with a lot of other groups caught in the middle). Second, I believe we need to be sensitive to the derogatory overtones that words such as “tribalism” can convey. Our Canadian history of dispute between French and English, is one of many examples of ethnic tension in the West (think of the legacy of two World Wars, the Holocaust, Stalin-era Communism, Yugoslavia). Why are are our Western conflicts not called “tribal”? Is it because we think of ourselves as “civilized” and of others (Africans, for example) as “primitive”? Gandhi was once asked what he thought of “Western civilization”; he said he thought it would be a good idea.
I want to close this newsletter with a note of thanks. So many people have written to assure us of prayer. Mission agencies and churches have offered financial help. We are very grateful and we are doing what we can to use what is given wisely. Please pray for those who are still fighting, for those who are grieving losses, and for those who are ‘running away’.
+Grant
Clothed with Inner beauty
~ Please Pray with us ~
For those caught in the crossfire in South Sudan
For those who have lost their homes
For those who have lost loved ones
For our churches as they minister to new refugees
For our churches as they minister to new refugees
For wisdom in the use of funds given to help refugees
For the Mothers’ Union teaching event Feb 5th &6th: “Nutrition: part 2”
For Johann & Louise Vanderbijl as they seek to raise funds to join us in our work in Gambella
Refugees at New Pinyadu before the newest influx from South Sudan
Showing off our new uniforms (After School Sports Program)
Small, bright and beautiful
Big News!
Big news in the Benton household! We are thrilled to announce the arrival of a new one in the coming months. sorry we have not been active on our blog, a few things including this have been occupying our time. But we are BACK!!! more updates to come. meanwhile, please pray for Summer and baby’s […]
Bishop Grant and Doctor Wendy 2014-01-09 09:07:00
Christmas 2013
*
“He is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14)
*As Christmas approaches, we are meeting the Prince of Peace in unexpected ways.
Three weeks ago, Anuak refugees, driven across the South Sudan / Ethiopia border by some Nuer cattle raiders, ended up in our congregation in Tiergol, where they were housed, fed and welcomed by – Nuer Christians!
Last week, our Dinka priest (who was serving that Nuer congregation in Tiergol) was in Gambella town for our clergy training days when fighting broke out in South Sudan. Although the dispute in South Sudan is political, it also has ethnic overtones. It became dangerous for our priest to return to Tiergol – or to remain in Gambella town where Dinka men are being threatened. Surrounded by the love and support of his fellow Nuer(!) clergy – he has been given transport and enough money to spend a couple of months with a Nuer family in Addis.
Also last week, it was with great joy that we watched as our Mothers’ Union representatives from Opo, surrounded by their sisters from other language groups sang a worship song, the whole group clapping and dancing, some joining in the singing despite language differences. And during the prayer practicum at the same Mothers’ Union gathering, it was a joy to see two translator / facilitators, whose people are traditional enemies, praying together.
This week, we’ve had two South Sudanese refugees staying on the compound, as they wait for papers which would allow them to travel to Addis Ababa. They had walked together through the night escaping fighting in a South Sudan border town and finally arriving at the Gambella Centre (which they were told would be the safest place). One was Nuer, one was Dinka.
Even as war looms, the Prince of Peace is present among His children here in Gambella. Peace, not as the world gives. Fighting evil, not as the world fights. Welcome, Lord Jesus. Welcome this Christmas.
Praying together
As Christmas approaches the events of the first Christmas seem to be echoed in life around us – Herods (more than one) slaughtering the innocents next door in South Sudan seems the most obvious example.
But we’ve also had visits from wise men (and women) recently, these ones coming from the west. A group from the UK (including Grant’s predecessor Andrew Proud and his wife Janice), together with a group from the US (including Johann and Louise Vanderbijl, SAMS USA missionaries who we hope will join us permanently here in Gambella). Both groups brought great gifts (no frankincense and myrrh) as they taught the clergy and the Mothers’ Union, did some repairs around the compound (thanks Pat) and (very importantly) as they shared life with and learned from our African sisters and brothers.
Protection
Not surprisingly, Grant did not wear his glasses into the shower (this omission being rather a habit with him). So when he looked down and saw the little lizard enjoying the tiny shower space with him, it was, well, share and share alike, and he left the little guy to bask in the cool water. It was only later, glasses once again in use, that he realized his ‘lizard’ buddy was actually a large scorpion. Uncanny, unexpected protection – as usual!
More Protection
It is the beginning of dry season. In Gambella, that also means that it is time to burn the grass and the bush that have grown during the rains. Last week it was time for the neighbours to set fire to the bush adjacent to our Centre. It quickly got out of control and threatened to set fire to our compound. Thankfully we had cleared a fire break next to our (fairly useless) wire fence, but this fire was big. Grant and one of our guards spent several hours making sure the fire didn’t destroy our gardens and buildings. The heat was intense and our little garden hose and hand tools weren’t much of a match for the flames, but “somehow” our property wasn’t damaged- can’t wait for a wall to keep out thieves, hyenas, feral dogs – and fire!
We are constantly aware that we have friends all over the world holding us in prayer. Thanks for that. Your love and prayers are certainly appreciated.
May the Peace of Jesus fill you all this Christmas season.
Grant & Wendy
*Nativity icon by Johann Vanderbijl
The Chaves Family in Siaya
Well, internet has been desperately slow, but we've managed to post a few things this month from beautiful Siaya: In front of a small patch of maize next to where we are staying. Small group bible study in Chianda. Expectant Lucy in front of banana...