PWP conference on Luke's Gospel a successful event
In a first for the Poole-Wau Partnership, a Teaching Event on St Luke's Gospel on Saturday 18th October 2025 (appropriately the feast day of St Luke) attracted 40 participants from several Poole Deanery churches to St Michael’s Church, Hamworthy. Based on the 3-day conference presented at St John’s College, Wau, South Sudan in February 2025, but shortened to fit into one day, the conference had a South Sudanese flavour, with music and slides from our visit to Wau, as well as substantial teaching from Luke's gospel. The programme was as follows:
South Sudan's vice-president Machar charged with treason On 11th September 2025, Vice-President Riek Machar and seven high-ranking supporters were charged with treason, murder and crimes against humanity. The power-sharing agreement between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar which dates from the peace agreement of 2018 has been threatened this year by clashes between their allied forces in Upper Nile state in the north-Eastern part of South Sudan. Machar and a number of his supporters were put under house arrest in late March, and the decision to charge them with such serous crimes is deeply worrying. More details may be found on this link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c07vkln2ezro Although both the EU and Kenya's President William Ruto have offered to mediate in an effort to prevent a slide into renewed civil war, these developments represent a breakdown in the 2018 peace agreement and raise fears that South Sudan is slipping into a similar state of civil war which has gripped Sudan for the past two and a half years. There have even been suggestions that the civil war in Sudan and renewed internal strife in South Sudan could combine to produce a horrifying regional conflict, as this article explains: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/3/29/sudans-war-risks-merging-with-conflict-in-south-sudan-say-analysts Archbishop Moses Deng Bol, in his capacity as a Peace Envoy representing churches in South Sudan, has been taking part in peace talks which have been going on in Nairobi for months. Please keep praying for these talks and for Moses as he continues to work for peace and greater trust between different groups. £1000 raised in one afternoon On Sunday 22nd June, there were two culinary events in aid of the Poole-Wau Partnership. PWP Committee member Jan Davies offered cream teas at St Michael's, Hamworthy (see photo above) and found plenty of takers, raising an impressive £245. Meanwhile, long-standing PWP supporter Judy Hudsonand her team, for the second time this year, sold her famous jams and chutneys, as well as teas and cakes, at an Open Garden event in Western Avenue, raising some £750. Many thanks to Jan, Judy and all who helped, attended and contributed to these events, raising between them the marvellous total of £1000 for PWP's work in Wau Diocese. PWP funds seed distribution to flood victims in Aweil villages In late 2024, serious floods drove many people in parts of Warrup state and Wanyjok Diocese from their homes, and the Poole-Wau Partnership was able to send a total of £2350, raised by a short-term emergency appeal, towards relief efforts for people affected by these floods, as reported in Newsletter 68. Part of this was used by Peter Akook, Director of the Rural Development Committee, based in Aweil, to buy seeds to enable the people in villages near Aweil to sow for this year's crops. PWP has been able to make a small additional grant from general funds in May 2025 to cover the transport of this seed to the affected villages ready for sowing. We heard from Peter Akook on 24th May that the delivery and distribution of seed has taken place, as the photograph below shows: "Each full sack of both sorghum and groundnuts," Peter writes,"was divided between six households, so that a household received five malous (tins). 120 households (a composition of 600 family members) have received the seeds with gratitude and prayers for PWP to win more supporters in the combat of poverty." 
|
Abraham replaces Moses as Archbishop of Northern Bahr el-Ghazal Province
Abraham Yel Nhial, formerly Bishop of Aweil, (pictured above) has replaced Moses Deng Bol as Archbishop of Northern Bahr el-Ghazal Internal Province and Bishop of Wau Diocese. He was enthroned in a well-attended ceremony in the cathedral compound in Wau on Sunday 24th August 2025. We were delighted to get to know Abraham, who looked after us with great kindness during our visit to Wau in February 2025, and we look forward to working with him in his new role as Archbishop of Northern Bahr el-Ghazal for years to come. The first part of a short account of Archbishop Abraham's remarkable life is published in the September 2025 issue of our newsletter, which may be found at https://www.poolewaupartnership.com/newsletter.html Moses, who, as Bishop of Wau and then Archbishop, has been our main contact in South Sudan ever since PWP was founded, is to continue his role as a Peace Envoy representing the South Sudan Council of Churches on a permanent basis. Abraham has been acting Archbishop for over a year now, so the new appointment is making permanent an arrangement which has so far been temporary. When his appointment was announced, Archbishop-Elect Abraham sent this message to PWP: "I will build on the foundation laid down by Archbishop Moses Deng, to strengthen the Church and support the community and the nation of South Sudan. The Church in NBGIP has a vital role to play to serve the people of South Sudan. Please continue praying for us. And pass my greeting to all our brothers and sisters in Christ at Poole Deanery. May our loving God continue blessing our Kingdom partnership more abundantly." Conflict in Sudan [Last update: 30/10/25] The continuing civil war in Sudan, now in its third year, has created what is often labelled the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, yet much of the British media pays little attention to it. An honourable exception to this is The Guardian, which often includes up-to-date articles on Sudan and the plight of refugees, such as an article published on 2nd October 2025, which mentions Wau. Suba Dafallah, the main individual featured, fled from Nyala in Sudan when his mother and two sisters were shot dead by RSF paramilitaries and is now in a refugee camp at Renk in South Sudan, but his aim is to get to Wau, where his mother originally came from and where he can live with two uncles. You can read it here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/02/refugees-recall-horrors-of-sudan-civil-war The capture by the RSF (Rapid Support Forces) of the city of El Fasher in North Darfur in October 2025 has been followed by the massacre of hundreds of civilians including nursing staff and patients at El Fasher South hospital. Are details of this horrific atrocity: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/oct/30/they-killed-civilians-in-their-beds-chaos-and-brutality-reign-after-fall-of-el-fasher Canon Ian Woodward, Chair of the Salisbury-Sudans Link, frequently posts bulletins on the diocesan website with up to date news from Sudan and South Sudan. Here is a link to his latest report: https://www.salisbury.anglican.org/supportforparishes/communications/news/the-future-of-sudan-is-precarious-news-from-our-link-diocese.php These sources, which are frequently updated, have more about the crisis in Sudan and its effects on South Sudan: https://unrefugees.org.uk/learn-more/news/news/humanitarian-crisis-in-sudan-latest-news/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/sudan https://unmiss.unmissions.org/ https://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/World+News/Africa/South+Sudan PWP visit to Wau Six Trustees and committee members of the Poole-Wau Partnership visited Wau from 2nd to 12th February 2025, the first such visit for seven years. The group consisted of our Chair Jeff Neagle, Jan Davies, Rev. Penny Draper, Andrew Holt, Mark Rathbone and Richard Tazewell. The busy programme included a three-day training conference for students and church leaders based on St Luke’s gospel and the opening ceremony of the new Poole-Wau Partnership Building at St John’s College. More details and a gallery of photos are available on the 'Wau Visit' page of this website - just click on this link: https://www.poolewaupartnership.com/wau-visit.html St John's College's new building opens The final stage in the construction of the new building at St John's College, painting the roof, was still going on when the PWP group arrived in Wau, but all was ready by Saturday 8th February when the opening ceremony of The Poole-Wau Partnership Building took place. There are more photos of the new building and the opening ceremony on the 'Wau Visit' page of this website - just click on this link: https://www.poolewaupartnership.com/wau-visit.html Links to find out more about South Sudan
News Organisations: Sudan Tribune: https://sudantribune.com Radio Tamazuj: https://radiotamazuj.org/en Eye Radio: https://eyeradio.org Associated Press: https://apnews.com/hub/south-sudan The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/south-sudan BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=South+Sudan Radio Miraya: https://audioboom.com/channel/radiomiraya News Now: https://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/World+News/Africa/South+Sudan Regular publications: Diocese of Salisbury Sudans Link, including quarterly Salisbury-Sudans Link Bulletin: https://www.salisbury.anglican.org/mission/the-sudan-link Renewal Magazine: https://anglican.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=bc17f2b699f53a98ce265ecab&id=69d5549620 The Church Association for Sudan and South Sudan, including twice-yearly Sudan Church Review: https://www.casss.org.uk AFRECS (American Friends of the Episcopal Church of the Sudans), including fortnightly E-Blast: https://afrecs.org Church organisations in South Sudan: St John’s College Wau: https://stjohnscollegewau.org South Sudan Council of Churches: https://sscchurches.org The Epicopal Church of South Sudan: https://southsudan.anglican.org ECSS Northern Bahr El Ghazal province: https://www.facebook.com/northerbahrelghazal/ International organisations and charities working in South Sudan: Anglican International Development: www.anglicaninternationaldevelopment.org CRESS UK (Christian Relief and Education for South Sudan): https://cressuk.org/blog/ ECSSSUP (UK-based charity supporting The Episcopal University of South Sudan, of which St John's College Wau is a constituent institution): https://www.ecsssup.org/copy-of-home Health Initiative South Sudan: https://health-initiative-south-sudan.org/homepage TEAR Fund: https://www.tearfund.org/about-us/our-impact/where-we-work/south-sudan UNMISS (United Nations Mission in South Sudan): https://unmiss.unmissions.org World Food Programme: https://www.wfp.org/stories/south-sudans-road-out-hunger ECSSSUP: https://www.ecsssup.org/copy-of-home |
