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Work starts on roof of St John's College Extension Our friends at St John's College, Wau have wasted no time in beginning construction of the roof of the new lecture rooms building. On 19th January: 2023 over £12,000 was sent sent by Poole-Wau Partnership. The college obtained an updated quotation for construction of the roof from their contractors on 14th February and by early March work on the roof was well under way. More than £20,000 has so far been raised for this project since our appeal was launched in January 2022. The dedicated Appeal page elsewhere on this website has more detailed news of the progress of this appeal, including photos of the roof under construction: https://www.poolewaupartnership.com/appeal.html Sudans Day 2023 On Saturday 18th March 2023, the annual Sudans Day organised by the Salisbury-Sudans Link took place at St. Francis’ Church, Salisbury. The excellent array of speakers included HE Agnes Oswaha, the South Sudan Ambassador to London; the Bishop of Salisbury; Dr. Anna Butchart, Deputy UK Special Representative to Sudan and South Sudan; Dr. Karen Mounce & Anne Salter of Sudans Medical Link who visited South Sudan in November 2022; Dr. Eeva John, of ECSSSUP a charity which supports the Episcopal University of the ECSS; and Sarah Musgrave, Lay Chair of Marlborough Deanery, which has just formed a partnership with the Diocese of Morobo. Poole-Wau Partnership took a display about our activities, including our support of the new building at St John's College, Wau. Date for 2023 Holes Bay Walk announced
Saturday 8th July 2023 has been announced as the date of the next Holes Bay Walk, our largest annual fundraising event. The 2022 walk raised a record £4,700 including Gift Aid. Money raised by this annual event is vital tol enable us to continue supporting St John's College Wau by paying the salaries of Theology teachers. Archbishop of Canterbury & Pope Francis make 'pilgrimage of peace' to South Sudan The Archbishop of Canterbury, Pope Francis, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland visited South Sudan together in a 'pilgrimage of peace' early in February 2023. The three church leaders met President Kiir and other members of the South Sudan government, as well as representatives of the churches, including Archbishop Moses. They also jointly led an open-air prayer vigil for peace attended by over 50,000 at the conclusion of the visit on 5th February. The passage from Acts Chapter 2 including the verse "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer" which was given to us by Archbishop Moses as the guiding passage for the Poole-Wau Partnership, was read at the service. Archbishop Welby told the assembled crowds, "Being a Christian draws us all into the fellowship of believers. It does not matter that we are from different countries, different tribes, different churches. My dear brothers, Pope Francis and Moderator Iain, we hear as your family, your fellowship, to be with you and share in the knowledge of your suffering. We have travelled on this Pilgrimage of Peace in a way that has not been done before. Because we love South Sudan." The visit was originally due to take place in July 2022, but had to be postponed because of the Pope's mobility issues. The full text of Archbishop Welby's speech may be found here: https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/speaking-writing/speeches/archbishop-justins-address-ecumenical-prayer-peace-vigil-south-sudan A large gallery of photos from the visit may be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lambethpalace/sets/72177720305754963/ Reports on the visit from The Church Times may be read here: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2023/10-february/news/world/welby-speaks-of-grief-that-the-promise-of-peace-was-broken-in-south-sudan https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2023/10-february/news/world/archbishop-of-canterbury-concludes-south-sudan-visit-with-plea-for-unity-and-peace Sue Walkden It is with great sadness and grief that we learnt of the sudden passing of Dr Susan Walkden, PWP's Prayer Secretary. Sue died at home on Sunday 23rd October having been at St Luke’s Church Parkstone in the morning. She did have a number of longstanding health issues and had been less well in recent months, but her going from us was a huge shock. Sue was for the past seven years a vital member of the Poole-Wau Partnership, a dedicated committee member and Prayer Secretary. Archbishop Moses Deng Bol sent this tribute: "Sue has been a very key member of PWP and her passing on will leave a huge vacuum in the partnership specially in the area of prayer. Prayer is the glue that holds the four activities together and Sue was responsible for it. The partnership will indeed miss her dedicated service greatly. May her soul rest in eternal peace." Rev Chris Strain will be acting as Prayer Secretary for the time being. See our Upcoming Events page for details of Prayer Meetings: https://www.poolewaupartnership.com/events.html South Sudan bishops' visit to Poole a joyous success We were delighted to welcome six Bishops from South Sudan to Poole Deanery from 8th to 12th August 2022. A report on the visit and a gallery of photos from the week may be found on this dedicated webpage:: https://www.poolewaupartnership.com/bishops-visit.html |
Above: Dr Diana Joseph. Wau Hospital project Health Initiative South Sudan, a charity based in Germany, took a team to Wau Hospital in March. It was led by Dr Diana Joseph, who is the niece of PWP supporter Helen Chauncy's husband. There used to be a link between Poole Hospital and Wau Hospital (https://pooleafricalink.org.uk ), but because of the security situation Poole Hospital has not sent a team to Wau since 2013 and have been sending teams to a hospital in Uganda since then. So it is encouraging to hear that Dr Joseph’s organisation is involved with Wau Hospital. Find out more about Health Initiative South Sudan here: https://health-initiative-south-sudan.org/homepage Two successful missions to Wau The organisations Rooted in Jesus and Flame International both undertook missions to Wau in October and November 2022. Rooted in Jesus is an interactive group course in Christian discipleship designed for use in Africa, the only material of its kind written specially for the use of ordinary African Christians. 85 people attended the conference, which ran for four days. A lifetime of civil war isn’t good for morale, pastors are not paid for their ministry, and food insecurity saps the spirit. The team sensed spiritual weariness but by the second day something of a breakthrough had been achieved, with a powerful sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit. One of the leaders, Barry Blackford, writes: “As we were praying the Spirit down after the morning teaching it felt right to ask Bishop Peter to give his testimony. It was very powerful & the Spirit poured down in power …This continued into the evening ministry session where ... most were touched by the Spirit and praised God out loud, often in tongues.” At the end of the conference, 79 people were commissioned to lead groups on their return home. The team went on to run another similar conference in Tonj Diocese. A more detailed report on the mission to Wau may be found here: https://rootedinjesus.blog/2022/11/21/rooted-in-jesus-returns-to-south-sudan/ Meanwhile in November Flame International, a UK-based charity with a vision to see people set free from the pain and trauma of war, terror and oppression took a team of 7 to Wau to run a 3-day conference and workshop for 50 Chaplains, officers and soldiers from the South Sudan Army, and a 5-day Trauma Healing Conference and Workshop for 52 Pastors, Mothers union and Youth leaders. The team also preached on forgiveness in several churches in Wau Diocese. The team stayed in the ECSS Guest House in Wau, which was built with the help of the Poole-Wau Partnership between 2012 and 2016. They report that, "although basic, it was very good. It was ideal for our purposes, and we were very well served." It is encouraging to hear that the Guest House is still in good order and being put to effective use. Read more about these two organisation here: http://www.rootedinjesus.net https://www.flameinternational.org Below: Group photo taken at the Rooted in Jesus conference in Wau 
Fourth year of severe flooding causes humanitarian crisis in South Sudan
We have received an update from Peter Akook, Executive Director of the Rural Development Committee Initiative, based in Wau, about worsening conditions in South Sudan. 2022 has been a very difficult year and conditions have been badly affected by climate, conflict and economic shocks, the effects of COVID-19, and inter-tribal and gender-based violence. Peter writes that “Prolonged flooding, due to abnormal rainfall, impacts agriculture and intensifies existing vulnerabilities of affected people. The cumulative impact of recurrent flooding also contributes to the destruction and damage to water facilities and limits access to basic services including health and education.” Continued conflict and instability in the country combined with extensive flooding for the fourth year running have resulted in large-scale internal and cross-border displacement. Over two million people are internally displaced and an additional 2.3 million South Sudanese remain refugees hosted in neighbouring countries. Deteriorating humanitarian protection concerns remain high, with people impacted by violence having limited access to justice and the rule of law. It is estimated that over two-thirds of South Sudan’s 8.9 million people are dependent on humanitarian assistance being provided by international organisations, such as the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the World Food Programme (see the links below for more on the work of these organisations in South Sudan). https://unmiss.unmissions.org https://www.wfp.org/stories/south-sudans-road-out-hunger https://www.tearfund.org/about-us/our-impact/where-we-work/south-sudan 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://wau.anglican.org/renewal-magazine/ 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 working in South Sudan: Anglican International Development: www.anglicaninternationaldevelopment.org CRESS UK (Christian Relief and Education for South Sudan): https://cressuk.org/blog/ 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 |
