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2022 Holes Bay Walk raises a record £4,700!
Our largest annual fundraising event, the 2022 Holes Bay Walk, raised £4,238, which will grow to approximately £4,700 when Gift Aid has been claimed from HM Treasury.  This is the largest amount the walk has ever raised.
Many thanks to all our supporters who braved the very hot weather on Saturday 9th July 2022 to take part, and to those who sponsored the walkers so generously. This wonderful amount will enable us to continue supporting St John's College Wau by paying the salaries of Theology teachers.

PWP Prayer Meetings to go international
Our first International Prayer Meeting will take place on Zoom at 1230 on Monday 3rd October 2022. We are hoping that some of our friends in Wau will be joining us so that we can pray together for our partnership. This initiative came out of a business meeting between the Trustees of PWP and the bishops from Northern Bahr el Ghazal Province while they were visiting us in Poole in August. Do join us for this exciting new development. Joining instructions may be found on our 'Upcoming Events' page: https://www.poolewaupartnership.com/upcoming-events.html
This first meeting will be something of an experiment, but if the technology works reliably we anticipate that this will become a regular event.

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.
Our long-standing friend Archbishop Moses Deng Bol of Northern Bahr el Ghazal Province and his wife Elizabeth Ajok Chan led the visit. Also with us were Bishop Joseph Mamer of Wanyjok and his wife Rev. Clarice Achieng Owino, Bishop Peter Jonathan Beria of Wau and his wife Janet, Bishop Peter Garang Akuei of Nyamlel and his wife Roda Ayen Martin Maker​, Bishop Peter Marial Agok of Malek Rip and Bishop Peter Gatbel Kunen Lual of Maiwut.
Visits between our two communities were always intended to be one of the main features of Poole Deanery’s Partnership with Wau Diocese. The civil war in South Sudan and more recently the Covid pandemic has made such visits increasingly difficult for several years, so we were overjoyed to welcome our South Sudanese visitors.
Midweek services at St Michael's Hamworthy, St George's Oakdale and St Dunstan's Upton were well attended. Bishops were divided between the three churches and the services all featured interviews with them, with coffee and informal chat afterwards.
The Question-&-Answer Evening on Thursday 11th August at St James' Church Poole was a highlight of the week, with some 55 people able to question the bishops on a variety of aspects of their ministry in South Sudan. This meeting was recorded on video and may be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64bRgGxwrW4
A business meeting between the Northern Bahr el Ghazal bishops and the PWP committee members was a rare opportunity to discuss the future of our Partnership, with some exciting developments agreed.
A full programme of visits and events gave the bishops an opportunity to sample many different aspects of life in Poole: including a swim in the sea at Sandbanks, the work of Street Pastors, Routes-to-Roots' new centre, a concert at St James' Church, fireworks on the Quay and a boat trip around Poole Harbour, as well as many more informal gatherings.
There is no doubt that the visit has been a joyous success, which has strengthened our links with our brothers and sisters in Wau.
A gallery of photos from the week may be found here:  https://www.poolewaupartnership.com/bishops-visit.html

Archbishop Justin visits Wau
On 29th May 2022, the Primate of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, Archbishop Justin Badi Arama, visited Wau (see photo, right). Welcomed by Archbishop Moses, Hon. Sarah Cleto, Governor of Western Bahr El Ghazal State, and other church and government leaders, Archbishop Justin presided over the 5th Graduation Ceremony of St John’s College, Wau.
​Archbishop Justin is Chancellor of the Episcopal University, of which St John’s is a member. 
​
2022 St John's Extension Appeal Progress
Stage One of our 2022 Appeal was completed in March 2022, when £8,000 was sent to St John's College, Wau, to build the walls of the new building, which are nearing completion in August 2022. £3,300 has so far been raised towards the next target of £11,500 for the roof.
The dedicated 2022 Appeal page elsewhere on this website has more detailed news of the progress of this appeal, including photos of the walls under construction:
https://www.poolewaupartnership.com/2022-appeal.html

Liz McMillan
We received the sad news that Liz McMillan died on 28th April. She was a Trustee and Secretary of the Poole-Wau Partnership in the years after its foundation in 2011. She had to give this up when she was seriously injured in a car accident, but the advent of Zoom enabled her to reconnect with us for prayer meetings, and with church services, and she was able to come to our Prayer Meeting at St George's Oakdale on 4th April. She died in hospital following an operation that she knew might prove fatal. Please pray for her sister, Sue, and brother Ian.
An appreciation of Liz appeared in Newsletter 55 published on 21st July, which can be viewed on the Newsletter page of this website (to reach this click on 'More...' at the top right of this page and then click on 'Newsletter' from the drop-down menu.)

Wanyjok humanitarian aid emergency appeal closes: donations total £4675
News of an attack by Misseriya tribesmen from across the border in Sudan on two villages in Wanyjok Diocese, Warguet and Yith Pabol, reached PWP on Thursday 6th January from Bishop Joseph Mamer of Wanyjok. At least 28 people were killed and over 50 homes and a church were burned down. 
Less than 24 hours after a request for support had been sent out by e-mail to PWP supporters, £3,000 had been donated, an amazing response, and this amount was transferred to Archbishop Moses on Wednesday 12th January for this urgently needed humanitarian aid. 
Archbishop Moses with several other Bishops from Northern Bahr el Ghazal Internal Province used the money sent by PWP, and also by another charity, the Barnabas Fund, to buy supplies of food in Wanyjok town on Thursday 13th January. They visited the affected area on Friday 14th, and distributed the food to nearly 1000 households made homeless by the attack (see photo, right).
Bishop Joseph writes, "On behalf of the Diocese of Wanyjok, and the affected populations , I would like to extend our sincere appreciation and gratitude to our Christian friends in Poole and beyond for standing with us in solidarity after such barbaric killings in Yith Pabol and areas around it."
When this appeal closed at the end of February 2022, a further £1675 had been donated and was sent to Archbishop Moses in March towards the continuing needs of those in the Yith Pabol area, which include material to build shelters, medicines and clean drinking water.

Above: Rev. Lucy Holt, Rural Dean of Poole, with our visitors from South Sudan, August 2022.
Below: Archbishop Justin Badi Arama arrives at Wau Airport, 29th May 2022.

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
 
Organisations working 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/
CRESS UK (Christian Relief and Education for South Sudan):  https://cressuk.org/blog/
UNMISS (United Nations Mission in South Sudan):  https://unmiss.unmissions.org

Mission planned to Wau in October after successful mission to Aweil & Wanyjok
Two Rooted in Jesus conferences took place in November 2021 in the Dioceses of Aweil and Wanyjok, both parts of the church’s Northern Bahr al Ghazal province. Joseph Mamer, formerly Principal of St John’s College Wau, is Bishop of Wanyjok. ​Rooted in Jesus is in the early stages of planning to send a similar mission to Wau and Tonj in October 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.
The lifting of restrictions on international travel in October allowed the long-planned trip to take place. More than 200 men and women were trained to lead Rooted in Jesus discipleship groups, and a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit left many saying their lives had been changed for good.
Read more about the successful mission to Aweil and Wanyjok here: https://rootedinjesus.blog .

River transport between Sudan & S.Sudan reopens
At the end of May 2022, the Sudanese and South Sudanese governments jointly announced the reopening of river transport between their two countries. The Nile used to be an important trade route, but it has been closed to transport at the Sudanese border since the independence of South Sudan in 2011.
The agreement is a sign of improving relations between the two countries in recent months and could lead to a revival in trade and communication to the benefit of both peoples.
Read more on this story here https://sudantribune.com/article259580/ ​