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Liz McMillan We have received the sad news that Liz McMillan (right) 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. This news came too late for inclusion in May’s Newsletter 54, but we will publish a longer appreciation of Liz in Newsletter 55 in July. South Sudan bishops to visit Salisbury Diocese after Lambeth Conference It is hoped that Archbishop Moses and other bishops from South Sudan will be able to visit Poole from 8th to 12th August 2022. Details are still to be finalised, but the Salisbury-Sudans Link Committee is working on a plan to enable the bishops to visit the diocese and linked deaneries including Poole and North Bournemouth after the Lambeth Conference. More details to follow. 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 57 homes and some churches were burned down (see photo, below right). 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 eight 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. 2022 St John's Extension Appeal Progress On Tuesday 4th January 2022, PWP launched its first Appeal since 2019, with an e-mail to our supporters and to the 21 churches in the Poole and North Bournemouth Deanery. The dedicated 2022 Appeal page elsewhere on this website has news of the progress of this appeal: https://www.poolewaupartnership.com/2022-appeal.html Bishop Joseph warns of desertification Jospeh Mamer, Bishop of Wanyjok diocese, has warned of the dangers of desertification. He has expressed concern about increasing levels of tree and grass cutting in the area, which has led to unusual windy and dusty weather being experienced in the past few months. The United Nations Mission Field office in Aweil donated over twenty-five trees to the diocese as part the Mission’s civic engagement program to encourage afforestation Click this link to hear Bishop Joseph talking about this issue on Radio Miraya: https://audioboom.com/posts/8035293-clergyman-concerned-over-rising-deforestation-in-wanyjok-northern-bahr-el-gazel C4 reports on vaccine inequality in South Sudan On 25th March, the Channel 4 current affairs series ‘Unreported World’ looked at vaccine inequality in the world using South Sudan as an example. Filmed in various regions of the country, the programme described some of South Sudan's problems very well and showed what some of the country really looks like. The programme is currently available on Channel 4's streaming service, All4. You will need to register with the service watch the programme, but it is free: www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/on-demand/73583-001 South Sudan government to establish Truth & Reconciliation Commission A crucial element in the 2018 peace agreement moved a step closer on 31st March 2022, when the South Sudan government announced public consultation on the establishment of a Truth, Reconciliation and Healing Commission. It is expected that the commission would be established within a month of the start of consultation on 5th April. The Commission will investigate human rights violations during South Sudan's civil war and is an important part of the transitional justice mechanisms called for in the agreement which ended the war in 2018. More on this story here: radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/govt-to-launch-public-consultation-for-establishment-of-truth-commission-next-week |
Above: Liz McMillan, former Trustee and Secretary of PWP.
Below: Distribution of humanitarian aid in Yith Pabol, Wanyjok Diocese, 14th January 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 . |
