November 12, 2010
By Matthew Davies

International partners committed to the welfare of Sudan and its Episcopal Church gathered in Juba Nov. 5-7 to reaffirm their unwavering support for the country's future and to discuss possible scenarios following the upcoming referendum on independence.

Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul addressed the partners, who were joined by bishops and other Episcopal Church of Sudan leaders, about his vision for the future of Sudan and his desire for long-term commitment to development as the church anticipates the Jan. 9 vote when southerners are expected to choose secession from the Islamic north and become a separate country.

Recommendations presented at the partners meeting include measures to bolster the Episcopal Church of Sudan's provincial structure, transparency and accountability of the church's finances, and commitments to education, agriculture and health-care services, the Rev. Petero Sabune, Africa partnership officer for the U.S.-based Episcopal Church, told ENS.

Despite the looming uncertainty surrounding the referendum and the threat of recurring instability, Sabune said there was "no sense of doom and gloom," at the partners meeting, adding that he left Juba with the "sense that this is a very exciting church."

The referendum is one of the major terms of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed in 2005 by the two warring parties – Sudan People's Liberation Movement in the south and the north's Khartoum-based Government of Sudan. The CPA ended a 21-year civil war – fought by the Arab and Muslim north and rebels in the Christian-animist south – that killed more than 2 million people and displaced an estimated 7 million more.

The CPA also calls for equitable sharing of oil revenues between north and south, fair demarcation of north-south boundaries, and resolution of citizenship issues.

The partners meeting in Juba discussed various best-case and worst-case scenarios for post-referendum Sudan and the Episcopal Church, which includes about 4 million members, is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in southern Sudan and, as such, is strategically placed to serve its people.

"What if there is war and what if the country splits? Do we prepare for massive refugees from the north to the south?" Sabune said. "What happens to the church, are we going back to the time of war, burning of churches, rape, massacres et cetera? It was a very sobering discussion to contemplate what could happen." But Sabune said the discussions always were grounded with a sense of hope.

John Ashworth, Sudan advisor for Catholic Relief Services and Sudan Ecumenical Forum, addressed the partners about the impending refugee crisis of some 4 million southern Sudanese returning from the north following the referendum.

Debra Morris Smith, an American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan board member from the Diocese of Missouri, told ENS: "I'm not sure what resources we can marshal to help avert a returnee crisis before it occurs; usually relief aid starts arriving after the crisis occurs, but I hate to think we are going to have to let the northern government inflict the threatened suffering on southerners in the north before we can do anything about it."

Also attending the meeting were representatives from Episcopal Relief & Development, Church Mission Society, the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury and the U.K.-based Sudan Church Association. Among the Sudanese bishops present were Bernard Balmoi of Torit, John Zawo of Ezo, and Anthony Pogo of Kajo Keji.

Representing AFRECS were its president, Suffragan Bishop David Jones of Virginia; and its executive director, Richard Parkins. Episcopal Relief & Development was represented by Janette O'Neill, who chaired the meeting, held at the ECS guest house in Juba.

Episcopal Relief & Development continues to sponsor an integrated development program that focuses on education, capacity building, vocational skills, primary health care, and food security in most of the ECS dioceses.

The Episcopal Church's long-standing support for Sudan also is evident through its companion diocese relationships, which include partnerships between Albany (New York) with the Province of Sudan, Bethlehem (Pennsylvania) with Kajo Keji, Chicago with Renk, Indianapolis with Bor, Missouri with Lui, Rhode Island with Ezo, Southwestern Virginia with the Province of Sudan, and Virginia with the Province of Sudan.

In recent months, the Episcopal Church has stepped up its solidarity and advocacy for its Sudanese partners, "which we believe has made a difference in terms of how many churches and groups have picked up Sudan issues and are responding to our season of prayer," said Sabune.

In mid-September, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori called on Episcopalians to observe "A Season of Prayer for Sudan." Acknowledging Sudan's fragile state following decades of civil war, Jefferts Schori said that the Episcopal Church can stand in solidarity "with our brothers and sisters in Sudan as we enter a season of preparation by prayer, study, and action."

Smith said she came away from the partners meeting with a renewed sense of the importance of the presiding bishop's call for a season of prayer coupled with a need for continuing direct advocacy with elected U.S. officials in the lead up to the referendum and beyond.

"Depending on what happens in the next few months, we may find it difficult to travel to and in Sudan, so this gathering of partners to express not only solidarity but concrete financial commitments was probably an important moment for ECS," she told ENS.

Following the partners meeting, Smith visited her companion Diocese of Lui.

"For me there's a wonderful symmetry between the partners' conference in Juba and the work we're doing in Lui," she said, noting that in both instances several international partners were sitting down with Sudanese church leaders to talk about relationships and mutual priorities. "The outstanding feature of our trip is this international showing of solidarity and transparency."

Smith said she was "very impressed with the depth of knowledge and commitment [the] partners … bring to ECS, and equally impressed with the articulation of priorities and concerns by the heads of departments within ECS."

The partners meeting came two weeks after Deng and an ecumenical delegation concluded an advocacy and awareness campaign in the United States where they met with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. government officials.

During that visit, Deng had raised concerns about the delays in registering voters for the Jan. 9 referendum.

Sabune told ENS that the partners heard about how the Jimmy Carter Center in Atlanta is now assisting with voter registration, making sure that peacekeepers are on the ground and that there are no delays to the referendum.

Episcopal News Service
Matthew Davies is editor and international correspondent of the Episcopal News Service.