New Bible Society in South Sudan
Please pray for the emerging Bible Society in South Sudan, a country with which the Diocese of Down and Dromore is linked through its partnership with Maridi Diocese.
A recent email from Edward Kajivora (acting General Secretary) is very encouraging… “Thanks a lot for understanding our struggle in promoting the word of God in this part of the world. It is really not easy to start something from scratch with no resources, but our trust is in the Lord…”
The Bible Society in South Sudan was formed at the beginning of this year when the country split from the North. They are currently working from a warehouse where they began with no Scriptures at all. The Bible Societies in Uganda and Kenya both donated 500 English Bibles which were all distributed within three weeks.
English is the official language and all schools operate in English beyond Primary 4, so most people can speak English comfortably. About 4 million South Sudanese migrated to Khartoum in the North during the war and they are now being returned to South Sudan. These people are Arabic speaking, and so use Arabic Bibles. At the same time there are Arabic–speaking people from the Nuba Mountains and Darfur who have been pushed to South Sudan by the ongoing war. This is a wonderful opportunity to share God’s Word with these people who may not have been exposed to Christianity.
Please pray that Arabic Bibles will be made available and that they will be well received.
Pray that the Holy Spirit will speak into the hearts of these people who have become war refugees.
“Please continue to pray for us so that God will bless the work of the Bible Society in this region,” asks Edward.
(With thanks to The Bible Society in Northern Ireland)