Team from St John’s Moira forge Sudan partnership
A team from St John’s Parish in Moira recently returned safely from a two–week visit to their linked Diocese of Ibba in South Sudan.
Parish members Diane Graham, Billy Smyth, Simon Henry and Dennis Christie were joined by David Gough of CMS Ireland for the trip.
This area of South Sudan has seen a considerable amount of war over the past 20 years and is only now looking forward to rebuilding their community during a time of relative peace in the country.
After receiving a heart–warming welcome by Bishop Wilson Kamani and the people of Ibba on their arrival to the area, the team visited a number of Archdeaconry areas within the Diocese, meeting with the various ministry teams, Mothers Union groups and youth groups.
They faced a number of challenges during their visit, not least the level of need they witnessed on the ground, with many areas suffering from malnutrition, poor access to clean water and sanitation and inadequate hospital or health clinic facilities. Having just emerged from war, in this region, as with much of South Sudan, many have also lost out on receiving any formal educational training.
The team worked through their busy and varied programme including general health and hygiene training for mothers, teaching at the local development training centre and school, working with staff at the Ibba health clinic, installing electrical wiring and solar powered systems, liaising with local youth groups, and even carrying out some emergency mechanical work on the only jeep in the village. Working closely with the local people was a very rewarding and encouraging process, and it was the building of relationships through this programme that was the main goal of the trip.
The team felt truly blessed and protected throughout their visit, and felt very close to God both individually and as a group. The daily morning worship and evening devotions had a deep impact on the team and set an inspirational example of how we, in the developed country, need to lean more heavily on God and devote more heartfelt time to God as part of our daily rhythm.
St John’s Moira, who have been working hard raising funds for the trip over the past year, are now looking forward to implementing a joint strategy with the Ibba Diocese that will offer a lasting and sustainable support to this part of Africa.
More details and pictures on the trip can be found on our team’s blog on the CMS website
here
View photos of Sudan and other summer 2012 mission trips from around the diocese.