Parish houses and bicycles for Maridi!
Bishop Harold has presented CMS Ireland with a cheque for £4000 to be used in the Diocese of Maridi in South Sudan. This will be enough to build two parish houses, allowing the clergy to live among the people whom they serve.
The gift is the Diocesan 0.7% Missionary Allocation, assigned to Maridi by the Down and Dromore Council for Mission.
The Diocese of Down and Dromore and Albany Diocese, are in a three–way partnership with the Church in South Sudan and news has just come through that the first of two parish houses funded by Albany is complete. Bishop Justin has confirmed that in the coming weeks a total of four out of a target of twenty will have been built since the META team’s visit in October 2012.
The construction of the houses, which will not become personal property, is being shared approximately 50/50 between the two dioceses. The people of Maridi are committed to providing sand, aggregate for the foundation, making the bricks and wood for the roof. Down and Dromore and Albany have undertaken to provide iron sheets for the roof, cement and the costs of labour.
The cheque presentation took place on 19 March at a preview screening of a set of short Maridi videos which will be made available after Easter to Parishes here and also in Albany to promote the partnership with Maridi.
The Bishop is pictured right with David Gough of CMS Ireland who also announced the recent purchase of seven bikes for clergy and parish workers. The bikes are vital for getting around Maridi Diocese and were bought with donations from both Down and Dromore and Albany.