---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "John Ashworth" <ashworth.j...@gmail.com> Date: Sep 22, 2017 07:34 Subject: [sudans-john-ashworth] Solution to the conflict in South Sudan lies with the Church To: "Group" <sudans-john-ashwo...@googlegroups.com> Cc:
"The solution to the conflict in South Sudan lies with committed Christians and the Church rather than the government or international community" 1. Peace in South Sudan requires Christians to follow the greatest commandment Posted on: September 20, 2017 1:26 PM Anglican Communion News Service The solution to the conflict in South Sudan lies with committed Christians and the Church rather than the government or international community, the archbishop of the internal province of Bahr el Ghazel has said. Writing in the September edition of Renewal, the province’s quarterly magazine, Archbishop Moses Deng Bol said that the peace would come when Christians acted out Jesus’ teaching on the greatest commandment in Luke Chapter 10. “According to Jesus my neighbour is anyone who is near me at anytime regardless of their tribe, race or colour, gender, age, height or size,” he said. “In Mathew 7:12 Jesus gave the answer to the question of how do I love my neighbour as myself in what is now known as the golden rule: ‘So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.’” He continued: “So the rule is that you use your own feelings to determine how you treat others. In other words before you do anything to someone else, you ask yourself what if that person was to do it to me, will I like it or not? If not then don’t do it to him or her because he or she will not like it too. If yes then do it because he or she will like it as well. “This is because all human beings are the same regardless of their tribe, race, colour or gender. This brings us to Genesis 1:26-27 which says that all human beings both male and female are created in God’s image.” The archbishop said: “the problem of South Sudan therefore is that many of us are Christians by name and by going to church on Sundays but we have not been taught to understand and obey Jesus teachings as he stated in the great commission in Mathew 28:16-end.” In his message, he wrote about a sermon he preached to village elders near the border of Nuer and Dinka land. “I asked the elders whether any of them would like the Nuer to come to his village and kill him, his wife and children, take his cows and burn his house. They all responded with a big NO. “Then I asked them who among you would like the Nuer to come to Toch (the swampy / grassing area where Nuer and Dinka herders meet during the dry season) stay peacefully performing their Nuer cultural dances and then say goodbye to the Dinka herders during the rainy season as they go back to their villages. All of them said that is what they wanted. “So I told them to do to the Nuer what they want the Nuer to do to them.” Afterwards, the village chief asked whether the same message was being preached to Nuer people on the other side of the border. “He said he believed that if the Nuer Bishop was preaching the same message to the Nuer as I was doing to the Dinkas it would take less than two years for the conflict between the Nuer and the Dinka communities to stop without any intervention of the police or army. “I told the Chief that I believed the Nuer Bishop was preaching the same message to the Nuer and I also believed that the conflict between the Nuer and the Dinka will stop within less than two years if Dinkas obeyed the commandment even if the Nuer Bishop was not preaching the same message on the other side. This is because I believe that Nuer will not attack Dinka villages more than three times if Dinkas were to defend themselves from their attack but not take revenge by attacking Nuer villages also.” The archbishop reiterated the call by the Episcopal Church of South Sudan for a “genuine and inclusive national dialogue . . . which we hope will address the root the causes of the conflict and find a way forward based on unity in diversity,” adding: “So our role as Christians therefore is to raise awareness among our communities of the importance of respecting the values of other communities if they want other communities to respect their values because this is what the great commandment is all about.” http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2017/09/peace-in-south- sudan-requires-christians-to-follow-the-greatest-commandment.aspx END1 2. War robs South Sudan youths of childhood, says [Catholic] bishops' leader Thursday, September 21, 2017 Catholic News Service War in South Sudan has robbed young people of their childhood and given them challenges unknown to their peers in most other countries, said the head of the Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference. "My heart breaks at the thought that your childhoods are being taken away from you daily, but I know that you have not lost your vision or your hope for a better future," Bishop Edward Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio, South Sudan, said in a Sept. 21 statement to mark International Day for Peace. The bishops' conference includes all dioceses in Sudan and South Sudan, which split in 2011, when South Sudan became the world's newest country. Barely three years after its independence from Sudan, a power struggle pitting President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, plunged South Sudan into civil war. The war has killed thousands, displaced nearly 1 million people, ignited a man-made famine and destroyed the country's economy. In South Sudan and Sudan, it is "necessary for us to stop awhile" and "invite peace into our hearts, because we have lost everything to wars," Bishop Kussala said. Addressing young people, the bishop said that in the past few years, he has had "the bittersweet privilege to witness how quickly you grew, and how quickly you matured." The killings and incessant fighting that have plagued South Sudan "have changed you," he said, noting that he feels young people's frustrations, which are evident on their faces, in their voices, in what they sing and in what they write on social media. "It takes a lot of courage to take the first step, where our parents and elders have, sadly, failed," Bishop Kussala said. "Unlike you, we are entrenched in our old habits, prejudices, hate, injustices, and even pettiness, and it is not easy to let go of our selfishness, for it is how we have been able to survive and preserve ourselves in these dark times," he said. "But now it is time to look forward and we, living in a small country, can do that together," he said. South Sudan has a population of 12 million people. A preparatory process is currently underway for the 2018 Synod of Bishops on "young people, faith and vocational discernment." http://www.cdom.org/CatholicDiocese.php?op=Article_War+robs+South+Sudan+ youths+of+childhood%2C+says+bishops+leader END2 ______________________ John Ashworth ashworth.j...@gmail.com +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +44 787 976 8030 (UK mobile) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) Skype: jashworth1 PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. 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