Today I would like to speak about Southern Sudan.
One year ago at this time I had just returned from a journey to help build a school in the area of Gordim, South Sudan.
The congregation of Knox was most supportive of my venture and since returning I have enjoyed the opportunities to speak to a number of groups about the trip.
My point today is to speak of the situation in Sudan, describe our journey and address the incredible level of faith in God that is held by the peoples of this country while the obstacles they face could make life seemingly hopeless.
Our scripture lesson in Psalm 111 speaks to our need to have faith in the Lord and be steadfast in our belief in him.
This trip and what I witnessed have shown me how strong can be the Christian faith of an oppressed people.
When seemingly all hope was lost the people of South Sudan have clung to their faith in God.
To understand the situation in South Sudan it is important to know a bit about the history of the country.
1. Sudan is the 10th largest country in the world by area.
2. Sudan is the largest country on the continent of Africa.
3. Sudan has a population estimated by a 2006 U.N. census of 37 million people, making it the 33rd largest country in the world, by population.
Historically speaking
In 1820 Sudan was conquered and under the control of the Egyptians and became a source of ivory and slaves.
In the 1890’s Britian sought to control Sudan after several years and a series of battles Sudan became a colony of Great Britian.
You may recall the works of Rudyard Kipling writing of the exploits against the Mahdi of the British Commanders, Gordon and Kitchener in Sudan.
From 1924 until Sudan gained independence from Britian in 1956 the British had a policy of running Sudan as essentially 2 separate colonies – North and South.
The British ran Sudan from Khartoum in the north and developed the Northern region, though much of Sudan’s rich natural resources lay in region of the South.
In 1956 Sudan gained independence from Great Britain and since that time has suffered almost non-stop Civil War as the South has sought independence from the ruling North.
Reasons for this conflict are primarily religious based as:
Today the population of Northern Sudan consists primarily of 22 million Arabic speaking Muslims.
They control the administration of the country and rule over 6 million Black Christians living in the South.
Since 1956 until the enactment of the UN Peace Resolution of March, 24, 2005 the armies of the North have invaded and attempted to eliminate the Christian minority in the South. US Secretary of State, Colin Powell termed this conflict “A genocide”.
The bulk of the rich natural resources (like oil) are located in South Sudan and through the years as these resources have been extracted from the South none of the proceeds from the sale of these resources have been returned to the area of South Sudan. All income has gone to the North.
I will leave the history lesson at this point and speak of our involvement there.
For 6 years my Captain on Engine 11 with the City of London Fire Dept. had been Glen Pearson. Glen is a former missionary to Africa and he and his wife Jane Roy have founded Canadian Aid for Southern Sudan (CASS) to assist these people who have no where to turn.
One day at work Glen said the Canadian government had provided funding for CASS to construct a school in the area where they were helping the residents but there was no one skilled in construction techniques to help erect the steel structure.
One of the functions of this new school would be to educate the “Former Child Soldiers” of the south with productive life skills to help build a new country.
Four of us from work said, “We could do that!”
And there began our trip to Africa.
After all the fund raising and packing, departure day arrived and we began our journey to the other side of the globe.
A whole team of Londoners made this journey, each with hope of finding some way to help the people of South Sudan.
David and Bill Tennant hoped to find a way to help the South Sudanese increase their profit from Gum-Africa.
Shaun Elliot from the YMCA went to establish programs and look at building a Canadian sponsored YMCA.
Alex Lau took foot-powered sewing machine to help establish business for women.
Jeff Lang from Stevenson, Hunt was there to support and help every one of us.
Kathy Mueller and Wayne Jennings from The A Channel to document all of this on film.
Flying out of Toronto to Amsterdam then on to Nairobi. An overnight stop there then on to the UN Airbase at Lockachokeeo where the borders of Kenya, Uganda and Sudan meet.
It is from this point that the UN food drops to all of the surrounding countries are staged.
We then flew on to Mawellican then by truck to Gordim in the Diocese of Rumbeck.
The greeting from the South Sudanese was overwhelming. Happy, singing people who were so Thankful of these Canadians coming to help them.
We arrived on Saturday afternoon and got settled in our rooms in the old priests’ quarters. Small brick rooms with a plate steel door and three cots to a room.
The menu for supper our first day was one that would be duplicated three times a day for the rest of our stay. Rice, Lentils, Beans and a bit of boiled goat.
Day two began with a church service in the Catholic mission and was a very moving and auspicious occasion for all of us. The old bomb damaged brick church with its rows of brick pews was packed and our Canadian group was seated at the front in positions of honour.
To see the sincere outpouring of Christian spirituality and celebration of God and his blessings made this a moving time for us. The music and our welcome from Father Wilfred, the Ugandan priest made for a truly memorable time.
In this area of Sudan food, water and clothing are at a premium and to see the people in the old church all dressed in their finery, worshipping God with such fervor and giving Thanks for the few riches in their lives then after the service offering us a feast of their hard-gotten food made any complaints in our lives seem totally selfish and inconsequential.
The next day I and my fellow firefighters, John Peter, Steve Beasley and Rob Warren started to work on the school project.
At first there was disagreement on the proposed location and after that was settled a small labour dispute erupted but was quickly brought to order by London developer David Tennant. The people thought we were being paid for our efforts and once they understood our motivations were charitable things were OK.
And so we worked away everyday from morning till night to get as much as possible accomplished on the project before we had to leave.
Water to make concrete had to be hauled in barrels by truck from far away.
Aggregate or stone to use in the mix to make the concrete had to be scooped out of the river by hand then trucked to the school site. Where it still needed to be smashed by hand with hammers to get it to a useful size.
Tree branches had to be cut and fashioned to make handles for the tools.
Hundreds of feet of trenches had to be dug for the concrete foundation. Using only 4 shovels.
(Often when I speak of the trenches for the foundation people will joke with me about the danger of frost. But the reason for having a substantial footing is to prevent the foundations and walls washing away during the days and days of torrential downpours during the rainy season.)
We worked side by side with the former South Sudanese Liberation Army – “Child Soldiers”.
These are young men whose fathers were killed by the army of the North, Mothers and sisters were taken away as slaves and these boys were abandoned.
The army took them in providing food, clothing and shelter and in exchange they sacrificed their youth to fight in the war against the north.
Now, with the UN Peace Accord in effect they have returned to the areas of their homes and are trying to re-establish their lives.
They struggle day-to-day for the basics of existence; food, water, shelter.
Located near the equator they are subject to a harsh environment, temperatures as high as 55 Celsius/ 130+ Fahrenheit.
News, good or bad, travels slowly.
Threats of raids by the Lords Resistance Army or the Janjaweed Militia are ever-present.
Large areas are still heavily land-mined.
Abandoned Soviet tanks are not uncommon as you travel the area.
The night of our arrival an attacking force shot-up and burned the local market.
And yet in the midst of all this hardship when my friend Jeff Lang, was having a candid discussion with a young, ex-child-soldier named Angelo, asked; “What is important in your life?”
Angelo’s instant reply was, “To serve God!”
Angelo’s answer to Jeff seemed to typify the strength of faith we witnessed in South Sudan.
People who have had all manner of horrors enacted on them and very little help expressed from the rest of the world and yet they hold strong to Christ.
When faced with tragedy we can go one of two ways.
Either we can go away from God and say, “Why did you let this happen to me Lord?”
OR
We can go TO God in search of his help and strength in dealing with our tribulations and woes.
Know that whatever befalls you is part of Gods plan and if we can continue to have faith in the Lord he will see us through all adversity.
The experience of going to South Sudan and having the privilege of helping the people there to re-build their lives had a profound effect on our entire group.
We all said, “We would never complain about anything again”.
Though I know there has been some back-sliding with regard to that statement since our return.
Each of us has stated a strengthening in our Christian beliefs; I suspect some of that has come from seeing the examples of the Sudanese.
If they, with nothing, and the worst hardships of the world upon them can rejoice and Thank God everyday for their lives and be happy with the blessing of being alive for another day. Trusting that God IS taking care of them.
Then, what does that say of me who has everything;
I should be the most Thankful to God for all of the magnificent blessings in my life including the opportunity I had to witness HIS GOOD WORKS during my trip to South Sudan.
