Summer 2010

News from Addis Ababa:

Trees, land and anew church.

We got it. A large piece of land in Itang. Michael, our Dinka priest there, works closely with Luk, the Annuak deacon. Their energy is so powerful that the church is growing fast, so on that land, we have started to build a “proper” church – stone foundations; strong wooden walls, mudded, plastered and painted; topped by a corrugated iron roof – and a huge wooden cross mounted to the east wall, outside.

When we visited, the walls were erected and the task of fencing the land was about to begin. To me, one of the most beautiful features of the land is the shade provided by the twenty or thirty mature trees east of the church – already, we can imagine meetings, feasts, TEE classes and literacy training taking place under their shade. But all this comes at a cost – land, church and fence are costing us £12,626. Not much by UK standards – but a huge amount for us. And there are at least five other places waiting for us to do the same for them.

Confirmed in the rain!

We set off in beautiful light. The first rain came two hours into the journey, turning the now black cotton soil of the road into a slippery, sticky quagmire. So it took us three and a half hours, all-told, to reach Nininyang for the confirmation service. I had never been to Nininyang before and we were excited and slightly anxious. But the town was beautifully set-out. The church itself is tiny – it probably only seats 40 people, but outside stands a beautiful tree, with long branches that sweep the ground, forming a natural shelter. It was there that Peter, newly ordained deacon, had prepared for the service.

150 of us sat in a huge circle under the tree, as the wind began to stir the dust in the compound and lift the cloth on the altar. The rain started, part-way through my sermon. Nothing more than a gentle spray at first, but soon so heavy that we all abandoned the tree, to squeeze into the tiny grass church. As all150 wet bodies stood shoulder-to-shoulder, by the light of two candles, I finished my sermon as the rain eased outside. Peter and I decided to brave it and stepped outside for the actual confirmation. But there, one-by-one, 68 people knelt to be confirmed – and as they did so, the heavens opened again. So, imagine the scene – confirmed – and as they did so, the heavens opened again. So, imagine the scene – candidates either crammed inside the church, or pressed close to the fence, waiting for their name to be called – and then dashing out to kneel before their bishop, rain-drenched hair and mud-splashed robes hanging limp as, one hand on my pastoral staff and the other resting on each head and drawing the cope around each one in an attempt at shelter for us both, I prayed those beautiful words, “Confirm, O Lord, your servant N., with your holy Spirit.”

Food distriibution

We came to Illea, with a huge truck loaded with maize, bought with your money, to distribute to the community. It was hot and humid already, by the time we had counted the maze sacks onto the truck, been to the Disaster Prevention and Food Security office to collect our permission papers, found Awiily, the Annuak woman appointed by them to come with us and filled up with diesel. An hour and a half later, we pulled up by the grass-clad Anglican church in Illea. Ogalla, the young church leader there (whose father had been killed by the Murle only a few months ago) began to help our team set-up. It took another hour and a half to unload the 100kg sacks of maize from the truck and pile them neatly against a grass fence. A small crowd gathered – the very old and the very young. Images seen a thousand times on TV - half-naked children with flies sitting in the corner of their eyes and mouth. The whole thing was wonderfully organised. Ogalla had prepared lists of households and each of those households would receive 50kgs of maize; two households sharing one sack.

The whole process took three hours, but the humour, good-will and co-operation made it seem like an hour. The young men who had unloaded the truck refused payment, insisting that the money go to the church. The same young men helped the frail elderly men and women haul their 50 kilo back to their homes. And all the while, young children gathered every last yellow/white maize seed that had spilled on the ground. Next time, we really must provide basic farming tools, so they can cultivate this beautiful land for themselves.

+Andrew