An Appeal from the Bishop of Yambio, Sudan: Theological Education Partnership Opportunity

From Jerry Drino:

Below is a communication between the Bishop of Yambio in Sudan and Jerry Drino. Yambio has one of the three school of theology that are function in the Province of the Sudan with 5 million or more Episcopalians. WIth only 20% of the clergy having had any basic formal theological education, the survival and support of the BYEET is very crucial for the health and growth of the Church in the Sudan. The Chruch Missionary Society in the UK has supported the school from the beginning but has recently withdrawn their funds because of lack of donations. Jerry met with the principal, the Rev. Jackson Bullen, in 2008 while visiting dioceses in Sudan. Please contact Jerry (408) 259-2111 jdrino@sbcglobal.net if you are interested in gaining more information.
Dear Rev. Jerry

Greetings and best wishes, I am writing this email to you as Bishop of Yambio diocese in support of the email sent to you by Rev. Jackson Bullen the Principle of BYEET. Actually this Theological School in the Diocese of Yambio has been very important for Yambio Diocese and even other sister Dioceses, and for Sudan as a whole, it has been training candidates from both Yambio Diocese and other neighboring Diocese like Ibba Diocese and Ezo Diocese, but having no any partner whom to partner with. Therefore i will be most grateful if you could enter into our partnerships discussions as you Aleda began with Rev. jackson Bullen. We can even start to talk about inviting you or anyone from there to come and visit us in Yambio so that we can find way forward for our partnership, possibly from July, 2009 to September,2009

Thanks, waiting to hear from you

Yours in Him

Bishop Peter Munde Yacoub
Bishop of Yambio

Triad Companion Companion Relationship: Western Tanganyika

From Rev. Canon Brian Nordwick:

We made it here safe and have had a great couple of days. A celebration with over 2000 in church at the cathedral today where the documents of the partnership were signed. All is well. We have a very busy and tight schedule. They are very welcoming and very appreciative of our visit.

Click to view movie/slideshow below:

or click the image below to view all pictures individually:

Triad Companion Companion Relationship: Western Tanganyika

World Mission Network Convocation Summary

From Joanna Shreve & Jerry Drino:

We had some great conversation at the World Mission Network Convocation this past Saturday at Church of the Good Shepherd in Salinas. Canon Jesus Reyes shared about his experiences as a missionary in Mexico and Brazil and how those experiences have helped form his approach to missionary work and to evangelism and congregational development. To sum up his message (which does not begin to do it justice!), he encouraged us to be open to imagining -- to remove preconceived ideas and stereotypes and, instead, be receptive to new and different understandings and experiences.

The Rev. Amy Denny-Zuniga and her husband, Vincent, shared about their three year experience as missionaries in El Salvador. It was hearing their stories that we found ourselves talking about "pilgrimages" rather than mission trips. Americans often find that visiting and living in third world countries can be such a shock because of the extreme poverty and hunger usually so prevalent. As we try to integrate ourselves into these communities, what is it that we bring and what is it that we can learn about ourselves and what is it that we can bring back to our home communities? Pilgrimages are transformational experiences and we need to pay attention to "re-entry" into our home communities for those who go on mission trips.

The Rev. Jerry Drino presented some thoughts and questions about the shift in our understanding of the meaning of mission for today. There has been a distortion in the past with the belief that mission was taking something to some people who did not have what we have. This is the "Imperial Attitude of Mission." From the teachings of Jesus it is clear that mission is God's Mission. Our vocation, if we chose it, is to arrive at the place where God's Mission is most likely to be experienced. Jesus gave a clear indication of where this might be when he said, "I was hungry and you feed me, naked and you clothed me, thirsty and young gave me to drink, in prison and you visited me..." Jerry talked about the Hawaiian concept of enlightenment called A'o aku a'o mai" which comes as a reciprocal experience of interaction between people, something that is discovered together and between each other. What is in the midst of such relationships is the Kingdom of God, Jesus' term for God's Mission.

The Rev. Jerry Drino closed out the day with a conversation around what some of our next steps might be as a network of people dedicated to promoting mission outreach. We hope to be on the schedule of the visiting bishops from our companion dioceses in September and we want to invite those who go on our summer mission trips to share their experiences with us, and hopefully support them in their "re-entry" back into our communities.

This March 2009 Convocation was prayerful, joyful and inspiring. We look forward to inviting you all to future convocations.