Sudan Prayer Request Details pt. 1

From Bishop Francis Loyo, Anglican Bishop of Rokon in Southern Sudan via Fr. Jerry Drino:

Dear Jerry,

Thank you very much for your concern for the people of the Sudan.

The people of the world are very busy with some of their own things and less concern with things or stories far away from them, however, there is a concern always for the Sudan where suffering is still created within the community which has just come out of the civil war for 21 years.

Can we share the burdens of the war with those who are keeping the people of the Sudan in prayers? We believed that some of these things happened and will one day go as well.

What is very important and urgent is the human sufferings and the great concerns for aged and mothers as well as the children who are living under trees and no shelters or even food to eat or water to drink.

Life is precious and we must valued it, so let us act together in prayers and in support for those dioceses of Yambio, Ezzo, Ibba, Mundri, Lui possibly Torit and we hope that it may not engulf other dioceses as well.

Please your continuous prayers support is highly appreciated with thanks.

Thanks,

+Francis Loyo.

Sudan Prayer Request Details pt. 2

From Fr. Jerry Drino:

Dear Friends,

I have just received this email from the Diocese of Salisbury, England who is in a companion relationship with the whole Province of the Sudan. The attacks of the Lord's Resistance Army on the Diocese of Mundri under score the precarious conditions under which the people and the Church in the Sudan exist. When I was leaving Sudan in December the southern government, Kenya and Uganda had launched an all out attack on all the LRA strong holds. However, an estimated 600 of their soldiers survived and continue their work. In the Diocese of Torit 90% of all the adults were killed. The bishops there are bishops of a diocese of children - over 60,000.

Pray for Mundri and all of the Sudan and the Church that attempts to serve peace and justice. Pray for Robin Denney who leaves on the 23 to begin her mission work as the agricultural resource person for the Province of the Sudan. Pray for her success and safety.

Jerry

Greetings to our Companions

From Bishop Mary:



Thanks to Rev. Ed McNeill for his production work on this video.

New Year's Greeting from Rev. Jacob Nhial Guut

From Rev. Jerry Drino:

Below is a New Year's greeting from the Rev. Jacob Nhial Guut in Nairobi. He does much of the coordination of our program in Kenya and is a deeply gifted spiritual leader.

Dear all Friends, Whatever is warm and inspiring...Whatever means most to you...Whatever makes you smile and brings joy to you... that's what I wish you this New Year 2009. Let all that I am praising the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good thing he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youths is renewed like the eagle's! The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. The Lord is Compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for our sins; and he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers,we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone- as though we had never been here. But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation exntends to the children's children of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments! The Lord has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything. Praise the Lord, you angels, you might ones who carry out his plans, listening for each of his commands. Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels who serve him and his will! Praise the Lord, everything he has created, everything in all his kingdom. Let all that I am praise the Lord. O Lord my God, how great you are! you are robed with honor and Majesty. You are dressed in a robe of light. You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens; you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds. You placed the world on this foundation so it would never be removed. You clothed the earth floods of water, water that covered even the mountains, At your command, the water fled; at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away. The people go off to their work, where they labor until evening. O Lord, what a variety of things you made! in wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small. See ships sailing along, and leviathan, which you made to play in the sea. They all depend on you to give them food as they need it. When you open supply it, they gather it. You open your hand to feed them, and they are richly satified. But if you return away from them, they panic. When you take away their breath, they die and turn again to dust. When you give them your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the Lord continue with us in New Year 2009 forever!. It was wonderful and joyful for me as I keep time without sleeping until the New Year come and to send you this at the same time. Blessings, Rev. Jacob Nhial Guut.

The Gloucester Cathedral Choir sings In the Bleak Midwinter

Embedded Video

Hope With Sudan Year End Report

Dear Friends of the World Mission Network,

The following is the Hope With Sudan Year End Report from Rev. Jerry Drino. Fresh from his latest mission trip to Kenya and the Sudan, the following is his first hand account of the ongoing violence and suffering in the Sudan. It is a riveting, heartbreaking read.

Please read it all.

And as a reminder to turn to the One who sustains our hope despite the presence of great troubles, Rev. Drino closes his report with this prayer:

"May the Mystery of this Season sustain you and lead you to embrace the New Birth. Thank you for helping to make a difference in the darkness."

(Amen and amen - ed.)

Diocesan Intercessory Prayers - Gloucester

From Bishop Michael Perham - Diocese of Gloucester:

• For the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Indivisible Trinity in Gloucester, for its mission as the mother church of the diocese, and for Nick Bury, the Dean.
  
  
• For the more than 300 parishes and Chaplaincies of the diocese and for their clergy at a challenging time.
  
  
• For Bishop Michael’s senior staff team - John Went, Suffragan Bishop, Hedley Ringrose & Geoffrey Sidaway, Archdeacons, Nick Bury, Dean, Jane Kenchingtoh, Dean of Women Clergy, David Hoyle, Director of Ministry, Kevin Brown, Diocesan Secretary.
  
  
• For the engagement of the diocese in “The Year of the Child” with a launch in 312 January at Tewkesbury Abbey, for Sandra Millar the Children’s Officer.
  


• For the diocese’s links with the Dioceses of Karnataka Central (Bangalore) and of Dornakal in the united Church of South India and with the Lutheran Diocese of Vasteras in Sweden.
  
  
• For the 14 Deaneries of the Diocese as they engage with a deanery restructuring to equip them better for ministry and mission, and for the Area Deans.
  
  
• For the diocese’s engagement with the Millennium Development Goals, and for Canon Adrian Slade, who is taking the lead on this.
  
  
• For Local Ministry Teams across the diocese encouraging the ministry of all the baptized and for (Lay) Canon Kathy Lawrence who leads in this area of diocesan work.
  
  
• For a continuation in the upturn of vocations to the ordained ministry, for those in training, for John Witcombe, the Director of Ordinands, and Catherine Williams, the Vocations Officer.
  


• For the twin initiatives, “Prepare for Easter”, aimed at church-goers through Lent, and “Experience Easter”, aimed at those who do not attend church regularly.
  
  
• For the team Bishop Michael is putting together to develop the triangular partnership and for those travelling with him from Gloucester to Tanzania.
  


• For the 117 Church Schools in the diocese, for the Board of Education, and for Helena Arnold, the new Director of the Department for Children and Young People.
  
  
• For the diocesan Retreat and Conference Centre, Glenfall House, for all who make use of it, for Liz Palin the Director and her staff.