For immediate release
Despite continuing genocidal war in the west, the Episcopal Church of the Sudan last month sent one of its senior bishops to urge American friends to join them in seizing the opportunity presented by the January 9 signing of a Peace Accord between the government and its southern rebels. Eluzai Munda, Bishop of Mundri and Dean of the Province, presented the priorities of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, including education, health, and reconciliation, to 130 concerned North Americans and resettled Sudanese gathered at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Alexandria, Virginia, February 18-20. In response, Professor Richard J. Jones of Virginia Theological Seminary has announced the formation of American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan. Incorporated in Virginia but seeking members throughout the United States and Canada, its officers, in addition to Dr. Jones as President, are Frederick E. Gilbert of Annandale, Va., treasurer, and Carolyn W. Mackay of Oakton, Va., secretary. Serving as Executive Director of the organization will be Mrs. Nancy Frank of Rochester, NY.
American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan (AFRECS) hopes to enhance communication and minimize duplication between dioceses, parishes, and churchwide agencies already committed to resettling Sudanese in the USA and to working as partners with dioceses and other Anglican institutions in Sudan. AFRECS will also solicit new support for Episcopal Church of the Sudan programs of peace-building and advise North American donors on effective ways of delivering support, including collaboration with U. S. government, international, and nongovernmental relief and development agencies. This network hopes to amplify the voices of Sudanese Christians and through prayer to catch the movement of the Holy Spirit within both our churches.
Sudanese lay and ordained men and women mingled with Americans and Canadians in Alexandria, Va. to hear Michael Paget-Wilkes, Archdeacon of Warwick and chairman of the Sudan Church Association in the United Kingdom; Alfred Taban, editor of the Khartoum Monitor and correspondent for BBC Africa Service; Roger Winter, former assistant administrator of the U. S. Agency for International Development; and A. Heath Light, retired bishop of Southwestern Virginia. Bishop Light ordained the late Marc R. Nikkel, longtime missionary to Sudan from the Episcopal Church and the Church Missionary Society in the UK, and supports a movement to have Nikkel, who died in 2000, honored in the calendar of the Episcopal Church in the United States.
Contact: Nancy Frank, executivedirector@afrecs.org