DEATH OF
JOHN GARANG
Details of the crash are still scarce, but wire
service and Sudan
government announcements have confirmed the death on Saturday of Dr.
John Garang de Mabior, who had been installed in fulfillment of the
Peace Accord as First Vice President of Sudan only 22 days earlier. Six
colleagues and seven crew members also died on a flight said to have
been headed through rainy weather from
Uganda
to New Kush over the mountains of southern
Sudan.
On behalf of American Friends of the Episcopal
Church of the Sudan, I have written to the Sudanese ambassador in
Washington: "May God grant John Garang and the other victims of the air
crash His peace, and may their legacy to you and the rest of us who are
alive be an unshakeable commitment to implement the agreement they [Dr.
Garang and President Omar al Bashir] forged."
I took the signing of the Peace Accord on
January 9, 2005 and the installation of John Garang as First
Vice President in Khartoum
on July 9 as answers to prayer. For years I prayed that God would put
it into the hearts of both John Garang and Omar al Bashir to desire
peace, so that their people might live. I invite you to join me now in
praying that God would have mercy on
Sudan, spare the Sudanese from renewed
violence, and raise up a capable successor.
Faith McDonnell of the Institute on Religion and
Democracy, a longtime advocate for justice and religious freedom in
Sudan, tells me that the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement second in command, Salva Kiir, will be their
nominee. Pray for him, for wisdom for all leaders in all factions, and
for steadfastness to overcome anger and despair. I encourage you to
gather with any friends of Sudan
where you are, and to be in touch with those who are in
Sudan
or scattered elsewhere.
Faithfully,
Richard J. Jones
President, AFRECS
