Prayer Partners' Update

Dear Bishop Gwynne College Prayer Partners,

We are so grateful to you all for your continued prayers for BGC. The news at the college is good, although the general news from South Sudan is poor.

Yours in the service of Christ,
Trevor Stubbs

The College

• We give thanks for the arrival of 72 students beginning or continuing to study at the college this semester. Most of these are not yet at the standard to do the Limuru diploma, but they are learning well.
• Concerning those who have not made it to the college this semester, our principal asks:

Please pray for the 13 students especially those who came from the Diocese of Lainya who have not made it back to college. They are trapped there. It is not safe for them to move either to Juba or cross over to Northern Uganda. They have automatically missed this academic year. It is our prayer for God to keep them safe there in their homes.

• We praise God that we now have a part-time Academic Dean, Rev. Canon Undo Elisa, who is already proving a blessing to our principal, Samuel Galuak.
• We thank God for the 12 part-time teachers.
• We thank God that our administrator, Esparansa Emil, has now returned safely to Juba. We pray for her and her family, including her daughter Jane who is at school in Khartoum.
• We pray for the up-coming graduation on Saturday, 19^th November. This will include the students who graduated in 2015 as well as 2016. May God bless them in their continued work for him wherever they are in the country.

Other Concerns.

• The bishop of Kajo-Keji, Rt Rev. Anthony Poggo, has been appointed to work with the Archbishop of Canterbury as Adviser for Anglican Communion Affairs. Please pray for him as he takes up this new and important role.
• Please continue to pray for the nation of South Sudan. Five million people are in need of international aid, with hundreds of thousands displaced outside the country. The depth of the crisis is second only to that of Syria.

For those who want more in depth information, this report from Irin News is a well-written resume: http://us12.campaign-archive2.com/?u=31c0c755a8105c17c23d89842&id=51f8fd4287&e=3818f3f39f

BGC Prayers Partners Update

Dear BGC Prayer Partners,

Despite the terrible situation in Juba and South Sudan as a whole, there is much to celebrate as Bishop Gwynne College reconvenes for the new semester.

Our principal reports:

1. Thanks to Shanna and Tim Carter working for Samaritan’s Purse in the USA, enough food has been bought to provide for the students for most of this semester if not the whole of it.
2. There are currently 33 student at BGC and more arriving every day as the new semester gets underway. Samuel expects a total of 85. This is ten more than last year.
3. John Jal, has already started his B.Th in Cape Town. In January next year, three others will join him at George Whitefield College - Elias Bonga, Gabriel Duanthi, and Joseph Ayach. They have been granted bursaries and travel costs through George Whitefield College.

Please pray for:

1. Those who are coming from Lainya and the area to find safe passage back to Juba. The road is impassible. They are planing to get to Juba through Uganda, which is a long way!
2. Good health at the college. Water born diseases have become common in Juba. We get the cleanest water available through tanker deliveries.
3. Our administrator Esparansa is still with her family in Cairo. We pray for her safe return to Juba.
4. Our librarian, Abraham Maker Akur has left for Kenya to a do a masters’ degree. We wish him well. Pray for a satisfactory replacement.

South Sudan has been identified as the second-most troubled country in the world after Syria.

International help is not encouraged by political leaders, but most people recognise that no country in the world can prosper in isolation from others. The South Sudan Council of Churches has sent a message to the UN Security Council delegation visiting South Sudan.

Thank you all so much for your prayers,

Trevor Stubbs

BGC International Consultant.

Prayer Partners Update

Dear Bishop Gwynne College Prayer Partners

Thank you all for your continued prayers. I hope you have had a good Easter and are looking forward to the changing of the season, whether that be the spring and summer in the northern hemisphere, the autumn to be followed by winter for our southern supporters, or those in the tropical zones anticipating new rains and a wet season.

In South Sudan, there is a great longing for a good wet season this year. Last year was poor. Added to the huge hike in food prices in the market, in addition to the terrible security situation, many people have been suffering from malnutrition and worse.

Please continue to pray.

God bless you all,

Trevor

Please pray for:

• The rains.
• New security in the countryside to allow for crops to be sown and harvested.
• The speedy establishment of the Government of National Unity promised in the peace agreement to enable people to pick up their lives once more.
• An end to the galloping inflation – especially concerning the price of food – that is affecting everyone.
• Those suffering from the traumas and horrors of war.

At BGC we pray for:

• For the students as they await the results of the December exams.
• The staff and administration as they continue to teach and provide for the students, especially as the food prices rise.
• Those students who live off-site and need to pay for daily bus fares.
  
  
  
  
  

We give thanks for:

• The new solar installation taking place at the old building that is helping to provide the electricity to enable the running of the college – administration, printing and photocopying of materials, and light. Special thanks to our friends at the Slavanka Trust in the UK for the funding of this.
• The energy, dedication and determination of the students to apply themselves to study as well as engage in work in the community.

The new proposed Episcopal University (TEU)

• We give thanks for the development of this proposal that has been expertly put together by a number of people over the years, in particular Dr Joseph Bilal.
• Please pray for the consultation taking place on 15^th and 16^th of this month in Juba between all the stakeholders.
• In the UK this venture is supported by the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan University Project. The website is here: http://www.ecsssup.org/
• Dr Eeva John from the ECSSSUP board is attending the consultation. She and Hanna John, a management consultant, need our prayers. They hope to visit Yei and Kajo Keji, if funds allow. If anyone can help with funding them, this would be a very much appreciated gift. http://www.ecsssup.org/#!support-us/in7f2

THE BGC Peace Institute

From the principal.

THE BGC Peace Institute

The status of Peace Institute at Bishop Gwynne College is extremely held in a high esteem. We know that Peace studies alongside theological studies are both compatible in the context of South Sudan. Based on the plans and thoughts we embarked on, there are two programs in focus; a short term and long term plans for peace institutes:

1. For short term program, we have already begun two separate trainings of which we started in August 2014 and the last one lately last year. We give skills to these theological students for a purpose of giving them rare tools for peacebuilding in the ministries countrywide. The fruit of these effort are vividly seen when a number of the first participants took it upon themselves to do further trainings on their own based on what they have learned at BGC in August 2014. The Revd. Abraham Chol Alaak, who serves among the Dinka Congregations in the area of Kapeota and the Revd James Yout Chol, who serves among the Nuer speaking congregations currently in the UNMISS camps in Juba. The Revd. Yuot's method of reaching out on Peacebuilding has been through his preaching, and pastoral counselling on individuals in the camp. These are few examples I can clearly share what they are doing but I still believe that all the pastors who had attended the training are making used of skills they have learned in various places of their ministries. You remember, some of the members came from Renk (Upper Nile State), Malakal, Diocese of Torit (Eastern Equatoria State), Diocese of Bor (Jonglei State), Refugees and from internally displaced camps in South Sudan. By virtue of their access to the ministry, they are obviously practicing their skills.
2. Long term plan: in the last meeting we had with AFRECS and Bishop Samuel Peni, we agreed that the curricullum would be designed which is now underway. I am working something (curriculum) out with some experts in the areas of peace and reconciliation. As soon as we made something tangible, I will consult with with Bishop Samuel Peni, to have his opinion added before it is tabled before the college council.
3. As you know Bishop Gwynne College is academically affiliated to St. Paul's University all along. At the moment, we are almost done with the registration process with the Government of South Sudan. This registration is part of Episcopal University project. Once we attained such legal status, we shall launch Peace Institute as one of the departments of its own along with other programs in the college. With the way thing look at the moment, it is a matter of 2 to 3 months to gain full registration.
4. We thank AFRECS very much for always supporting the Peace Institute program.

Rev. Samuel G. Marial, BA, MAR, STM.
Principal,
Bishop Gwynne College
P. O. Box 110,
Juba, South Sudan
Mob. +211955984646
samuelgaluak@yahoo.com

principal@bishopgwynne.juba.anglican.org

BGC Prayer Partners Update 22/01/2016

Dear BGC Prayer Partners,
Thank you for all your prayers over the Christmas season. The college re-opens at the end of this month.

I am delighted to report that our principal, Samuel Galuak, despite going down with a bad attack of Malaria, has had a good break after a challenging semester (August-December 2015) with the large number of students we now have. The staffing levels at the college have always been inadequate, but last semester they fell to a new low through the death of our dear brother Benjamin Disi. His greatest contribution, over and above all his skills and experience, was his dogged faithfulness. This cannot easily be replaced. Nevertheless, we can rejoice in the strength and skills of Samuel and our administrator, Esparansa and the many part-time lecturers that have ensured another successful term, both academically and spiritually.

The things we ask your prayers for this coming semester are:

• The staffing challenges. Please continue to pray that a skilled, qualified and dedicated person can be found for the post of academic dean. Pray that the principal may get the support he needs in all areas of his task. Our hoped for UK volunteer has sadly fallen though. Pray that qualified overseas volunteers may be found. The college has benefited greatly in the past from such volunteers.

• The financial challenges. The majority of the income on which the college depends comes from within South Sudan. The disturbingly high inflation of the South Sudan pound has seen the price of food rocket. Food is a major expense when you have 70+ people on a daily basis to feed. This poses a real threat.

• Give thanks for the continued successful outcomes of the students' studies. Give thanks for their patience and dedication in trying circumstances.

• Give thanks for the role the college has in Peace and Reconciliation - both in its ethos, and its curriculum. See separate post for a statement from the principal.

• Rejoice in the continued foreign support the college has from friends chiefly in the UK and USA. Our foreign income is especially valuable at this time.

• Give thanks for the progress of the new Episcopal University of which BGC will become a part (along with other ECSSS tertiary institutions including theological colleges). The government have accepted the registration. Pray for Dr Joseph Bilal, the EU Project Manager.

Thank you for your prayers for which we are extremely grateful.

Yours in Christ
Trevor Stubbs
BGC International Consultant

22/01/2016