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Renk Ministry PartnershipContact / Jackie Kraus / 847-381-5518
January 2008 marked the 10-year anniversary of St. Michael's covenant relationship with the Diocese of Renk in Sudan. It is one way the people of St. Michael's work in a specific and practical way toward implementation of the Millennium Development Goals*. This southern Sudanese Diocese is located at the border between the fractious north and south in Africa's largest country, which has been wracked by civil war for nearly 40 of the 51 years of the nation's independence from British rule.
A fragile foothold of peace has been established in southern Sudan, and we are fortunate to have a direct, personal means of helping strengthen it by investing in Christian leadership development and the rebuilding of social structure in Renk. The Renk Theological College was built and supported by St. Michael's Church as a key part of the Diocese of Renk's strategic plan for reweaving the social and economic fabric of the region so that peace can be maintained.
In April 2004, the College was demolished by the Government of Sudan to build a highway, called Peace Highway to the South. "This is a tactical plan by the fundamentalist Islamic government of northern Sudan to deny church education programs in the area," said Fr. Joseph Garang Atem, Principal of the College. In response to this "tactical plan," St. Michael's raised $50,000 to rebuild the College, and on April 15, 2005, classes began in the new classrooms. The chapel, still to be finished, will be called St. Michael's. A delegation from St. Michael's visited Renk in 2006. April 2008 saw the kick-off for the next phase of our Partnership program: a capital campaign to raise $200,000 over the next three years to support the Renk Theological College.
In this area of Sudan, so much is lacking that it is necessary to begin with the very basics of social infrastructure for the displaced people who are returning home. The Diocese of Renk has assumed primary responsibility for education in the region at all levels, and the College is committed to providing not only trained clergy but also skilled community leaders who can help foster sustainable social and economic development and thereby "lead the peace."
There is God's hope in this troubled region, and our call is to help foster that hope through direct support of the Renk Theological College. This effort by St. Michael's will help bring peace, stability, and development to this troubled yet spiritually vibrant area of the world.
* What are the Millennium Development Goals?
"...We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected." - The Millennium Declaration
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals agreed to in 2000 by 189 heads of state and government — including the United States — from around the world that address the deepest material brokenness in the world today. Poverty the likes of which we just don't see within the United States. Poverty like
- 1.2 billion people living on less than $1 a day… that's 1 out of every 6 people on the planet
- 110 million children who aren't allowed even a full course of primary education
- Half a million women a year dying of complications from childbirth and pregnancy
- A child under 5 dying every three seconds from preventable, treatable causes
- 8,000 people (more than died in the September 11 attacks) dying each day of HIV/AIDS ... and much more.
Millennium Development Goals What We Need To Do 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Cut in half the number of people who live on less than $1 per day
Cut in half the number of hungry people2. Achieve universal primary education Ensure that boys and girls everywhere are able to complete a full course of primary school 3. Promote gender equality and empower women Eliminate discrimination against women in education and wages 4. Reduce child mortality Reduce by two-thirds the number of children who die before age five 5. Improve maternal health Reduce by 75% the number of women who die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases Stop the spread of these diseases and see a decline the death rates 7. Ensure environmental stability Cut in half the number of people without access to safe drinking water 8. Develop a global partnership for development Improve levels of development assistance, provide access to markets, offer solutions for indebted countries For more specific information about each goal and What One Can Do to help achieve it, visit:
- United Nations Development Programme: Millennium Development Goals and click on the icons at the top of the page.
For much more information about the Millenium Development Goals, be sure and visit these sites:
For more information about the Episcopal Church's specific response to the MDGs, visit these sites:
Profile of the Diocese of Renk, Sudan
Since 1986, the fundamentalist Islamic government in northern Sudan has been waging a civil war against Christians and Animists in the south. To date, over 2 million people have been killed, with another 4 million displaced from their homes. Many of these refugees have resettled in Renk diocese, where they are ministered to by Bishop Daniel Deng Bul and his clergy. These people have suffered untold horrors in the name of Jesus Christ, yet their faith remains strong. Our relationship with Renk offers us a chance to make a difference in the lives of our brothers ans sisters, and in turn their strength of spirit leads us to deepen our faith.
Opportunities to Help the Children in Sudan
There are 145 Lost Boys of Sudan in Chicago. You can help just by buying these books in the gift shop as proceeds will be donated to Sudan.
The Lost Boys of Sudan
In 2000 the United States began accepting 3,800 refugees from one of Africa’s longest civil wars. They were just some of the thousands of young men, known as “Lost Boys,” who have been orphaned or otherwise separated from their families in the chaos of a brutal conflict that has ravaged their home country of Sudan since 1983. The Lost Boys of Sudan focuses on four of these refugees. Theirs, however, is a typical story, one that repeated itself wherever the Lost Boys were found across America. It is a story of the countless challenges of “making it” in a strange new place after years on the run in Sudan or in refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.
They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky
This is the three boys’ account out of that unimaginable journey. With the candor and the purity of their child’s-eye-vision, Alephonsikon, Benjamin, and Benson recall by turns how they endured hunger and strength-sapping illness-dysentery, malaria, and yellow fever. How they dodged the life-threatening predators-lions, snakes, crocodiles and soldiers alike-that dogged their footsteps. How they grappled with a ware that threatened continually to overwhelm them. Their story also shares glimpses of the tiny joys that kept them going, the dear friends they made-and sometimes lost- along the way. They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky is a lyrical, captivating portrait of a childhood hurled into wartime and how three very young boys had the good fortune and belief in themselves to survive.
Letters from Sudan
The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley is an Episcopal priest serving as an appointed missionary in the Episcopal Diocese of Renk, Sudan. Her letters paint a picture of life in Sudan and the efforts to rebuild.
Telling the Story September 16, 2005
History in the Making August 30, 2005Links
Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul's Address on the occasion of his enthronment
Compassion from a knowing heart December 3, 2006
Update on Construction June, 2005
Presiding Bishop's Statement on Seizure of Church Property in Sudan May 20, 2004
Report on the interference by the security in church work in Renk Town