42 mins
NEWS
PEACE TRAINING ‘WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE’
Church leaders from South Sudan who attended peacebuilding training in Scotland over the past two weeks have said that it will ‘make a diff erence’ to the war-torn country.
The Rev Santino Odong Othol Kwanyang and the Rev Joseph Maker Gordon Manyiel were among the group invited by the Church of Scotland to take part in two weeks of training.
They were also hosted by various churches during the visit, attending and speaking at services, spoke at a World Mission event in Edinburgh, went on retreat to the Bield in Perthshire and even had time for some tourism and shopping.
The group also got first-hand experience of the best of Scottish weather, in the snow that has hit the country in recent weeks – not that they were complaining.
“When (the Very Rev Dr) John Chalmers was taking us from the airport, he was telling us ‘you will see sunshine’,” said Santino, “But we said ‘we don’t want sunshine, we want snow!”‘
Santino, Principal of Nile Theological College, said that the visit had been ‘exciting… busy, but a kind of enjoyable busyness’. “It was informative,” he added. “We got a lot of tools and skills that will enhance our work when we go home.”
Joseph, Moderator of the Presbytery of
Abwong, said: “We acquired many experiences, especially in the field of life mapping. We now have the tools on how to heal wounded hearts, and how to manage complex conflict, and also the real meaning of mediation. We were thinking the mediator should make the decision, but mediation is about helping the two parties to agree on a solution.”
South Sudan gained independence from the Sudan in 2011, following decades of civil war, but two years later political unrest spread into civil war. That has led to economic collapse and famine, with millions of people being either internally displaced or refugees in neighbouring countries.
Joseph said: “I am 58, I was born in war and we still have war.”
Santino said that the current situation was ‘fragile and still very weak peace… there is relative stability in the big towns, but in remote areas you still find violence’. He also said that the situation had been complicated by tribal conflict.
The Church of Scotland has taken an interest in the country since its inception, and Dr Chalmers visited during his year as
Moderator of the General Assembly.
Following this visit, the hope is that the church leaders who visited Scotland will be able to train others in South Sudan, and that there will be further training sessions either in Scotland or in Africa.
Santino said: “I think the churches appreciate this so much, because most of us were engaged in peace issues, but without training. For sure what we have learned will make a diff erence.”
The visit almost did not go ahead for two members of the party, who were initially denied visas to visit the UK by the Home Office.
The decision was reversed following protests by the church and North East Fife MP Stephen Gethins.
Dr Chalmers said: “This was the response we were hoping for, I am delighted at this turnaround in events – now our course will go ahead as planned and with these two participants set to benefit from both advanced conflict resolution and an opportunity to experience a respite from the trauma of their everyday lives.
“When they return to South Sudan we expect them to be refreshed in themselves and carrying a new hope for the future of their nation.”
CHURCH CONSIDERING CONTACTLESS OFFERING
The Church of Scotland is drawing up plans to accept contactless payments in a bid to boost donations.
It is planning to run a pilot scheme offering the new technology at a number of churches across the country later this year.
However, there is no suggestion that traditional collection plates are going to be phased out.
The development emerged after the Church of England revealed members would be able to make donations by contactless cards, or via Apple or Google Pay on their smartphones.
Anne Macintosh, General Treasurer of the Church of Scotland, said: “We work with Church of England colleagues in areas of shared interest and were very excited to hear of the success of their trial.
“Our own Stewardship Team has been looking at this and we have identified a number of churches with a view to piloting contactless payment terminals in the near future.
“We envisage that these could be used for many purposes including retiring collections and donations by visitors to our historic churches and cathedrals.
“Regular giving to our congregations is largely made by standing order which is hugely important.
“But we know that there are many occasions when special collections are held or people would like to give spontaneously but just don’t carry much cash.
“We think there is huge potential for congregations here, not only to raise extra income, but to show that the Church is moving with the times.”
DISPLACEMENT FOCUS FOR CHRISTIAN AID WEEK
The focus for this year’s Christian Aid Week is on displacement, the organisation has announced.
To mark their annual fundraising week, the charity is sharing stories from partner organisation KORAL in Haiti, which builds homes which are strong enough to cope with the country’s frequent natural disasters. The head of Christian Aid Scotland, Sally Foster-Fulton, says: “Seven years on from the devastating earthquake in Port-au- Prince in 2010, an estimated 38,000 people are still displaced with many living in precarious houses or in temporary shelter.
“Hurricane Matthew destroyed up to 90% of some areas in 2016. And while Haiti narrowly escaped disaster when Hurricane Irma swept across the Caribbean in 2017, it’s only a matter of time before the next hurricane strikes. Despite the resilience and strength of its inhabitants, the country has struggled to recover, people lose their dwellings and livelihoods, making it increasingly hard for them to rebuild.
“Ahead of Hurricane Matthew, KORAL were able to warn local communities, helping evacuate around 5,000 families and saving many lives. In the immediate aftermath, Christian Aid and KORAL distributed urgently-needed shelter kits, hygiene kits, food seeds and cash transfers. We also continue to build disaster-resistant homes like Vilia’s to provide people safe, secure places to live.
“Globally a staggering 40 million people are internally displaced – they’ve had to flee their homes but have remained in their own countries. Internally displaced people make up around two thirds of those who are forced from home, but unlike refugees, we rarely hear about them in the media. What’s more, despite their incredible vulnerability, international policy means they are often ignored or forgotten.
“As we gather together this Christian Aid Week, we’ll be standing for justice with people like Vilia and her neighbours and with the many displaced people around the world.”
Christian Aid Week takes place from May 13-19. For resources visit www.christianaid.org.uk/christian-aid-week
KIRK-BACKED PROJECTS SCOOP NATIONAL YOUTH WORK AWARDS
Two projects supported by the Church of Scotland have been recognised by YouthLink Scotland awards for their outstanding work with young people. St Paul’s Youth Forum, based in Provanmill in Glasgow, and Arran Youth Foundations won the ‘Inspirational Leader’ and ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing’ categories respectively.
Both organisations receive continuation grants from the Kirk’s Go For It fund.
Neil Young, the Youth Team Leader based at St Paul’s Youth Forum was recognised after dedicating nearly 17 years to the community building eff ort around Provanmill.
He described himself as ‘humbled and honoured’ to have been given the award, and praised the ‘huge team’ of volunteers and staff at St Paul’s.
“It’s about putting young people at the centre of what we do”, he said.
YouthLink Scotland praised his ‘sustained, creative and sensitive response to the issues facing the community’. Arran Youth Foundations (AYF), which is partly based at St Bride’s Church of Scotland in Brodick, was recognised for work around mental health.
Trustee and Secretary of the AYF Helen Kerr said the charity was ‘delighted’ with the award for ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing’ and praised the eff orts of their youth workers Graeme Johnston and Hollie Watkins.
“It is a well deserved award for our two amazing employees who were also awarded Youth Worker and Part-time Youth Worker of the Year award in 2016 and have such a heart for working with the young people on Arran to help them develop into happy and healthy young people,” she said.
For more news follow us at www.lifeandwork.org
This article appears in the May 2018 Issue of Life and Work
If you would like to view other issues of Life and Work, you can see the full archive
here.