Mission companionship with Christians in Sudan and South Sudan will be the theme of the Mission Thursday on Feb. 16, sponsored by the Global Episcopal Mission Network. Congregations, dioceses and organizations with connections to the Sudans are welcome, as are all others interested in learning about ministry with Christians there.
This Mission Thursday, hosted by the American Friends of the Episcopal Churches of the Sudans (AFRECS), will be held on Zoom at 1 p.m. Free registration is accessible here at Eventbrite for this opportunity in mission networking.
AFRECS executive director Dr. Dane Smith, a former US ambassador and envoy in Africa, will host the webinar, assisted by Dr. Richard Jones, retired mission professor at Virginia Seminary. A Sudanese church leader opening the session will be followed by brief presentations by Episcopalians pursuing mission companionship with Sudanese Christians. Q&A will close out the one-hour session.
The Episcopal Church of South Sudan (ECSS) is a rapidly growing faith community in a country characterized by communal violence and a dysfunctional government. ECSS is bringing Jesus’ message of good news to the poor at the local level through literacy, livelihood generation and trauma healing with help from AFRECS. It is also building the newly accredited Episcopal University of South Sudan.
The Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) operates in a country where more than 90 percent of the population are Muslims. It has enjoyed greater autonomy since the overthrow of Islamist President Omar Bashir in 2019, though the transition to democracy was halted by the military in 2021. The ECS has been growing quickly in the Nuba Mountains area to the south.
A consultant and lecturer on international peacebuilding, with a recent focus on faith-inspired peacebuilding. Dane Smith , Jr., was US ambassador to Guinea and Senegal, and special presidential envoy to Liberia, and senior advisor to the US Government on Darfur. He was deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Khartoum, Sudan. He and his wife Judy were Peace Corps volunteers in Eritrea.