Bishop from Sudan

Ali and I hosted Bishop Wilson Garang from Southern Sudan earlier this week. I'll use these next few posts to tell his story, and the stories he passed on to me. I'll leave his denomination nameless, many can figure it out. (It's not entirely fair to disparage this whole part of the church because of a few bad apples.) I will say that although he dresses like his denomination and structures some of his worship like them, he's totally disassociated with them now. Or, rather, they've disassociated themselves with him. He's committed to ministering to a certain state in Southern Sudan. When his denomination wanted to move him to a more resource-friendly area of the country, he refused, so they dropped him. Surely it wasn't quite that simple, but at a high level, it's the gist of things. He has a heart for his tribesmen in that part of Sudan, and with 3 million of them unchurched, he's almost unshakeable in his commitment.

During the last Sudanese war (not Darfur), he fled to Ethiopia where, in a refugee camp, he encountered and began to follow Jesus. I loved his description of learning how to go to church where the pastor had to ask him to stop spitting while he sat in church. When it was safe, he returned to Sudan and started a church under a tree with his three sisters and mother. His father remained an animist.

Today in that state there are 150 churches. Any wonder he wouldn't leave his diocese? Now he's trying to finish seminary (my stars, a non seminary trained man planted 150 churches, it can't be!) and return to the area where he can better train pastors and meet the huge physical needs of the people.