01 January 2020

SUDANESE CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS 2019 IN KHARTOUM

HAPPY NEW YEAR

     For the first time since 2011 the Sudanese have celebrated Christmas publicly.  The civilian cabinet named Christmas a public holiday.  The Minister for Religious Affairs apologized to Christians for discrimination under the previous government and promised more equality in the future.  Amna Azari, 18, visited a church for the first time in her life.  "We are becoming more tolerant and loving towards each other.  This is the legacy of our great revolution," she said.

     My first Christmas in Sudan was in 1991.  I stood at the back of the Catholic church in Torit. Shortly after the liturgy began a man named William Nyuon entered with his body guards, all dressed in civilian clothes.  He stood quietly behind me and I would later learn he was a high ranking officer in the Sudanese People's Liberation Army.  That same night I met Muslims and other Christians, all celebrating together.  Later on in the year, I attended Muslim celebrations of their holy days.

     As we begin another year and a new decade it is hopeful to see how the Sudanese have used a totally nonviolent process to remove a dictator and move towards a more democratic government.  They have a long way to go but I am impressed with how far they have come.  Other countries are using violence to bring about change and they seem to get more media coverage.  I am keeping my eye on the Sudanese and the path they are forging, hoping that the rest of us will follow in becoming more tolerant and loving.

PEACE OF THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS 

AND

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR PEACE

ON JANUARY 1ST

http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20191208_messaggio-53giornatamondiale-pace2020.html

01 December 2019

Steven Mom Pepper Susan

   

Dear Friends,

     I am now back in Urbana Illinois for the whole of this past year and have settled in well.  I work as a Maryknoll lay missioner doing medical consultancy, advocacy with the Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns and mission education and fundraising in the mid-west.  I’ve travelled to Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Chicago and it has been fun to learn more about my own country after being away for so many ears.      

May 2000

I received a great gift about a month ago.  In May 2000, I was working as a family physician in a remote village in Sudan.  A very sick little boy, Adimo, was brought to our clinic by his mother.  She had taken him to traditional healers but he kept getting thinner and thinner. The last town they visited was being bombed by the Antonov plane which was sent by the government to terrorize people.  They were afraid and had heard that there was a clinic deep inside their home area.  In desperation, they walked 120 miles to Nanyangacor where he met the first white woman he’d ever seen…me!  They didn’t know his age.  He looked about nine years old but he only weighed 20 pounds, the weight of a one-year old child!  Kala azar was killing him.  The little shepherds would sit in the shade of ant hills while tending the livestock.  Sand flies would come out of the ant hill and bite the children and pass on a little worm that would cause them to waste away until they died if they didn’t get treatment.  I was sure he would die but I was wrong.  We began to treat him with a painful daily injection in his tiny little muscles.  Over the next month he improved and lived.  Last month he found my email address and wrote to me.  He now weighs 140 pounds and wanted to say thank you. He gave me permission to share his story with you.

         

     Before I left East Africa, I went back to Adimo’s home area to say goodbye.  I failed to find him until now.  I am thrilled to hear that he is still alive and struggling to improve himself and his country.  He taught me never to give up on a sick patient and he continues to remind me how blessed and fortunate I am here in the USA. 

     In some ways, life is so much easier here.  The electricity and water work.  Drivers usually follow the rules of the road and it is a pleasure to get in the car and not be stopped by the police over and over again for no good reason.  It is wonderful to be with my family and enjoy meals together, a walk in the park, the changing seasons and reconnecting with friends in my parish and community who share this journey of life with me.  Unfortunately, we have a lot of consumerism and violence in our society too.  I feel like I need this time of Advent more than ever to focus my attention on love and the coming of Christ once again into my life.  I am very grateful for you and will pray for you during this season.  May it bring you joy, peace and love.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!