South Sudanese in the Churches: You Will Never Be Peaceful!
8 min readBy Mayak Deng Aruei, USA
January 11, 2015 (SSB) — The disease in us is power, and power with all its benefits is killing South Sudanese wherever they are. Let’s take a deep breath, and think about what life would be like without leading others! There got to be something that make everyone so mad, and want to lead others under all circumstances? When Believers go to church, armed with Clubs, baseball bats and retractable knives, who is their enemy in the Church? Is Satan still alive two decades after all Statues were burned? As much as one would wants to see peace prevails in South Sudanese Churches, opposite is the truth, and the truth is fighting over who should control the Church.
For the past couples of days, we have heard conflict shifting from nation’s known corridors to the Church, and things became a little bit tricky given the purpose of Religions in humans Societies. Back in the day, and in the early days of Christianity in the then SUDAN, some clergymen went deep into villages and baptized people in the name of Christ. That completely changed the way people used to live their lives. The twist from worshiping of deities to worshiping of organized Religions became more realized when Sudanese were in Internally Displaced camps and Refugee camps. Having seen/witnessed people going through unforgiving situations, Church leaders took advantage of the conditions, and urged people to turn to God. As adaptive as Africans are to foreign Religions, the calls from the Messengers of God received proper responses. Everyone took a fair shot and all became more than mere Church Goers.
As situations changed, people gained access to other exotic stuffs: western educations, lifestyles and liberal political ideals. The once fully committed Believers changed colors, and no longer see Church as a path to Heaven. What remains unchanged though is people’s desire to lead others, and to be the focal point in all that take place in the Church. With that being the case, South Sudanese now have a different view of what Church really means, and why it should exists like other social institutions.
Personal Experiences
Since God is an unknown Super Being, the Creator of all lives and the Universe, we tend to say nothing that would offend him in the Highest! But, what does that really means to Custodians of Good News whose profession and leadership styles seem to be creating lots of discomforts among congregations? Throwing back to days when Christianity was multiplying/proliferating in the SUDAN and neighboring countries, Animists turned Christians moved in so quickly and start demanding representation in the Church. In early 1990s, Anglican Churches(Episcopal Church of the SUDAN) in the SUDAN start ordaining new batch of priests in large numbers. And people across the vast Savannah-land of what is now South Sudan took it on themselves and many people invested much of their times in Church’s activities. That huge commitment to serving the people of God led to the ordinations of many young men and women because some thought of it as the best way to spread the Good News so rapidly.
Some years into the business, too many people have been ordained and there were no enough Churches where they can be assigned. The overflow in regard to priesthood has turned Church into battlegrounds where communities, clans and sections clash over Church’s politics. We know for a fact that Episcopal Church of SUDAN, in Displaced camps and Refugee camps started to go under enormous pressures from military-styled up priests, and divisions along clans lines emerged. Somewhere between 2002 and 2007, there were lots of wrangling in the Church (ECS), and Sudanese Christians became very divided than ever before. Thereafter, some influential priests defected from the Episcopal Church of SUDAN, became Bishops in their own rights and formed Anglican of SUDAN and Reformed Church of SUDAN respectively. With clearly defined denominational boundaries, the remaining Episcopal Church got to create more enemies from within itself, and along sub-tribes lines. Tell me whether Jesus has even recommended creation of so many denominations, and localized Churches?
At the moment, there are too many priests in the South Sudanese Anglican Churches, and that has created too many problems. Rivalry over who should control the congregation is messing up communities more than politics in South Sudan. In addition, Titles such as: Most Reverends, Lordships and good Sheppard are killing the South Sudanese communities. Now, what do we have? Since Church is the place where people want to cause chaos, do we still believe in what the Scriptures really require us to do?
The truth to the matter is, South Sudanese Christians, particularly members of the Anglican Churches, and with their over-sized liberal agendas have overstepped their prescribed boundaries. Here is part of what Christians FAITH should look like:
“Na ca gam yïn raan ku nhiar ba piir ë thoon de rou ke yi duɔne piŋ në kä ye gäm riɔk duɔne nhom beer riir duɔne yi nhom cɔk beer ë ɣööc gäm acïn määth wëi acë jäl ke kë mɛt kuer gamë yï töök yin bë piir athɛ̈ɛ̈r du yöök…..(If you believe in God, and you want to live in the next life, do not listen to those things that will divert your belief. Be reminded that Faith has nothing to do with friendship, and your Faith alone will save you…..)”
Solutions to Clumsy Practices
Life after death is never and should not be a Goldmines for people to fight over or instigate a fighting that may lead to loss of life. When was the last time that we had visitors from Heaven? It is time for South Sudanese to reexamine who they are in the face of the Universe. As a Nation, and 64 tribes under one nation, we must get real with how life should be lived. The whole nation got dragged into this discussion because South Sudanese problems are so intertwined, and nation’s politics tends to dominate daily life. Instead of fighting over tiny stuffs(our own creations), people should invest in helping those who cannot help themselves, and care-less about being parasites.
To hit the center-core so straight, Church leaders are to blame for creating discourses among citizens. When somebody or councils in Churches start making everyone Jɔl wɔ̈ɔ̈ liec, Abuna, Thiec Nhialic, Youth Mama and Church council member. The Faith as a whole start collapsing from the top to the bottom, and everyone wanted to represent something in the Church. Now we know or should have realized why everybody wanted to be part of the Church in those days. Fame and recognition of some sorts were, and still are the driving forces behind people over-attending Church’s services. And with chances narrowing and narrowing day by day, conflicts dominate what is supposed to be the House of LORD. Keep the change, and leave a space for all the coming generations.
Every time there is a problem in the Church, people teams up by clans and sub-tribes, and nobody remain in-charge of the whole situation! Like there are no rules in the Church, and leadership trainings that supposedly brought people into the positions that they holds. What happened to commonsense and professionalism? One wonders why South Sudanese have hard times getting their nation together! If brotherhoods and sisterhoods don’t get the best cure, then nothing would be achieved, whether in the Church, central Government or the local governments where the decent leadership begins. It is about right time for the observers to expose evils in Church’s leaders and their blind followers whose purpose of being Believers have faded away. If South Sudanese really wants to maintain peace wherever they live, then they must take charge of their affairs and handle all sorts of situations professionally.
Moreover, tensions in the Anglican Churches can be reduced if number of priests is equal to number of Churches with goals and objectives defined. That means, ordinations of new priests should be put on holds for some time. I must salute young men who have opted out of Church and started new professions that have less rivalry. By the way, why do we have more priests than churches? And why is everyone so involved in Church’s affairs? Hey guys and girls, quit the damn Church, you aren’t going to make it to HEAVEN. As long as you tells lies, deceives people, drinks too much and take part in dirty politicking, Heaven is not for YOU!
In sum, what took place in Perth, Australia is not new in and to South Sudanese Anglican Churches. The mowing of hair is the extreme part of packing the Church with cruel and paranoid youths who are addicted to cyber-politics. It is worth mentioning that similar disputes have happened in other places, and in South Sudanese Anglican Churches worldwide. The most noticeable ones are incidents that took place in Kenya (Eldoret, Kakuma, Nakuru, & Nairobi), United States of America( Arizona, Michigan, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota and South Dakota, South Sudan (Nimule where Masiraa was escorted by the military), and the most politicized of election of Bishop in Northern Bahr el Ghazal.
Again, the whole thing is ludicrous and senseless for people to be fighting over who should control the Church. Something is terribly wrong with South Sudanese, and in the form of Dinkas of Jonglei who often appears to own Heaven and Earth. You better be good all the times if you wants to see or have a second life! Whichever the case, there is no and there will be no democracy, accountability, legitimacy and transparency in the South Sudanese Anglican Churches so long as greed for powers, wealth and supported by politics of categorization still dwells in people.
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The Author is Mayak Deng Aruei, a doctoral student in Organizational Leadership: Organizational Development. He can be reached at kongor.da.ajak@gmail.com
MDA© 2015
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