Our Diocese is linked with the five dioceses which cover the whole of Sudan, an area of about 1,000 miles by 900 miles.
Khartoum
Khartoum is built at the confluence of the White and Blue Niles, and together with Omdurman and Bahri (Khartoum North) is home to about eight million people. The north of the diocese is mainly desert with a scattering of towns spread along the Nile. Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo is Bishop of Khartoum and Archbishop of the whole of Sudan. Assistant Bishop Fajak was consecrated in 2021 to work with him.
Shokai Bible Training Institute
SBTI is based in Omdurman. It provides theological training up to certificate level, teaching in Arabic, and supports out-lying teaching centres in Kadugli, Wad Medani and Port Sudan Dioceses. The principal, the Revd Simon Kodi, previously worked as a Bible translator. The Institute has little funding.
El Obeid
Bishop Ismail is based in El Obeid, a day’s journey from Khartoum. His diocese includes Darfur, an area in which the northern tribes have actively harassed and killed black Africans, driving them south. There are very few churches.
Kadugli
The Diocese of Kadugli serves the homeland of the Nuba tribes, the Nuba Mountains. Until recently it has been the scene of genocidal warfare as the then Government of Sudan used strong military means to enforce its rule. Although there is now peace, the Diocese is still effectively divided in two with Bishop Andudu unable to be officially in Sudan. Assistant Bishop Hassan ministers to the government controlled area.
Port Sudan
Bishop Abdu Al-Nur is responsible for churches in Port Sudan, an important shipping terminal on the Red Sea in a largely desert area, and also churches in towns on a long road south to Wad Medani, a distance of about 800 miles. The southern part of the diocese is fertile. All the churches are self-built by the congregations except for Port Sudan Cathedral.
Wad Medani
Like the Diocese of Kadugli, the southern part of Bishop Saman’s diocese has suffered in the past from military action by the Government trying to enforce its rule. The whole diocese is fertile, with extensive agricultural projects providing opportunity for employment and it has congregations in village settlements linked to a large sugar refinery and cotton works. The diocese is however very poor, lacking any resources to run its mission projects.
Mother's Union
In every diocese one of the most striking features of church life is the Mothers Union. It is very active, known for its strong ministry of prayer, pastoral visiting and evangelisation. Women have great pride in belonging to it, and encouraging each other in coping with home life and growing in the Christian faith. The national leader is Mama Samira.
Mothers Union in Sudan has six priorities for its work:
- Education: 90% of members to be literate, with skills
- Self-reliance as members, and as an organisation (financial, and in growing and developing good leaders)
- Women able to fulfil their potential accessing decent livelihoods, and ordination
- Peace in our homes, neighbourhood & nation (parenting and marriage)
- Light of Jesus seen across Sudan > Church united as one tribe - the tribe of God
The Diocesan Bishops
Pictured right: Nick Baines, our Diocesan Bishop; the Revd Hassan El Fil from Kadugli; Ezekiel Kondo, Bishop of Khartoum and Archbishop of Sudan (back row). Saman Farjalla, Bishop of Wad Medani; Ismail Gibreil, Bishop of El Obeid; Abdu Al-Nur Kodi, Bishop of Port Sudan (front row).
Pictured far right: Hassan James, Assistant Bishop of Kadugli; Ezekiel Kondo, Bishop of Khartoum and Archbishop of Sudan; Andudu Adam Elnail, Bishop of Kadugli.
For more information about church life in Sudan, email: sudanlinkcontact@gmail.com