On Partnership
Basukangbi, South Sudan
On a late Sunday afternoon, our Toyota Land Cruiser bounded over another impasse, and Bishop Samuel Enosa Peni turned back from his position in the passenger seat and smiled in my direction. “You feel that?” He asked, grinning. “We’re now driving on three wheels!” Indeed, with one wheel elevated and the other three clinging to an uneven crevasse, the vehicle still pushed forward on our trek back from a parish located in a rural area of South Sudan— so rural that the thirty-mile drive took almost two hours because the Land Cruiser and its artful driver created most of the roads that we traversed.
This was the fourth week of my stay in Nzara, South Sudan, and the Bishop invited me to attend that rural parish's centennial celebration— a three-hour outdoor ceremony that included elements of a traditional Rite II service as well as myriad songs and dance.
Bishop Samuel, whose schedule includes regional peace talks with heads of state of neighboring countries as well as diplomatic missions to legislatures in Western Europe and the United States, found the time to visit and celebrate with this humble parish— and his effort reminded me of the importance of partnership and how essential partnership is to the Communion.
His efforts locally, regionally, and internationally largely center on forging peace in South Sudan, a country whose brief political history has been rife with civil conflict. For decades, the people of South Sudan have sought a sustainable peace that would promote goodwill and prosperity, thus utilizing the vast natural resources of the East African country. In 2011, when the South Sudanese voted in a referendum to secede, they achieved a significant goal, successfully overcoming generations of oppression, driven in part by British and Egyptian colonization as well as a consistent suppression of rights and liberties by northern Sudan. Furthermore, the vote offered an opportunity for peace after civil wars ravaged the nation, stunting economic growth and the educational advancement of those affected.
Political strife and territorial leanings have threatened to evaporate the gains achieved during the referendum. When the President of South Sudan ousted his Vice President and other loyalists in 2013, this set off a series of political standoffs that metastasized into a bona fide conflict which has resulted in thousands of deaths and has threatened the country’s stability.
Bishop Samuel, who leads the Nzara Diocese of South Sudan’s Western Equatoria state, utilizes partnerships on at least three levels to work toward peace. On the most local level, his diocese uses a microfinance program for indigent women as a means to empower those women and to help them build their small businesses, which include farming and making baked goods.
Mothers’ Union Workshop on Income-Generating Activities
Regionally, Bishop Samuel travels and speaks directly to political and faith leaders in Uganda and other neighboring countries to find ways to make peace more attractive to the warring factions, who often seek to profit over the disarray by selling stolen oil or goods at conflict-affected prices. And internationally, Bishop Samuel uses his perfect English language skills and his reasoning to appeal to decision-makers in western countries, who can use diplomatic pressures to move for peace.
As an American visitor who worked specifically on the microfinance program, I noted Bishop Samuel and his diocese’s sincere, unflagging demonstration of partnership as a means for peace and prosperity. While an international peace agreement or ceasefire may be essential to solving the crisis, the relationship between the diocese and its local women is just as crucial to success. By furthering their entrepreneurial ambitions and generating income when it would otherwise seem impossible, such a local partnership arguably creates greater and more enduring change. Where the rubber meets the road— or at least where three out of four rubber wheels meet the road— that’s where partnership matters most.
Bishop Samuel Enosa Peni and Elliot Watts
