This Lent, our community is banding together to serve the needs of our sisters and brothers in South Sudan by building a school for the children living in Yei. You are invited to walk in solidarity with us by keeping us in mind with your prayers, fasting, and almsgiving.

We have distributed our Lenten Journey posters at the Rochester Catholic schools and parishes, and they are also available here as a Lenten Journey Poster PDF. Place a jar or bowl near your calendar for almsgiving opportunities. After Easter, donations can be dropped off or mailed to Seeds of Wisdom in South Sudan, 11 Fourth Avenue SW, Rochester, MN 55902.

As we progress through our Lenten Journey, please consider sharing your stories and experiences with us on the Seeds of Wisdom in South Sudan Facebook page.

Join us in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving by walking with us in solidarity on our Lenten Journey.

In the September 21st weekly bulletin from St. John’s was this wonderful article by board member Bob Tremain and Father Jerry Mahon, who wrote about our then upcoming Awareness to Action Weekend:

As you are likely aware, the crisis in Sudan over the past several years was brought closer to home for us through the spiritual intervention of Fr. John Lasuba. He is living proof that although there is much darkness in the world, there is a God of hope and love who asks us to be witnesses in His name. Fr. John, a long with a number of parishioners, have taken this spiritual invitation seriously and have formed a nonprofit organization – Seeds of Wisdom in South Sudan. The primary purpose of this organization is to respond to the need for quality, Catholic education in Fr. John’s hometown of Yei, South Sudan.

The goal of Seeds of Wisdom in South Sudan is to build a Catholic school campus on some of the 37 acres of land already donated by Fr. John’s people. Significant strides have been made over the past several months in achieving this goal. At this point, the organization is looking for additional volunteers who feel called to this exciting project.

Next weekend, the Board of Directors for Seeds of Wisdom in South Sudan will have an informational and sign-up booth in the gathering space. Please take a moment and stop by the booth to discover more about this worthwhile project. If you will not be available next weekend and are interested in finding out more information, please contact us at:seedsofwisdom@sj.org.

Thank you, Bob, and to the entire board of “Seeds of Wisdom” as you continue your serious work which has been long standing. I recall very well my conversation with Father John some years ago when I proposed to him that we as a parish community would “stand with him and his people” in creating a new life of possibilities for his area and this was before we realized a new nation in the Republic of South Sudan. The group in leadership has given their time and their conviction was evident with the “fact-finding” group visiting the home town of Father John. Others have shared their precious gifts of creativity, questions, practicality and “common sense” as we take on this adventure.

Our school in Yei, South Sudan, is an adventure with the same depth of calling you to enter into the path of being generous and making a sacrifice for the glory of God and embracing a people who are looking to us for the basic necessities of life: education, formation and the tenderness of Christ.

Awareness to Action weekend was a great success, and we would like to thank everyone who  stopped by to learn more about what we have planned! If you are interested in a more active role in our organization, we are always looking for volunteers, and we would love your help.

Please contact us at seedsofwisdom@sj.org or fill out the volunteer form on the Get Involved page here on the website to let us know how you can help.

To read more from the bulletin, visit the website for the Church of St. John the Evangelist.

A team of three St. John Catholic Church parishioners, Chris Price, Steve Deick, and Cris Fischer, went on a fact-finding trip to Yei, South Sudan in September to learn about the area, the culture, and how best to work with the local community, and, in particular, Fr. John’s people (The Kakuwa). Below is a brief summary of the visit. For a day-by-day account of the trip, visit the group’s blog.

School Children in Uganda

Our trip began in Kampala, Uganda, where we visited a primary and secondary school and a university. Our goal was to learn about the development of the educational system in Africa and to visit a prototype of the buildings we will be using for the school complex in Yei. Our hosts were incredibly helpful in sharing information and resources to help guide us as we work toward our goal of building a school.

Arrival in Yei, South Sudan – Meeting Fr. John’s sister!

We boarded a small charter plane to travel from Uganda to Yei. As we flew over the African terrain, we were reminded of the song, ”From a distance, we are instruments marching in a common band, playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace, they are the song of every man. God is watching us…(and watching over us…as we landed on the dirt runway of the Yei airport!) We were greeted in Yei by a wonderful group of people who were present with us throughout our visit. And, what a delight it was to meet Fr. John’s sister, Cecilia. She is a vibrant (and very funny!) woman and you would know in a minute that she is Fr. John’s sister! She is standing next to Steve (in the picture to the right) with the children from Harvester’s orphanage, on whose compound we stayed while in South Sudan.

Understanding the Culture and the Community

Each day we ventured out to learn about the community, the people, the government and education. Our goal, as we develop this project, is to work in partnership with the Kakuwa people and pay attention to their needs, desires and goals. We met with the bankers, the local engineers, and the commissioner to discuss the land, the buildings and local construction. We visited local shops to find out about the availability of supplies, materials and labor. We met with education officials, a local headmaster, and teachers, to discuss the current educational system and needs – and the needs are many. Over 100 children in their classes (if they go to school at all), 16% literacy rate among the girls and 40% among the boys. In every meeting, our desire was to learn as much as we could about the present systems and structures as this knowledge will help us understand how we can best work with the community and the people to build a successful learning environment.

Kakuwa Tribal Celebration and Visit to the Land

Our second to last day was set aside to visit the land on which the school will be situated. Oh my – what an amazing experience! Part of the land had been cleared and hand-hewn shelters were set up. There were speeches and music and dancing and laughter and food and even a play – with a very good moral message – which we could interpret even though we did not speak the language! The Kakuwa community with which we will be working welcomed us with open arms and we were treated like royalty. It was a humbling experience to recognize how much they desire this school and how important this is to the Kakuwa people.

Below are photos from the trip.

[nggallery id=1]