As a result of the new arrivals, the priest in charge of the White Nile Congregations in Finland, part of the Church of England's Diocese in Europe, finds his work growing. "Our church is fully engaged in many parts of this Nordic country in providing care, a spiritual home and pastoral accompaniment to the new arrivals," Bishop David said during a visit to Helsinki where he was confirmed a number of candidates at St Nicholas' Church.

"The fellowship and joy in the congregation was infectious as the young people renewed their baptismal vows, were chrismated and received the apostolic rite of the laying on of hands," Bishop David wrote.

"The service was in English, Arabic and Finnish. The priests assisting me were Finnish, Sudanese and Nigerian in origin. Yes, this is the Church of England!"

The cross used at St Nicholas' Church in Helskinki, proceeding the ministers as they process at the start of the service, was originally used at the Anglican church in St Petersburg.

"The last members of that congregation brought it with them when they fled to Helsinki in 1917 at the outbreak of the revolution in Russia," Bishop David said. "Thus our congregation in the Finnish capital is reminded week by week that it was founded by refugees.

"Today, St Nicholas's continues to serve those fleeing for their lives, many of whom come from Sudan and South Sudan."

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Sudan's Anglicans await decision on province

[ACNS, July 29, 2016 - by Adrian Butcher] Anglicans in Sudan are waiting to hear if they will become a new, separate province of the Communion after a team led by the secretary general visited the country on a fact-finding trip. Currently, Sudan is an internal province with the Anglican Church of South Sudan and Sudan.

Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon said he had a very positive impression of the Church in Sudan.

"The spirituality of the people is very infectious," he said. "I was impressed by the determination of the people to survive and the commitment to their faith. We were very encouraged by what we saw."

Archbishop Josiah was joined by the vice chair of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), Canon Margaret Swinson, who was representing the Standing Committee; the Archbishop of Adelaide, the Rt Revd Jeffrey Driver, and the Bishop of Bradford, the Rt Revd Toby Howarth. Archbishop Jeffrey has considerable experience of Sudan and South Sudan. Bishop Toby's diocese has longstanding links to the area.

The team were given an official state welcome and met several ministers of state, including the Minister for Federal Government. They also met Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo and bishops from the five dioceses and were briefed on their readiness to form a new province. Subjects included staff numbers, financial viability and mission focus, as well as the numbers of lay workers. The whole team visited the diocese of Khartoum and Archbishop Josiah and Archbishop Jeffrey also went to Port Sudan.

The secretary general described the atmosphere at a service held at the cathedral in Khartoum as "unbelievable" and said that the building was packed. More than 2,000 worshipers gathered for the occasion.

"They were so excited about the possibility of becoming a province," he said. "And I'm encouraged by their attitude to their Muslim neighbours. They accept that they are the minority and they are working hard to be accepted and recognised as Sudanese."

The team went to Sudan at the request of the Primate of South Sudan and Sudan. It will now produce a report on its findings for the ACC's Standing Committee which will decide whether to admit Sudan as the Anglican Communion's 39th Province.

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Anglican agency Sudra distributes aid to hundreds of South Sudanese

[ACNS, by Kenyi Frazer] The relief agency of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan & Sudan, Sudra, is distributing relief items to hundreds of people who took refuge in churches in response to last month's violence. Tens of thousands of people fled their homes when government and opposition forces clashed in and around Juba.

Reliefs items including maize floor, beans, oil and table salt are being distributed from the All Saints Cathedral compound in Juba by young volunteers from Kator archdeaconry and the Diocese of Juba.

One of the recipients, Mama Kiden, said she was "happy" to receive the aid and thanked the Anglican church for helping her. She said that she did not know he she and her four children would survive without it. "In the last two weeks it was not easy," she said. "Everything in the market was expensive and I could not afford [anything].

"My husband who works for a construction company had no money since his employers were evacuated. They have not returned back so he is jobless now."

Mama Kiden took shelter in All Saints Cathedral but was able to return to her home in the Gudele district after the fighting stopped. "I was surprised [when] we reached my house, seeing the doors open with some of our belongings looted," she said. "They only took [a] few items from my house . . . but my neighbour's house was completely swept."

In addition to Juba, fighting has also taken place in Lainya County, some 75 kilometres from Juba. When armed opposition and government troops clashed in the town, all the civilians fled the area, leaving no one but soldiers patrolling the town and residential areas.

Only the Bishop of Lainya, the Rt Revd Eleoba Lako, remains as the only civilian left in the town. Bishop Lako is living in the Cathedral compound. The roads from Lainya to Yei and Juba are both closed.

Christians in Juba are worried about how Bishop Lako is coping and have asked for prayers.

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Malawians welcome chiLambya Bible translation

By Gavin Drake
July 29, 2016

After a 12-year translation project, the New Testament is finally available in chiLambya, one of the languages of northern Malawi; and the Old Testament is expected to be completed in 2018. ChiLambya is one of 13 languages spoken in Chitipa region; and is also used by the Ndali, Banyika, BaMambwe, BaNamwanga and BaBandya across northern Malawi, south Tanzania and western Zambia.

"Now each tribe has a Bible in their own language," the Bishop of Northern Malawi, the Rt Revd Fanuel Emmanuel Magangani, in the Church of the Province of Central Africa, told ACNS. "We praise God for the work the Bible Society is doing in Malawi to enable people hear God speaking to them in their own language.

"It's like the day of Pentecost that we now hear the word of God in every language of the people in Malawi."

Bishop Fanuel said that the new translation "will help to reach out to as many people as possible" by "making the word of God available to all people in the most coherent language of the people."

The Diocese of Northern Malawi has one parish serving the Lambiya speaking people in Chitipa. "We praise God for this wonderful gift to the people of this area," he said.

Work on the chiLambya translation -- the Ulufingo Ulupya -- began in 2004 under the auspices of the Bible Society of Malawi and the Word for the World International. Clapperton Mayuni, the Bible Society's executive director said that the release of the chiLambya Bible meant that "each person has an opportunity to hear God's Word in their own language. God is speaking chiLambya today."

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New Anglican Centre proposed for Santiago de Compostela
The Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain is proposing to build an Anglican Centre in Santiago to enable Protestant pilgrims to share the Eucharist

By Gavin Drake
ACNS
July 28, 2016

The Iglesia Española Reformada Episcopal (IERE) -- the Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain -- is proposing to build an Anglican Centre at Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain; considered by many to be the third holiest pilgrimage site after Jerusalem and Rome. Santiago de Compostela has been a major international destination for pilgrims since at least the ninth century and is said to be the burial site of Jesus' disciple Saint James.

The new Anglican Centre at the end of the Camino de Santiago -- or Way of St James -- will cost in the region of $5 million USD (approximately £3.8 million GBP) and the IERE has established a US-based charitable organisation -- the American Friends of the Anglican Centre for Santiago de Compostela -- with the help of supporters based at Trinity Church, Wall Street, as a means of fund-raising for the new centre. They and have already received a grant from the US-based Episcopal Church's United Thank Offering (UTO) scheme.

"We convened [an] initial meeting [in New York] to explore the viability of building an Anglican Centre in Santiago," the Revd Spencer Reece, national secretary for the Bishop of Spain, Carlos Lopez-Lozáno, said. "The message seemed clear. We need one! Why? Currently there are more Protestants on the Camino than Catholics.

"However, Spain, being one of the most Catholic countries on earth, there has never been a place for Protestant pilgrims to receive Eucharist when they finish the Camino.

"Furthermore, there are Anglican centres in Jerusalem and Rome, but none in third most holy site on earth: Santiago."

He added: "This is a big project naturally and one that seeks the help of all corners of the Anglican Communion as well as pilgrims outside the church who want to see a place of healing built in Santiago overseen by our church."

END