This past Ash Wednesday, the Rev. Daniel Gunn performed the usual Christian rites on people who haven’t received them for 50 years.
Through a translator, the people of Sudan told Gunn — a priest at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Wilkes-Barre — they could not recall the last time a priest touched the ashes to their forehead on the solemn day..
Decades of devastating civil war tore apart the country and its people lost customs and practices along with their churches, homes and schools.
Over the religious holy day, Gunn traveled to Southern Sudan to meet people in his church’s companion diocese in Africa. He and his friend, Trip Tregnaier, were the first from the Diocese of Bethlehem to go to the town of Kajo Keji to see the charity work the diocese has completed in the war-torn country. He said the experience opened his eyes and taught him to appreciate what people have in the United States.
“I felt a need and desire to connect with our brothers and sisters there, to know how they live day-to-day and hopefully find new ways we can reach out to help them through our abundance,” said Gunn, 35, of Wilkes-Barre.
The Diocese of Bethlehem has donated more than $3 million to help the people in Southern Sudan rebuild their country. Much of the money raised in Gunn’s diocese has gone toward building four schools near Kajo Keji.
The rest is here-
http://www.citizensvoice.com/articles/2009/03/31/lifestyles/doc49d2864c72bd5059522525.txt
No comments:
Post a Comment