anglican focus

The news site of the Anglican Church Southern Queensland: nourishing and connecting our faith community

Sudanese and South Sudanese community

Justice & Advocacy Bishop Daniel Abot Justice & Advocacy

Former refugee Bishop Daniel Abot supports Bill, calling for the evacuation of refugees warehoused offshore for 10 years

“The 150 people still held in Papua New Guinea and on Nauru did not have to spend 10 years there – successive Federal Governments have arbitrarily held them there. I respect all 150 of these people for their incredible courage and resilience. And, I pray for their speedy evacuation. The sooner they are evacuated and brought here, the sooner they will be able to begin recovering, both mentally and physically,” says Bishop Daniel Abot in his Senate inquiry submission

Reflections

650 Bishops, 550 spouses and 10 calls

“I left the UK in August with a renewed hope for the future of the Anglican Communion, and for the future of our Diocesan community. Reassuringly, most of the conference’s 10 Calls resonate with existing areas of focus and ministry in our Diocese,” says Bishop Cam Venables

Reflections

“Sharing our stories was like watering each other’s trees”

“Our group facilitator, Kate Venables, led us in the conversation, asking the group how we experienced lions in our lives. So I translated the stories of two Dinka women in our group from the same village who said that when they were young girls, they used to look after the cows. One of the Bishops’ wives shared about how she protected a cow from being eaten by a lion as a young girl. The lion jumped from a tree onto the back of a cow,” says Rachel Jimma from St Bart’s, Toowoomba

Reflections

Consultation and consensus: handing back the role of Bishop

“In my culture people have a collective consciousness. This means that I can’t make important decisions impacting my community alone. Just as I couldn’t refuse the role as Bishop, I couldn’t decide as an individual to resign from the role. In order to hand back the role of Bishop, I needed to travel to South Sudan for three months earlier this year so I could consult,” says Resource Church specialist Bishop Daniel Abot