For many years Pohick has been involved in the work of global mission as part of our response to Christ’s charge to serve the world in his name. And so, in the 1990s my predecessor traveled to South Africa with Pohick parishioners in support of several ministries there. Later, during my first year at Pohick, our parish sponsored the Rev. Susan Hazen in a mission trip to the Dominican Republic.

More recently, through our longtime relationship with African Team Ministries, we have hosted the former Archbishop of Uganda, the Most Reverend Livingstone Nkoyoyo, whose work with HIV/AIDS orphans we continue to support through our outreach budget.

Another part of the world with which our Diocese has had a relationship is the troubled nation of Sudan. Of course, the Darfur region of that country has been much in the news lately, and rightly so. With the conflict there resulting in over 200,000 deaths and 3.5 million refugees, the situation is horrifying and demands that the international community forcefully intervene to put a stop to the genocide being committed in that region.

With respect to the Church, an official Anglican presence has been in Sudan since 1899, with most of the missionary efforts being concentrated in the south. The introduction of Christianity into these regions led to civil conflicts with the Muslim north throughout the second half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. These wars were even more devastating than the current conflict in Darfur, for they resulted in over two million deaths and twice as many refugees. Although a peace agreement was finally signed in 2005, the relationship between the north and south remains strained.

Spearheading the recent alliance between the Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church of Sudan was Bishop Francis Gray, Assistant Bishop of our Diocese from 1998 to 2006. Under his leadership, we were able to send missionaries to that country and to raise money for the raising of the Cathedral of St. Matthew in the Diocese of Renk, which was consecrated just last year.

On Sunday, July 1, we will be privileged to have with us the Rev. Lauren Stanley, who has served for several years as a missionary to the Sudan from our diocese. She will deliver the sermon that day and will also lead a parish forum after the 10:00 am service. Her presentation will be filled with personal reflections of her ministry in that country, whose situation remains so desperate, yet whose Christians display such a remarkable faith.

I hope that many of you will be able to take advantage of this opportunity to broaden our understanding of the Church’s work in the Sudan, as well as to lend our support to the missionary efforts that will continue in the years ahead.