The scenario was New Year's Eve, and the plane had arrived in Yambio, a remote Diocese. Over the trees, a cruciform Cathedral, which was a gift of the Australian Church to the Diocese, could be seen. What was exciting was the fact that there were thousands of people on hand to greet the Archbishop of Canterbury and his party, as he made this historic, unprecedented and dangerous visit. Everyone, although thin, gaunt and barely clothed, was singing, chanting, dancing, joyful in their expression of faith and their expression of love and their expression of thankfulness for their visitors. The reality we all know is that the Sudan is plagued by endless conflicts.
People have to live under the most severe circumstances, year after year.
Civil strife and civil war are the daily menu. I can't wait for the Eucharist. The Cathedral probably seated about 400. The next day the crowd estimated was nearly 20,000. No Holy Communion.