The Consecration

                 The consecration of Bishop Stevan was a momentous occasion. The consecration was scheduled to take place in Lui on Sunday June 26^th 2011. Bishop Peni and I headed out that Friday along with his driver Ezekiel, who is also his Chaplin, and Gabriel, the Coordinator of the Evangelists. Because the roads in Sudan are very poor the 150 miles we traveled to get there took us roughly 7½ hours.

Along the way we came across a petrol gas truck that had fallen over on its side and barrels of gas were spilling all over the road. The offended truck had completely blocked the road creating a big traffic jam. We were stuck waiting for about 40minutes until a tractor came to flip the truck right side up, meanwhile, others were out by the truck trying to salvage the remaining barrels of gas.

Praying over the New Bishop

When we reached Lui we were greeted by a large number of youth singing welcoming songs, we were then directed to our guest house. It was very interesting to see all the festive decorations being put up and very large amounts of food being prepared. 

When all the Bishops had arrived we gathered in anticipation of the arrival of the ArchBishop Daniel Deng. Bishops are some of the most highly respected people in Sudan, and when addressed, they are referred to as “Your Lordship” and the ArchBishop is addressed as “Your Grace”.

The New Bishop addressing his people

There was a special designated place for all the Bishop's and Government Officials to dine, as well as to converse with one another so they don't have to be among the other visitors. Being Bishop Samuels Guest I was among the Bishops and Government Officials.

On Saturday there was a rehearsal for the consecration the following day. The rehearsal itself took two hours just to briefly go through everything. I quickly realized the service tomorrow will be one unlike any other I have ever attended. The Archbishop wanted to have the service in Lui because he wanted the people of Lui to see how its done. He said “I could have consecrated him in Juba, but I wanted the people to learn and share this experience with him.”

The service was a magnificent one. The non-stop joyful singing, the powerful words being said, the decorations prepared, and the amount of people there to witness this momentous occasion was something to behold. There were over 5,000 people in attendance at the service. Even the Governor of Western Equatorial came to witness this life changing event. The service lasted 5½ hours and things had to be cut short and also removed from the original schedule just to save time.

Afterwards we all gathered for lunch, in our designated places. Because people were in such a rush to get going home we left at 3pm. The trip back to Nzara was longer than the trip up, because we got trapped in a major rain storm that put us back a couple hours later.

Bishop Samuel and Myself along with the other Bishops, in front of us, the ArchBishop

But all in all, the trip was very nice, and it was interesting to meet all those bishops and the ArchBishop, and I was glad to be present at that consecration as

Bishop Stevan is the last Bishop to be consecrated before independence.