Cry for Sudan   by    William Mather.

William Mather is the Associate Director of SOMA UK, and he writes:

The specific inspiration for this book came out of two SOMA missions­ — to Kajo-Keji Diocese and Yei Diocese in 2003 and 2004.     But as the opening poem says, this is:

 Much more than just a book about the Sudan.
But a volume that speaks to the soul
About ministry and mission
A meditation from the heart
That calls to prayer
And seeing the unseen
Helps others to understand and experience
 A different way of thinking
That challenges presuppositions about how we live
And die
And have our being

 So it is a collection of poems, and sketches in pen and water-colour, and narrative, which together convey a first-hand impression of what life is like for the Christians in southern Sudan now.  At the same time it is also a spiritual resource for prayer and intercession.

The sketches are very sketchy and undoubtedly lose something of their force in being reproduced in monochrome instead of the original colours. Yet they still communicate the artist’s experiences of the country and the people and their activities, and they have an immediacy that highlights the transitory nature of the visits.  For these are short-term missions to a large country with so many people suffering the traumatic effects of fifty years of civil war, and famine and drought in their turn.  But despite their brevity, these missions have an enduring  effect on both the recipients and the missionaries. 

There are stories of mighty movements of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives, through physical and emotional healing, resurrections, and the incredible, reconciliatory power of prayer and forgiveness.

And the poems grow on you with repeated reading.  They tell a story of the history and the hopes and fears of the Sudanese that mirror the experiences of people in other parts of Africa, and they are relevant to us too.

This book is a little gem, heart-warming and sobering in equal parts, that will repay careful and prayerful study, and promote the invaluable work of SOMA in this troubled world. 

Brian Newsom   

 

Cry for Sudan   William Mather. Terra Nova Publications 2004.    ISBN 1 90194 933 8.

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