A team of Episcopalians from three dioceses is seeking to raise funds to purchase a vehicle that next month will allow them to travel across the southern region of The Episcopal Church of the Sudan.
 
The Church of the Sudan contains 24 dioceses, 20 of which are located in the southern portion of the country. Only six dioceses in the south have companion relationships with dioceses in the Episcopal Church. A primary purpose of the visit is to develop relationships with the remaining 14. Plans call for the vehicle to be donated to the Sudanese church at the conclusion of the visit.
 
“We thought it was time that we went over and spent some time going from diocese to diocese, making sure we had made those connections on behalf of the Episcopal Church,” said Buck Blanchard, world mission coordinator for the Diocese of Virginia. “We want to reach out to these often overlooked places and let them know that we have not forgotten them, that we support the work that they do and that we are praying for them.”
 
The itinerary for the trip will consist of several parts, according to a release distributed by the Diocese of Virginia. Mr. Blanchard will join Phil Darrow of the Diocese of Chicago and Robin Denney of the Diocese of El Camino Real on a tour of eight dioceses. The team will travel about 265 miles, requiring three uninterrupted days of travel on mostly unpaved roads.
 
Mr. Blanchard and Ms. Denney will continue their trip at a retreat for Sudanese bishops in Yei, where they will be joined by the Rt. Rev. David C. Jones, Bishop Suffragan of Virginia, and the Rt. Rev. Francis C. Gray, former assistant Bishop of Virginia and newly appointed commissary to the Church of Sudan.
 
In his role as the Episcopal Church’s representative, Bishop Gray will help conduct part of the bishops’ retreat through a series of meditations on the human soul. Retreat leaders are the Most Rev. George Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Most Rev. Henry Orombi, Archbishop of Uganda.
 
“To me, this is an incredibly exciting opportunity for the church in the United States to demonstrate its interest and commitment to the Church of the Sudan by doing one of the most important things you can do in mission work: being a presence in someone else’s life,” Mr. Blanchard said.
 
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