On Friday, Fr. David, Luke and I went to the “Hope for a New Nation” Festival in Juba. Our parish was asked to come and bring 100 youth to the festival, which was supposed to “help lay a strong spiritual foundation as the world’s newest country faces spiritual, economic, social and political challenges.” We arrived at the festival grounds around 5pm, joining thousands of people gathered to hear music, prayers, and speeches. Despite a very lackluster talk by the headliner Franklin Graham (definitely living off of his last name), I was very impressed with the turnout and attitude of the people. The park was packed, and people were actually standing on cars in the street to join in the celebration. The whole crowd got completely silent for the moment of silence and prayer. They sang and danced during praise and worship songs. They demonstrated the importance of having that strong spiritual foundation during this time of hope.

And it really is a time for hope in South Sudan. In a way, I liken the feelings here to those of the United States of America in 1777, a year after the Declaration of Independence was signed. Our founding fathers believed that all people are created equal, and they hoped that everyone would have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They laid out the grounds of hope for others, and their hopes came to fruition in our great nation. The South Sudanese hope for many of the same things. In their national anthem they sing of peace and harmony, justice, liberty, and prosperity. Not only are they hoping for these things we Americans are so blessed with, but also they are putting their hope in Christ.

A few months back I read a great article on the hope of this new nation, and this blog post reminded me of it, so I figured I would share (http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/06/opinion/archbishop-tutu-south-sudan/index.html)

Pat & Anthony Vallez-Kelly
11/4/2012 04:03:27 am

This is our first visit to your blog, Tom. (Sorry it has taken us this long!) We are looking forward to catching up on your experience in South Sudan so far.

Anthony thinks your bathroom looks funny. He also feels sad that the soccer field is all dirt. But he is very interested in your experience.

We hope you're well. We're praying for you and your community.

Lots of love,
The California Vallez-Kelly's

P.S. The Giants won the World Series. They swept the Tigers! Sorry about that, too. :-D

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