S. Sudan churches leaders call for implementation of peace and reconciliation

April 29, 2016 (KAMPALA) – Religious leaders from South Sudan’s Presbyterian, Catholic, Anglican and Seven Day Adventist churches have conducted a joint prayer on Friday in Ugandan capital, Kampala, calling for reconciliation and healing among South Sudanese people.

Stephen Liet Machot, a pastor from the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan, said the gathering was organized as thanksgiving to God for bringing peace in South Sudan. He said many South Sudanese were forced into exile due to two and a half years of conflict in the country.

Pastor Machot said the role of the church should play was participating in realizing a lasting peace and reconciliation among leaders in the country.

“Our role as the church we pray for peace, unity and reconciliation and we will preach that to people that reconciliation and unity is very important for the development of South Sudan,” he said.

He believed it is a collective responsibility of every South Sudanese to make sure stability is restored through dialogue between politicians and the communities who are hard hit by the conflicts.

“Let’s come together, unite ourselves as one country, one nation and we can be together in the peaceful and the unity so that we can move forward for reconciliation, development and the healing of the nation,” said pastor Machot.

He also called on the people to refrain from divisions, adding that the formation of transitional government of national unity meant that South Sudanese have become one, despite the deadly war which erupted on 15 December 2013.

Pastor James Baap on his part also called on South Sudanese to stop using social media as a platform to spread hate messages, urging them to focus on peace and love for one another.

“My message goes to those who are on internet who preach bad word. We need to minimize our bad words so that for the peace to come into our hearts and the country,” he added.

He said the war had left big scars in the society, but he urged citizens to forget and put God in all everything and to forgive those who wronged them.

John Yual Guth, chairperson of Nuer Christian Mission Network of South Sudan said peace is the only tool that can unite South Sudanese.

“We need to reconcile at the grass root level, from churches level…all our communities need to have reconciliation in the real sense,” he said.

He said the formation of transitional government is the last hope for peace in South Sudan and urged South Sudanese to embrace peace and unity.

(ST)