Fr Amos's refugee ministry is back on the road again!

Fr Amos in his new (second-hand, that is) vehicle
Fr Amos is mobile again! Thanks to a generous grant from USPG, matched by funds from the Diocesan Board of Finance, the Revd Amos Manga is back on the road ministering to refugees in Finland.

Fr  Amos is himself a refugee from South Sudan. He is the priest-in-charge of what we call the White Nile congregations in Finland. This is a remarkable ministry among the many refugees who have been resettled in Finland, from Sudan and South Sudan. This pastoral work requires extensive travel across this vast country to where the refugees have been resettled. A vehicle is an absolutely essential tool for this work. A while back, his former, very old car, simply died. Since then, Fr Amos has been limited in the scope of his work which requires him to travel to very scattered communities in this vast country.



According to Fr Amos, in recent months, several hundred new families have arrived and are now settled around mainly Northern Finnish cities: Kokkola, Kotka, Närpiö, Vaasa, Oulu, Lahti, with a small number in Helsinki and environs itself.

South Sudanese refugee youth at a confirmation in Vaasa
Fr Amos holds services (in Juba Arabic!) in many centres and also has camps for refugee youth, to assist with their cultural integration. Many adults in the White Nile congregations are also engaged in English-language classes, preparing for the day when they might be able to return to South Sudan, where English is now an official working language.

Here is a short interview with Fr Amos, recorded at the Nordic/Baltic synod meeting in Riga in September:



Many thanks to USPG (and the Diocesan Board of Finance) for their generous support to make this vital ministry possible.



Comments

  1. Anonymous24 October 2016 at 06:26

    Please obscure the registration number of the car.

    ReplyDelete

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