After a one week delay, the fifth Hosing and Population census got under way at midnight on Monday 21st April. Everyone was recorded where they were sleeping that night. The results will be very significant and will be preparatory for the referendum on the future of Southern Sudan, to be organised in 2011.

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The road to Mongo is notoriously bad! In the dry season it is a very bumpy journey; in the rainy season it is sometimes impassable.

I drove the road earlier today in order to visit the new Primary School building that is being constructed in Mongo, funded by Connor Diocese, through CMS Ireland.

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It’s my first visit to Jordan and my third visit to Egypt as CMS Ireland Regional Mission Partner. Find out what my plans are – where I’ll be visiting and who I’ll be meeting during my visit.

I would greatly value your prayers for the visit, specifically for a time of spiritual refreshment for over 20 CMS Mission Partners attending the retreat in Jordan which includes CMS Ireland Mission Partners David and Gillian Maganda and family. Then also for my visit to Egypt and specifically for my meetings with the Bishop, the Irish Ambassador, Rajkumar and Primila in Port Said as well as the various project visits.

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Like so many things, buying Good News Bibles in Yei is extremely difficult. In fact, there are none anywhere. Our challenge was that we wanted to present each of our 102 new students with a Good News Bible hardback which we use in morning devotions each day.

We did some research and tracked some down in Uganda. A price was negotiated but they would not deliver until paid.

A quick email to friends in our home church secured a cheque payable to the Bible Society UK.

They then emailed Uganda and the Bibles were delivered to Missionary Aviation Fellowship.

MAF flew them up to us free of charge on 15th April and we handed them out in a special ceremony on 17th April when our vicar Rev David Williams was visiting.

It was a great occasion, for which we give thanks to all those who helped in one way or another.

For a moment I caught a glimpse of the power of uncountable numbers of people from every nation before God’s throne worshiping from their hearts. Christianity is not a middle class white Western world social construct. This God we are worshiping is God over all the earth He has made. The reality of that can seem distant in our busy media full lives, but man, I have been struck forcefully (yet) again of who are God is, and indeed how blessed I am to know him and work with His people here.

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We were very privileged to attend the enthronement ceremony of the new Archbishop of the Sudan in Juba Cathedral on Sunday 20th April. It was a very colourful ceremony and the cathedral was packed with people from all over the Sudan, as well as many overseas visitors.

We were representing CMS Ireland at the ceremony, which marked the enthronement of the Most Reverend Daniel Deng Bul as Primate of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan and Bishop of Juba. The sermon was preached by the Archbishop of Ruanda and greetings were given by Bishops and Archbishops from around the world. The Communion service lasted about 4 hours and was a very wonderful occasion.

When I started in CMS Ireland the first thing I worked on was a project for Sunday Schools called ‘Counting the Cost’. The project was based in DR Congo and tried to raise awareness of some of the issues facing the local church as it tried to help communities put their lives back together after decades of misrule, civil war and instability.

In the eight years that have passed DR Congo has continued to face many of the same problems – and some new ones, earthquakes and volcanoes amongst them.

I came across these pictures on the guardian website and it reminded me that some things haven’t changed – almost a decade down the line…