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South Sudanese Covenant Pastor Arrested at Ethiopian Border
Covenant News Service
KHARTOUM, SUDAN (October 21, 2002) - A South Sudanese Covenant pastor was
arrested at the Ethiopian/Sudanese border last week and has been
transferred
to another province in Sudan, Covenant News Service has learned.
Rev. Gabriel Kaek was arrested by a Muslim security force of Sudan in the
military area called Sirea near the border of Sudan and Ethiopia on
Tuesday, according to a report by a local evangelist. He was transferred to
the Doka province on Thursday and no specific information about his
status has been made available since that time.
Kaek attended Mekane Jesu Seminary in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and graduated
in 2001, said Jim Sundholm, director of Covenant World Relief.
He studied there with help from Covenant scholarships and returned to his
home in Bentiu, which is located in the central western part of the
country. In recent years, oil discoveries have led to massive military
action in the area as Muslims of the government army and the
Christian-supported Sudan People's Liberation Army has waged war over the
land.
According to reports, Kaek was traveling to Ethiopia to meet with other
Covenant leaders from South Sudan and Ethiopia. The border area in
southeast Sudan has been a prominent Covenant ministry site and has been an
effective means for many to receive food and supplies.
"Gabriel's a fine pastor who was given papers to travel to the United
States and decided, because of his call to be a pastor, to give up the
papers," Sundholm said. "That's a remarkable thing to do, a remarkable
statement of commitment to his congregation. He has a strong pastoral
heart and has been a very thoughtful person in trying to maintain unity for
this young denomination."
The Evangelical Covenant Church of South Sudan (ECCSS) was founded in 1999
and has approximately 55,000 people attending worship, said
Sundholm, who asks for prayer for Kaek and the Covenant churches there.
More information about Kaek will be made available on this Covenant web
site as it becomes available. For more information on the ECCSS, contact
Sundholm by email at jim.sundholm@covchurch.org or email William Ruei Lok,
a superintendent and director of ministry for the ECCSS, at
wreui@yahoo.com.
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