About St. Paul the Apostle Sudanese Episcopal Church

It all started when a group of young Sudanese people, “The Lost Boys of Sudan” arrived in Phoenix between 2000 and 2001. These young Christians looked for somewhere to start their prayers and worshiping. At first, they were introduced to the Faith Community Church, where many Sudanese people prayed every Sunday. It did not take them long before they realized the difference in the way of worshiping in Faith Community Church from what they were used to do back in Sudan.

After several attempts, they were able to make some telephone calls to All Saints’, Phoenix. They contacted All Saints’ church leadership. It was hard to express their concern in the first place. Though they had real difficulty of communication, they were able to contact the church secretary, who then took their addresses and kindly arranged for transportation from their apartment complexes to the church. On the first Sunday, they were picked up by Mark and Nanette Towsley. As they arrived at the church, they had a huge welcome from the congregation. After the service, they met other Sudanese and their foster parents who were also members of the All Saints’.

After several weeks of attending All Saints’ Sunday services, the number of Sudanese increased tremendously. The then pastor in-charge and church leadership committee asked them to meet at the church every Sunday before the service began. At the times, they got introduced to each other well and they had chance to exchange their addresses.

Early in 2002, the number of Sudanese increased even more, because some Sudanese spread the word that they found Episcopal Church. Therefore, some people joined All Saints’ immediately. The desire for them to conduct their prayer in Dinka language came up shortly after the congregation’s growth. So they were given afternoon service to pray in Dinka language. This too attracted more Sudanese from across America to come to Phoenix in order to be worshiping in their own language. As a result, the number of attendance doubled, and even tripled.

Luckily enough, there was one pastor, Samuel Mathiang Nyok, who was an ordained Minister and a member of the Episcopal Church. He had been very active in preaching and teaching the word of God to his fellow Sudanese long before he moved to Egypt as a refugee. He was among the first Sudanese attending prayers in Dinka language. He then indicated his readiness to work with his people as their pastor. He worked closely with the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona.

The Diocese of Arizona was so excited about the Sudanese congregation and offered them a place for worship, the previous location for San Pablo. This place became their own, where they conduct their prayers and some activities such as Sunday services, bible study, Sunday school teaching and other related social events like marriages and funerals. This place is what is now called St. Paul the Apostle Sudanese Episcopal Church.

The bishop of Arizona officially appointed Nyok to be a pastor in-charge for St. Paul the Apostle Sudanese Mission until the Diocese replaced him with another Sudanese, The Rev. Anderia Lual Arok, who used to live and serve Sudanese community in Denver, Colo.

Although the decision to leave his own parish in Denver was a very difficult one to take, with blessings from God, Arok finally accepted the offer and he is now serving St. Paul the Apostle Sudanese Episcopal Church in Phoenix as a vicar. He is working together with The Rt. Rev. Kirk Stevan Smith, Bishop of the Diocese of Arizona, to spread the Gospels and take care of children of God.

With help from the Diocese too, St. Paul’s has been doing a lot of successful programs such as “E.T.E.P.S.” This program was started by the Diocese to fund and support Sudanese education. The Diocese has been giving a number of scholarships to those who go to vocation training schools, junior and four-year colleges every semester under the coordination and supervision of The Rev. Canon Carmen Guerrero. Other activities carry out in St. Paul’s are spiritual outreach, home visitation, baptism, weekly bible study, Dinka language teaching, Sunday school teaching, fellowship, evangelism, and stewardship. The St. Paul’s congregation is growing so rapidly that the church has yet to open more activities. In the beginning, about 70 people attended Sunday services, but now, in average, 230 registered members attend.

It has been a great blessing from God that the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona is now supporting the growing congregation of Sudanese here in Arizona. May God our Father bless you for your tireless services in our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.