Bishop Ezekiel was consecrated Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Bor in southern Sudan in 2004. Because of the rapid growth of the Diocese of Bor, the Anglican Archbishop of Sudan asked Bishop Ezekiel to lead an effort to establish a new diocese in the neighboring region of Twic.
This new diocese, to be named East Twic, “will need considerable infrastructure before being formally received as a diocese in the Province of Sudan,” stated the Rt. Rev. Duncan M. Gray III. It is from the Diocese of Bor and the region of Twic that so many of our Jackson Sudanese come.
Sudan is the largest country in Africa, approximating the size of Europe, with a population of 40 million people, 500 ethnic and tribal divisions and 50 distinct languages. The country has been embroiled in a long running civil war grounded in the political, economic and social domination of the non-Muslim, non-Arab Southern Sudanese people, many of whom have sought sanctuary in African refugee camps for years in order to survive the civil war.
Bishop Gray III wishes to establish a relationship with Bishop Ezekiel and the Church’s effort to form the Diocese of Twic East which compliments and adds to the existing ministry the Diocese of Mississippi has with the Sudanese people taking refuge in the diocese.
Bishop Ezekiel, 54, arrives in Jackson on Saturday, January 31 with his wife, Rebecca, and their 5 month old son. The Bishop will attend services at St. Andrew’s Cathedral on Sunday, February 1 and will visit individually with many of the Sudanese refugees as he can. Bishop Ezekiel will also visit several parishes during the week prior to Council.
