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Sudan Christmas 2009
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El Obeid Diocese, Sudan Dear Friend, The hospital of Mother Teresa in Turalei, Sudan is like no hospital you've ever seen. There is no running water . . . no electricity . . . and no housing for the sisters who labor here. The doctors and nuns at Turalei themselves clean up after operations in the surgery or after the birth of a baby with buckets of water drawn from a simple bore well. They perform life-saving surgeries by the beam of a flashlight. They dress wounds, set limbs and tend to the sick in the sweltering African heat, day after day with little or no relief. For those few whom God has chosen to work at our hospital in Turalei, saving lives and caring for the sick is a difficult task. However, at long last, you can help me make life for the doctors, nurses and patients a great deal easier. My friend, this past week I received blessed news that a generous supporter of my Sudan Relief Fund has offered to provide a $100,000 MATCHING GIFT CHALLENGE in support of the Mother Teresa Hospital in Turalei. This donor does not want his/her name revealed. But this special gift is truly a blessing from God. It means if you give to my Sudan Relief Fund under the terms of this Matching Gift Challenge, your gift of $25 will double to $50, $35 will double to $70, and $50 grows to $100 and so on! However, to meet the challenge and receive the $100,000 matching gift, I must raise $100,000 from generous supporters like you as soon as possible. This Matching Gift Challenge could not have come at a better time! You should know that, despite the suffering and pain caused by the government's brutal attempts to "Arabize" and "Islamize" the Christian and traditional African peoples of southern Sudan, there is a miracle of sorts happening . . . . . . Thanks to ongoing prayerful support, our Holy Catholic Church is saving lives and growing stronger every day. Our Catholic schools, chapels and parish centers are being re-built after being bombed and burned by the Islamic regime in power in Sudan. Three hundred bore wells have been dug to meet the need for safe, clean water. And emergency supplies of food, water and other basic items are getting through despite great difficulty. But it's the hospitals — the hospital we built in Gidel, and this one in need of repair in Turalei — that give us the best opportunities to evangelize, re-evangelize and give physical and spiritual help to our persecuted people.
They come for medical care — many walking for days or riding on the backs of donkeys. The youngest and the sickest arrive in the arms of stronger family members. These, your brothers and sisters in Christ, who survived a religious and racial war that killed more than 2.2 million people, ask us for so little. They ask us for bibles and rosaries, water to drink and whatever medical care we are able to provide. Here in this small hospital in Turalei, we are giving the neglected people of post-war Sudan, the hope and the life that is rightfully theirs as children of God. For over 20 years, your brothers and sisters in this part of the world were violated and massacred by a radical Arab government in Khartoum. They were burned and bombed out of their villages, starved, enslaved, raped and massacred by Janjaweed militias. Children saw their mothers raped and their fathers killed. Many who called my diocese home sought safety in the bush or in refugee camps across Sudan's borders, while millions left behind grew sick, weakened and died. Amidst all the carnage, hope was scarce and aid from the outside world even scarcer. Through the worst days of the war, the Catholic Church was alone in Sudan giving aid, refuge and hope to the people. Somehow we managed to set up a few makeshift "bush" dispensaries to provide basic medical care such as bandaging war wounds and preventing infection. The care we gave in those days wasn't much, but it was all we had. Today, however, with a few years of peace and with gifts from donors, we have a small fully operational hospital in Gidel as well as our hospital in Turalei that needs running water and electricity to make it fully operational as well. Until, I received the news of this $100,000 Matching Gift Challenge, I did not know how we were going to manage it. But now, if we can raise S100,000 from donors like you and receive the matching gift — we will have $200,000 with which to run the wires, purchase a generator and lights, buy a pump, install the pipes, the spigots and the drains.
Dare I even hope . . . . . . there might be enough money left over to buy a few mattresses for the bed frames we have on hand, or the additional blankets and bedpans we always seem to need. At the age of 72, I have seen the worst and the best of mankind. I have seen the evil of an Islamic-fueled genocide here in Sudan, as well as the strength of Sudan's Christians as they struggle to live their Faith and preserve their communities. Perhaps nowhere else on earth do our brothers and sisters struggle so mightily for their Faith! I know, of course, you have struggles of your own — perhaps financial worries, physical ailments or spiritual challenges. The global economic crisis has affected us all in some way or another. I am aware every dollar you give to help us here is a dollar given out of love and with some sacrifice on your part. As a result, I do not take your gifts lightly, nor do I cease to pray for God to bless you for your extraordinary generosity. Often I tell my flock in Sudan that this school, this hospital, this chapel, this well and this food are the result of your love for them and for the Faith we share.
We have done so much, but now dare I ask you to be the water and the light and the roof and convent for the doctors, sisters and patients at Mother Teresa Hospital in Turalei? Our anonymous benefactor rose to the task at hand because they know we need to get running water and electricity to the Mother Teresa Hospital, as well as a small convent for the sisters built quickly. (It is not safe for the sisters to be living in the hospital itself or in the surrounding community.) I can only ask and pray that you will answer me by giving the most generous gift you can during this Matching Gift Challenge as soon as possible. Please, my friend, consider giving a generous gift of $25 today to this Matching Gift Challenge — when your gift of $25 will be DOUBLED to $50, your gift of $35 will be DOUBLED to $70, or your gift of $50 DOUBLED to $100. Your generosity to my Sudan Relief Fund will enable us to work miracles in this devastated and isolated place I call home and you call Sudan. Together, we are keeping people alive despite conflict and unyielding poverty. And together, we are doing God's work and spreading the Gospel of Christ throughout Sudan. We are doing so much good in His Holy name. Thank you and God bless you. Sincerely yours in Christ, P.S. My friend, your gift in response to this Matching Gift Challenge of $25, $35 or $50 is tax-deductible and will be DOUBLED by an anonymous benefactor up to $100,000! To qualify for the match, we must receive your gift as soon as possible. So please, don't delay in responding. We need to begin installing the plumbing and the wiring as soon as possible. And for the safety of the sisters, I need to begin building a small convent for them right away! 
Bishop Gassis Sudan Relief Fund • P.O. Box 7084 • Merrifield, VA 22116 |
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Copyright Bishop Gassis Sudan Relief Fund. All rights reserved. The Bishop Gassis Sudan Relief Fund is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization. Home | Donate Now! | Current Projects | About Us | Bishop’s Bio | Contact Us |
Most Rev. Macram Gassis
Upwards of one hundred men, women and children visit each of our two hospitals each and every day for treatment. And when I am there to celebrate Mass, hundreds more come to join with us in the celebration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. 
We may even have enough to make repairs to the 
I tell them you are proof God is at work in the world among His people.