Sudan
Thirteen men have been studying at the Lutheran Seminary in Sudan for three years now and are really eager to graduate and “get out there.” Unfortunately they had yet to have a course on the Lutheran Confessions. This was their first but hopefully not last chance. During a 14 day intensive we covered all of the Augsburg Confession and studied some articles from the Formula of Concord. Since they will graduate on the 8th of October 2010, future seminars will have to take place as continuing education seminars. Could you or your congregation help sponsor these?
Name: Sudan
President: President Umar Hassan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 16 October 1993)
Population: 41,087,825
Independence: 1 January 1956
National Language: Arabic (official), English (official),
Other languages:
Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages
Literacy rate: 61.1%,
male: 71.8%, female: 50.5%
School Life Expectancy:
male: N/A
female: N/A
Religions: Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), Christian 5% (mostly in south and Khartoum), indigenous beliefs 25%
Life Expectancy: 51.42 years, male: 50.49 years, female: 52.4 years (2010 est.)
Avg. Daily Salary: $6.30
Sudanese Lutherans
Each student received a copy of the pocket version of the Book of Concord. These were made possible by St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Lockport, IL and by the seminary students at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN. The students honestly confessed that they received the books over a year ago but since they did not have any introduction or explanation of this book, none of them had read it. Now that they have had explanation and introduction they want to know more. For instance they knew that Lutherans and Baptists believe differently on the efficacy of baptism but they never knew the core problem is the difference on doctrine of Original Sin (AC II). They knew Lutherans and Pentecostals believe differently on the Lord’s Supper but they didn’t know the core problem is a difference on the doctrine of the Two Natures of Christ (FC VIII). I hope your pastor is teaching you these things!
David Twinomugisha who won a copy of Concordia for writing the best term paper.
Seminary student housing. The students all must live on campus but if they are married their wives and families must live elsewhere as accommodation is limited. There is no plumbing infrastructure therefore rain water must be collected for drinking and washing. (Below left) This is how laundry is done, on Saturdays and by hand. (Below right) These are the shower facilities.
Here are some of the sample questions. It was not easy but they all passed.
Sudan Lutheran Seminary Class of 2010