South Sudanese Covenant Pastor Arrested at Ethiopian Border

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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