A horrific report out of South Sudan is highlighting the country’s dire conditions as no end appears to be in sight in vicious conflicts between government troops and rebel armies. Scores of women had sought refuge from the fighting at an Episcopal Church in the town of Bor, but the church was invaded by rebel troops who reportedly raped several of them before shooting them all. According to Christian Today:
Five of the women – Dorcas Abuol Bouny and Akut Mayem Yar, both 72, Tabitha Akuang, 60, and Mary Alek Akech and Martha Agok Mabior, both 70 – worked as pastors in the church. A prominent lay leader, Agel Mabior, 72, was also killed. “They were all clergy. They all worked at the church. They did different jobs, [including] Bible reading,” South Sudanese Anglican Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul told local reporters.
“The women were from different parishes in the diocese and had converged in the church compound when they were killed,” the Anglican Bishop of Bor, Ruben Akurdit Ngong, told World Watch Monitor. “This is very painful. They destroyed most of the churches in the diocese, but God is with us” …
