Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Spring 2012 Issue | Page 12

‘THE FEAR-NOT BUSINESS’

Virginia churches battle – and beat – obstacles to live out mission

EMILY CHERRY
To reach Hope and Resurrection School in Atiaba, South Sudan, the first step is to embark
upon an 18-hour trip to Nairobi, Kenya. From there, you board a smaller plane to the city of
Rumbek, Sudan. From there, it’s a two-hour drive by car over 30 miles of terrain to reach the
secondary school – not exactly a hop, skip and a jump. Add to that the immunizations, visas,
lodging arrangements and expenses, and the prospect of traveling to South Sudan starts to
look more and more intimidating.

All that pales in comparison to the efforts the students
make each day to attend the school, founded in 2007
by members of the Diocese of Virginia. The majority of
students walk or bike two to three hours to reach Hope and
Resurrection, the only secondary school in the region. Each
year since its inception, the school has added a new grade.
The school just celebrated the graduation of its first class in
their fourth year, a class of 16. “You can go so far … with just
what we think would be a little bit of education,” said Jennifer
Ernst, a member of Christ Church, Glen Allen and one of the
school’s co-founders.

“I think that it’s just been so clear that so little has been
in my control,” said Ernst. “So much of it’s just got to be
turned over to God and prayer.” And so far, that strategy has
been quite effective. First, they realized that it would cost

$250,000 to build the school. When they raised the money,
they had to figure out how to build it. Once it was built,
they had to figure out how to staff it – “how to get people
in place that we could trust and would be accountable to us
and would communicate with us,” explained Ernst. “After
the first year, we’ve been able to continue successfully.”
So successfully, in fact, that next year they’ll implement an
application process with the freshman class so that the most
promising students can receive an education.

Particularly exciting for Ernst is the fact that of the 16
graduates, four of them are girls. “It’s so much about the
girls now,” she said. “We think they’re going to make the
difference in the new country. All the studies show that
educating the girls builds the nation.” Three members of the
graduating class are already employed. One young man was
continued on page 11

Hope and Resurrection School in South Sudan just celebrated its first
class of graduates – including four female students.
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VIRGINIA EPISCOPALIAN / Spring 2012