Priest-in-Charge, Acting Dean,
St. Matthew's Cathedral, Renk
Martha Deng Nhial, also known as Nhiebol, her childhood name, is a trained nurse who for years worked at the diocesan clinic in Renk Town. A leader in the Mothers' Union as well, she was an obvious choice to be among the first ordained women in the Diocese. Martha is well-respected in town, a leader not just among the women but among the entire community, for her knowledge, her faithfulness and her forceful way of living and being.
She was born in Bor town in 1959, a member of the Dinka Bor tribe, and lived there until the early 1960s, when her father was transferred to Renk. Some in her family are Muslim, some are traditionalists. When Martha was in her 20s, she heard the Gospel preached and decided to become a Christian. "I heard good news being given to me, salvation and forgiveness," she says. "I thought about it, and it made sense, and I decided that is what I would be."
In 1978, Martha married Abraham Yak, now a lieutenant colonel in the national police. He had held a similar job years before, but during the civil war, he was suspected of being at the least a sympathizer, if not a member, of the SPLA. The government arrested and jailed him, firing him from his job. Abraham spent the time after his release from prison working odd jobs and acting as a community leader for the Renk's Dinka Bor, so many of whom had been displaced by the war.
Martha and Abraham have six children: Achol, who was 21 when she died in July 2006 from malaria and cholera - she was pregnant at the time; Rebecca, 19; Yak Abraham, 15; Tabitha, 13; Sarah, 11; and Athiei (which means Grace), who is 5. All of her family support her in her calling and service as priest, although Athiei does ask when Mama is coming home. When Bishop Daniel asked Martha to consider being ordained, she discussed it with Abraham, who told her, "Go and do the work of the Church."
Like most women in South Sudan, the responsibility of raising her family has fallen primarily on Martha. Abraham's work - before, during after the war - means that he travels a great deal. His current position, training 6,000 new army and police recruits, is in Jalhak, about 100 kilometers south-southeast of Renk Town. Martha cares for children at home, doing some of the cooking and cleaning; her older daughters help out, as is typical in Sudanese families.
The death of her oldest daughter just four months ago has affected Martha greatly. The hardest part was that Achol died because there were no medicines available to counter the common but deadly diseases. Achol was rushed to a hospital in Khartoum, but it was too late. Death is common in South Sudan, not unexpected at all. However, in the past month, when all of her other daughters have become ill repeatedly with malaria, Martha's concerns and grief have been more evident, and she has spent copious time with all of them, nursing them and praying for them, supported by the community.
Why did Martha become a priest? "The Bible says to go and preach the Gospel. When you start to evangelize people," she says, "you want to go forward with the work. You don't want to go back again.
"When God calls you, you cannot stop. You are not called by yourself; God called me to his work.
"I like being a priest because it is the work of God. I am offering myself to God."
The hardest part of being a woman priest in Sudan, Martha says, is being rejected by people simply because she is a woman. At first, she says, many people were saying that a woman could not be ordained. They asked how a woman could stand before a man to give him Holy Eucharist. "Women in Sudan," she says, "are simple. The work of women is to give birth and to cook and clean in the house."
But that attitude is falling away here, she says. Now, "this is not a problem. People are starting to know" about women priests, and starting to agree with women's ordination. The agreement is becoming so widespread that Martha, who began her work as an assistant at the Cathedral of St. Matthew in Renk, is now priest-in-charge and Acting Dean of the Cathedral.
Martha, like all of the women priests in Renk, is quite excited that The Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori is about to be installed as the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in America. When told the news, she raised her hands and gave a shout: "Thanks be to God!" She also had one message to send to the new primate: "Congratulations!"
