Lodi church to have carnival to promote relief in Darfur

If you drive past Hutchins and Tokay streets next Saturday, you'll see a big white tent, games and food — all to raise money and awareness to help people in war-ravished Darfur.

United Congregational Christian Church is putting on a "Tents of Hope" carnival to help people in Darfur and try to end what senior Pastor Jack Dawson described as the genocide, refugee camps, rapes and mangling people in that part of Sudan.

"Everything we raise will go to humanitarian efforts by Tents of Hope," Dawson said.

Dawson will preach about Darfur at Sunday's service, and the tent will be on display at Thursday's Farmers Market next week to promote the carnival. The public, including other churches in the community, are invited.

The tent is an 8-by-10-foot canvas. The center height is 8 feet, and the wall height is 5 feet. Church members will paint the sides of the tent to depict Darfur.

Suisun-Fairfield United Church of Christ, which has many Samoans in its congregation, will join United Congregational Christian Church at the carnival. They will dance officiate over a Kaba ceremony that welcomes dignitaries, including Lodi Mayor JoAnne Mounce, who is scheduled to participate. Any pastors who show up will also be part of the Kaba ceremony.

"If we don't do it, who's going to do it, and when?" Dawson asked rhetorically. "It's got to be done now."

Dawson said he became inspired to help in the Darfur effort after recently moderating a meeting of a United Church of Christ conference.

Sudan at a glance

Location: Northeast Africa. Darfur is in Sudan's western region, near the Chad border.
Population: 42,292,929 (2003 estimate).
Capital: Khartoum.
Languages: Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English.
Ethnicity: Black, 52 percent; Arab, 39 percent; Beja, six percent; other, three percent.
Religions: Islam (Sunni), 70 percent (in north); indigenous, 25 percent; Christian, five percent (mostly in south and Khartoum).
Source: infoplease.com

Tents of Hope at a glance

When: Sept. 6, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: United Congregational Christian Church, 701 S. Hutchins St. at Tokay Street, Lodi.
Main feature: Big, white tent with paintings depicting problems in Darfur region of Sudan.
Entertainment: Samoan dancers from Suisun-Fairfield United Church of Christ.
More information: Call the church at 368-1955 or visit www.tentsofhope.org.
Source: United Congregational Christian Church

"As a church, we have the responsibility to care about those displaced and forgotten," Dawson said.

Several white tents were displayed at the conference, and Tin Nonn, of Petaluma, national coordinator of an organization called Tents of Hope, was a guest speaker. The mission of the Tents of Hope project is to respond as communities to the crisis in Darfur, by creating tents that are unique works of art and learning about, helping and establishing relationships with the people of Sudan.

The Tents of Hope project emerged in June 2007 through a partnership between the United Church of Christ, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Dear Sudan organization. With the support of these two denominations, Petaluma-based Dear Sudan has engaged in national organizing efforts since May 2004 to build a community-based response to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan.

"It touched a chord with me," Dawson said.

That led him to become involved, first by approaching his church's board of directors and getting them to invest $500 for a tent. Some board members asked Dawson if the $500 would be better spent sending it to a humanitarian organization on Darfur's behalf rather than spending it on a tent.

Dawson said he hopes to make a lot more than $500 on Sept. 6. So Dawson used money from the late Etheleen Fiske's memorial fund because he thought she would have approved of such an investment.

Furthermore, Dawson plans to ship the tent to Washington, D.C. in time for a weekend of prayer and action for Sudan Nov. 7-9. Dawson will attend the event if he is able. Nationally, the group hopes to raised $300,000 for humanitarian relief.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Tandc wrote on Sep 5, 2008 8:57 AM:

" Great job! God bless you. "

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El Rushbo wrote on Sep 4, 2008 9:17 PM:

" Noble cause but without a sweeping change in leadership and with Darfur having a economy that is a total and complete disaster.... your throwing money down the sewer. Nothing short of divine intervention can really help much there. "

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