Joseph Taban Lusaba, principal of New Bishop Gwynne College (of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, ECS) in Juba, South Sudan, died May 20 after an illness.
Before studying for a masters at Duke University in the United States in 2010, Joseph Taban had been a priest at ECS’ All Saints Cathedral in Khartoum in North Sudan.
He later said being a refugee from the South for 20 years of its second civil war with the North (1983-2005) had given him the confidence to return to South Sudan and get involved in conflict resolution, ahead of the historic referendum which split Sudan into two countries from July 2011.
A former close colleague at the ECS Cathedral in Khartoum told World Watch Monitor that “the Church of Sudan has tragically lost one of its brightest young leaders”. Joseph Taban leaves a widow, Esperanza, and three young children.