I have attached some info on Emmanuel and a digital copy of the overview of the community in the Congo DRC, that we will partner with for our Justice/Unity Event we can call The Feast: The picture behind the name being that when we walk out unity and justice we get a foretaste of the Big Feast to come talked about in Luke 14: 15-23 where all are welcome!

Further info for FB:

  • We will start at 10am on Sunday morning Feb. 28th end around 12 at Encompass facility at 3851 – 54 Ave. NE, Calgary, AB
  • Childcare for kids 12 and under provided.
  • Highlighting of a local missional justice stories from Converge and Encompass
  • Emmanuel Jal sharing his message of hope and justice through his rap music and story
  • Partnering together as church communities to partner with World Vision to see community transformation come to Simba community in the Congo DRC.
  • Punjabi worship
  • Finger foods and sponsoring a child from Simba community at the end of the gathering

Let’s get the word out for this Feast Gathering of Justice and Unity we all have been invited by Jesus to walk in.

Meet Emmanuel Jal

EmmanuelJal

Early Life…

EMMANUEL JAL was born into the life of a child solider on an unknown date in the early 1980s in the war-torn region of Southern Sudan. Through unbelievable struggles, Emmanuel managed to survive and go on to emerge as a recording artist, achieving worldwide acclaim for his unique style of hip hop with its message of peace and reconciliation born out of his personal experiences.

Music…

Jal has released five studio albums to date: Gua, Ceasefire, Warchild, See Me Mama, & The Key.

His music can be heard on the fundraising album “Warchild – Help a Day in the Life”, the National Geographic documentary “God Grew Tired of Us,” the feature film “Blood Diamond,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and John Lennon’s “Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur”. Jal has also collaborated with other high profile artists such as Peter Gabriel, Nelly Furtado, DMC, Joss Stone, Nile Rodgers and Alicia Keys.

On the Big Screen…

In 2008 a full-length documentary on his life was released. The film, “Warchild,” won 12 prestigious film festival awards worldwide. In the same year, his autobiography, also called Warchild, was published by Little Brown. Jal appeared as the adult lead in the motion picture “Africa United,” in October 2010.

Most recently, Emmanuel starred in Warner Brother’s “The Good Lie” alongside Reese Witherspoon. The Good Lie tells the story of the Lost Boys of South Sudan who win the “lottery” and come to America in search of a second chance at life.

Activism…

Despite his accomplishments in music and film, one of Jal’s biggest passions is Gua Africa, the charity he has founded to work with individuals, families and communities to help them overcome the effects of war and poverty. Besides building schools, the charity provides scholarships for Sudanese war survivors in refugee camps and sponsors education for children in the most deprived slum areas in Nairobi.

Gua Africa is now fundraising to complete phase 2 of Emma Academy, the education centre in Leer named after the British aid worker Emma McCune who rescued Jal from a life as a child soldier. In the outbreak of violence in South Sudan since Decemeber 15th 2013, Gua has changed its focus to keeping its existing schools open and ensuring their teachers are paid and students are safe.

Links:

Congo

PDF VersionDRC – Simba Profile NEW