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Uniting Communities: Five Talents 10th Anniversary Celebration
Five Talents is celebrating 10 years of uniting communities in some of the poorest and riskiest places in the world – from the slums of India to the mountains of Bolivia. No place is more risky and poor than Sudan where Five Talents is supporting a village bank named “Amat Wuot,” which literally means “A Union of Communities” in Dinka, the local language.

Join us to hear the testimony of the Rev. Thomas Anei, who is now witnessing how this village bank is bringing hope and opportunity to Lietnhom, a southern Sudanese town that is rebuilding after being reduced to ashes during regional conflicts just 18 months ago!

You will be inspired by this story of how Five Talents works to fight poverty, create jobs and transform lives in Sudan and around the world!

Friday, November 20
6:30 p.m. Cocktails
7 p.m. Dinner and Program

Lakeway Inn - Mt. Baker Room
714 Lakeway Drive
Bellingham, Washington 98229

Cost: $25
(Click here to purchase tickets.)

RSVP by Monday, November 16, by calling Cavin Philbin at Ocean Foods at (360) 752-2614 or FiveTalentsEvents@FiveTalents.org.

Keynote Speaker: Rev. Thomas Anei

Rev. Thomas Anei was born on December 25, 1980, in Aweil, Sudan. When he was 6, what would be a two-decade civil war reached his village. Thomas and one of his brothers fled their home and walked across Sudan to Ethiopia as a part of a group that became known as “The Lost Boys of Sudan.” Tragically, Thomas’ brother died in Ethiopia, and when Thomas eventually made it back to Aweil, he found that his parents as well as an older brother had been killed in the civil war. With the hope of revenge for the killing of family members, Thomas joined the army as a soldier. But, God had different plans for him. In 1989, Thomas began reading the Bible. “In Matthew 5:44-45 Jesus says, ‘Love your enemies! And pray for those who persecute you that you will be acting as true children of your father in heaven.’” It was through this study that he says, “Jesus showed me a different way.”

In 1994, Thomas was able to leave the army. He then traveled from Aweil to the Kakuma Refugee Camp in northwestern Kenya. He attended school while in Kakuma and was part of a church opening in 1997. He eventually moved to Nakuru, Kenya, where he gained formalized Bible training and began working with Bishop Henry Riak who was stationed in Nakuru because of the insecurity of his home area – the Diocese of Wau.

In 2001, Thomas was ordained as a deacon in the Episcopal Church of Sudan by Bishop Riak, and in 2006, he was ordained as a priest. In May 2007, Thomas was selected by Bishop Riak to represent the Diocese of Wau at a Christian Economic Development Institute in Nakuru, Kenya – a training course organized and sponsored by Five Talents. In December 2007, the Bishop asked him to travel with Five Talents to Lietnhom. In early 2008, he began working alongside the Lietnhom project manager to develop his skills in project management, development and training. In early 2009, Thomas took over the Lietnhom project area as a project officer, where he provides business and discipleship training for the village savings and loans project. Click here to read Rev. Thomas Anei's complete bio and learn about his work with Five Talents.