What’s Happening in South Sudan?
South Sudan has been embattled in civil wars for decades. Two civil wars spanning from the 1950s until the 2010s, when the country was one country of Sudan, eventually led to the independence of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011. South Sudan quickly erupted into its own civil war that lasted from 2013 to 2018.
These violent civil wars only added to the inter-tribal conflicts that have been established for generations. Cattle raiding—the practice of stealing cattle from other tribes or families—is a dangerous and deadly practice that continues in South Sudan. Virtually no family is untouched by violence from civil war or from cattle raiding.
As one of the least developed countries in the world, South Sudan is hit hard with a difficult way to survive: the average salary is only $10 per month. Where disease, violence, and poverty run rampant, life expectancy is a mere 56 years.
There is little to be found in the means of development; less than 200 miles of roads in the entire country are paved, and running water and electricity are all but non-existent outside of the capital.
Even finding skills can be difficult in South Sudan, and it is even more difficult to find supplies. Even basic supplies, such as roofing materials, or animals, such as laying hens, must be purchased in Uganda and brought to South Sudan.
South Sudan is a country fraught with countless challenges for development, stability, and a way out of poverty. With fragile peace agreements in place between rivalries that started the civil war, South Sudan could become either the newest place of hope—or a very long way from tasting peace.
Our Mission Work in South Sudan
By following our guiding principles, we first arrived in South Sudan in 2022 to see where God was leading us. Meeting with Amazing Grace Community, a South Sudanese founded and led organization, we prayed and talked about what we could do together to address the needs in South Sudan.
It was a very clear and simple vision: build a school. We met with the chief of the tribe and with community members, who all had the same plea: please build us a school. In a country where 70% of children do not attend school, having the opportunity to do so is a privilege and a priority in the minds of many parents.
We did not come to South Sudan to tell people what they needed. We did not come to be the main missionaries in the village. Instead, we came to listen to what their needs were, and to let godly leadership take the lead in bringing people to Christ.
The Christian influence in AGC is very clear: the ministry doesn’t just exist to shelter and educate children. Their purpose is to grow the children’s discipleship in following Jesus. They believe this is the way to end the violence that has been so entrenched in South Sudanese culture: Children from different tribes grow together, are discipled together, and turn from violence and disputes to peace and collaboration. They recognize the truth in Proverbs 22:6—train a child in the way they should, and they will not depart from it.
We are partnering with AGC to build the school building that the community wants, and to provide them with the foundation they need for a successful life—education and peacemaking.
Curious to learn more about our work in Africa? Read about what we’ve done in South Africa, Uganda, Benin, and Ethiopia.
Fulcrum Missions 