South Sudan
South Sudan is the youngest country in the world, having gained its independence from Sudan in 2011. A landlocked country, South Sudan must rely on trade for many resources. It is home to over 60 different major ethnic groups, making it the most diverse country in Africa. Most of its people follow traditional religions.
KEY CHALLENGES
Post-war trauma permeates every part of South Sudanese life—mental health, access to resources, development, and education to name a few. Of the 12 million South Sudanese, roughly half are under the age of 18.
our approach
We were never intended to live in poverty, divided against one another, with little hope for peace. In the Kingdom of God, poverty, violence, division, and hopelessness will not exist. We believe the Church is God’s primary transforming agent in the world, and that the local church exists to make its community more like the Kingdom of God.
We partner with local indigenous leaders as they minister to the communities and cultures that they themselves are from. We start projects and programs in the hardest places and set up a plan for them to be self-sustaining in order for them to know independence and the value of reinvesting in their own communities.
Read on to learn how communities are being transformed in South Sudan.
Our partners
We have four partnerships in South Sudan—two of them have historical roots to the foundation of Mission ONE.
Severino Maira Janus is the co-founder of the Evangelical Free Church in South Sudan (EFCSS) and has been a Mission ONE partner since 1992. Mission ONE Founder, Bob Schindler, met him on his first trip to Africa in 1988 while Severino was a student at Moffat College of the Bible in Kijabe, Kenya. Severino had a strong call and passion to take the word of God back to his war-torn country, regardless of the risk to his own life. Today, Severino is a leader in the community and a strong mentor to young men who are following his footsteps in ministry.
Since 1991, Reach Out Ministries (ROM), led by Idris Nalos, has been a Mission ONE partner serving in Sudan and South Sudan. Bob Schindler, Mission ONE Founder, met Idris during his first trip to Africa in 1988. Idris’ story is one full of inspiration yet riddled with hardship. Arrested multiple times for preaching, he has been persecuted and nearly killed for his outspoken faith. ROM was founded in a community where people endure gunfire from war every week, hardships are commonplace, and people are without food. ROM is meeting their needs, providing food, and praying with the broken-spirited.
Mission To Unreached People (MUPE), led by Janet Kosgei and her father Hannington Munyao, is an African-led ministry that mentors, disciples, and raises up African leaders to reach ethnolinguistic people groups with little to no access to the message of Jesus. After Hannington spent time in Sudan as a missionary, his heart for Christ and passion for missions resulted in the founding of MUPE. MUPE is mobilizing the African church to send out missionaries with local support to unreached people groups. Through its team of 25+ missionaries, MUPE focuses on empowering communities through their work in education, healthcare, and church planting. Mission ONE has partnered with MUPE since 2000.
Kensud, led by Willy Komen, has been a Mission ONE partner since 2000. Willy and his team work in remote areas of northern Kenya and South Sudan alongside the local church, if there is a church established in the region. In areas where the church has not yet been established, Kensud helps build and support new church plants. Their focus is on providing medical care through the establishment of health clinics and creating access to education for school age children.
PROJECTS
Juba Tech Center - A new technology center in the capital city of Juba will train young people in computer and life skills as they seek employment opportunities, lifting families out of poverty.
Murecars Car Rental - The Murecars car rental project in Kenya is financially supporting the work of MUPE ministry and its missionaries serving vulnerable communities in South Sudan.
Juba Women's Cooperative - A co-op program will give women in Juba the ability to lift their families out of poverty by teaching them how to farm and cook.
Bakery - A bakery is changing the narrative in South Sudan by creating more job opportunities and renewing hope where it was once lost.
Gospel Context
East Africa has become a majority Christian culture over the last 200 years. While the message of Jesus has spread far and wide, the good news often lacks a connection to people's everyday lives.
We have made it our mission to partner with local indigenous leaders and missional organizations around the world to reach unreached people groups by planting churches in the areas they are already serving. Not only do we desire to see more people come to Jesus Christ and experience the power of his life, death, and resurrection, but we also work towards sustaining the communities these churches are planted in. We do this by creating locally-sustained projects that aim to transform communities from the inside out. It’s our vision for communities around the world to look more like the Kingdom of God.
Learn more about our work and how we connect to unreached people groups through the practice of listening by checking out our blog post: Listening as a Gospel Movement.
