“Since the outbreak of conflict in 2013, South Sudan has been confronted with many challenges, particularly large population displacements, chronic hyperinflation, civil unrest and food insecurity.” (UNICEF South Sudan/2016/Rich) The already fragile education system has deteriorated significantly. According to a June 2018 article from Sudan Tribune, 2.2 million students have dropped out of school since…
July is known as the month of hunger in South Sudan. For several years LWCT, with the assistance of Baptist Global Response has provided emergency food to sustain the communities around Akot until the September harvest is ready. This July Akot Christian Ministries was able to provide food for the hungry from their locally stored…
“I was just thinking how blessed I am”, posted Peter Malual on Facebook along with a picture of himself plowing in his church garden. When I read this, I wondered if I would have been thinking I was very blessed, if I had to work that hard in temperatures reaching 110 degrees to produce food….
Monica rises very early every morning, before her 7 children get up. She sweeps the dirt around her tukel (mud hut) with a bush limb to clear her compound of snakes and scorpions. She walks for an hour to the nearest well to pump water for her family. She hurries back to make tea for…
Marks of Warrior Traditional practices of the Dinka culture are fascinating. Scarification is one of those practices. Scaring is done for cosmetic reasons for some, but for a Dinka Agar boy it is part of the initiation to manhood. On each boy’s forehead will be cut 6 horizontal lines that mark him for life as…
Transforming Culture by Tangibly Showing Christ’s Love By the time we walked from the airfield to the ACM/ALP Compound, I was dripping with sweat. Afternoon temperatures of 107 are not unusual in March. The 4-classroom school building, built in 2017, stood in stark contrast to the thatched roofed structures still used for grades 1-4. Indoor…
Independence vs Interdependence By Gracia Sugantharaj Self-sustainability is the buzz-word frequently used to describe the goals of many ministries operating in the developing world. By definition self-sustainability means the ability to support or maintain something without relying on outside aid. In the Western context, self-sustainability and independence are often used interchangeably. There is a tacit…
Remember the Wonders He Has Done A part of my morning routine for the past many years has been to read an online news publication,The Sudan Tribune, which reports news from South Sudan. I rarely find any good news, and quite honestly, it is usually it is downright discouraging. However, I follow that time up…
“Why do you do this? Isn’t it dangerous? Don’t you get discouraged? Isn’t it just hopeless anyway?” These are questions Living Water Community Transformation board members are asked frequently by family and friends who are concerned about our mission in South Sudan. Just yesterday, in my early morning quiet time, I read a familiar passage…
That is counter-cultural. Women have never had a meeting here. They are not to be educated. Their only purpose is to bear children and be work animals. They have too much work to come to meetings. They will never come.” These were some of the discouraging comments I received when the concept of a women”s…
