A new church for a new country


Hope and healing in South Sudan By Alix Matzke


S


ituated in eastern Africa is the newest country in the world. But newest isn’t the only way to


describe South Sudan—it’s also one of the most volatile. Aſt er decades of civil war and


unrest, South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan nearly fi ve years ago. But two years later internal confl ict broke out among the country’s two major tribes. According to the U.N. High


Commissioner for Refugees, an estimated 1.5 million South Suda- nese are internally displaced and many more have fl ed to neighbor- ing countries due to poverty, food insecurity, a lack of education and


38 www.thelutheran.org


health care, and extreme violence against civilians. While the govern- ment struggles with the situation, many have turned to the church to be a healer and peacemaker. “With all of this suff ering, we still


see God has a promise for us,” said Hilary Garang Deng, bishop of the Malakal Diocese of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan. “He gave us a mission to testify about the great God who created the world.” Part of this mission includes


establishing the Evangelical Lutheran Church Africa Mission in South Sudan. With the assistance of local partners, including ELCA


Hilary Garang Deng (left), Episcopal bishop of the Dio- cese of Malakal; Rafael Malpica Padilla, ELCA Global Mission executive director; Joseph Garang Atem, Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Renk; Mawien Ariik, ELCA missionary working in South Sudan; and Jacob Matiop Mayen, a mission developer at First Sudanese Lutheran Church in Fargo, N.D., break ground at the site of the new Lutheran center and clinic in Juba.


congregations that are Sudanese, the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan, and the South Sudan Council of Churches, the ELCA is seeking more than $1.2 million to enable this work.


To help: The South Sudan initiative is one of 14 global ministries introduced as part of Always Being Made New: The Campaign for the ELCA. To donate go to community. ELCA.org/SouthSudan.


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