Church-based training teaches people to read God's Word—transforming hearts and communities.
Eyes and opportunities are opening up as residents of Thaker, South Sudan, learn to read the Word of God.
Through the Samaritan’s Purse church-based literacy program in Mayendit County, men and women are learning to study in their native tongue—the Nuer language. They are not only acquiring the transformative skills of reading and writing, they are also experiencing the life-changing power of the Word of God.
Students gather in a church-based Biblical literacy training class in Thaker, South Sudan.
“You can’t preach without reading,” said Angelo, a local teacher and preacher. “When you learn to read in your own language, you connect with the Bible personally. It’s no longer something you hear from others. It’s something you experience for yourself.”
Many people in this area did not know how to read or write in Nuer. Church services offered their only route to learning from the Word. Pastors were often the only ones who could read the Scripture. Now, trained men and women can read and study the Bible for themselves at any time.
A Path to Faith and Literacy
The literacy training begins with the basics, teaching participants to read in Nuer. Many students, like Joseph, had some familiarity with reading in other languages but had never encountered Scripture in their heart language. During the training, students also receive their very own copy of the Bible in their own language.
Joseph looks forward to discipling others in the Nuer language and teaching them to disciple others as they learn the Word of God in their native language.
“My dream is that this program does not end with us,” Joseph said. “I want it to reach the next generation, so they can teach others and help bring the Word of God to other communities.
“ I found out in the Bible that God Himself commands me to go and even to teach other people about the Word of God. It is full of life, full of salvation, and I found it out. I want other people to come into this salvation also.”
For some women, like Elizabeth, this is the first time engaging with written words in any language. Elizabeth recalls her breakthrough moment two years ago: “I read from Romans, where it says all fall short of the glory of God. It was life changing to read it myself and understand God’s grace.”
The verse that stands out for Angelo, another literacy student, is the central truth found in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”
It was the first sentence he read aloud in Nuer, a moment that deepened his faith and inspired his mission to teach others.
“I learned from the Bible that God loves us,” he said. “Even if I’m a sinner, I can go to Him, kneel down, confess my sin, and He will forgive me as a child.”
As Angelo explains, “Before, many of us did not think about the life to come. But now, through the Bible, we understand that there is more beyond this life. We know peace through God, and this peace is spreading.”
Angelo, a local pastor, grew in his faith and in his teaching ability as he learned to read Scripture in his heart language.
A Journey to a Nation’s Peace
South Sudan has been on a long journey toward peace, and local churches see literacy as a step toward reconciliation. “When people read the Bible, they learn to live in peace,” Angelo says. “The Word of God transforms hearts and minds. It teaches us to love our neighbors and to forgive.”
For Elizabeth, Angelo, Joseph, and countless others, it has opened doors to salvation, spiritual growth, and community transformation.
Please pray for leaders to teach others what they have learned, thereby building a legacy of peace and hope on the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
