Beacons of Gospel Hope

From the green forests of Yei in the far south to the arid cattle-filled plains of Wau in the west; from the low-lying swamps of the Nile to villages wedged against rugged mountains along the Sahara—God is glorified.

Not only do the churches built by Samaritan’s Purse 20 years ago continue to give physical refuge to people fleeing conflict and war but serve as a spiritual home for those scarred by years of constant fear. These beacons of Gospel hope shine brighter today than ever before, reminding the world of the truth of what the Lord Jesus said to the apostle Peter: “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18, ESV).

  • 1955–1972

    First Sudanese Civil War

    Even before Sudan is granted its official independence from Great Britain in 1956, tensions between the dominant north and underrepresented south boil over into a deadly war. An estimated 500,000 to 1 million people are killed in this 17-year conflict.

  • 1983–2005

    Second Sudanese Civil War

    After just over a decade of peace, the Muslim-majority north seeks to enforce Islamic law throughout the country, which kickstarts another civil war with the south. Christians are targeted and slaughtered as famine, disease, and lack of aid also claim the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

  • August 1993

    Samaritan’s Purse first starts working in Sudan

    The first Samaritan’s Purse medical team arrives in southern Sudan, bringing medicine and supplies to help people affected by conflict. We treat approximately 25,000 people for lice-borne illness as well as numerous patients wounded in war, mothers needing cesarean sections, and those suffering other diseases and injuries.

  • October 1993

    Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham visits Sudan

    Graham witnesses dire conditions in Sudan and commits Samaritan’s Purse to sending clothing, irrigation units, and additional medical supplies to the country. Graham also promises to provide textbooks and help rehabilitate a village school. “I’ve never been any place where the people are worse off,” Graham said when he visited.

  • September 1997

    Samaritan’s Purse opens a field office in southern Sudan

    Samaritan’s Purse reopens Lui Hospital in the country’s far south and installs a field office as we revitalize, stock, and staff the hospital after years of war. Within the first few months of reopening, the hospital treats over 7,000 patients and performs 150 major surgeries.

  • March 2002

    Dr. John Garang visits Samaritan’s Purse headquarters

    Dr. Garang, a founding father of the independence movement in southern Sudan, visits Samaritan’s Purse international headquarters in Boone, North Carolina, marking one of many times Garang met with the ministry’s leadership.

  • December 2003

    Franklin Graham meets with Sudanese dictator to discuss rebuilding destroyed churches

    Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham first meets with then-leader of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, to ask that Samaritan’s Purse be granted permission to begin reconstructing churches he and his forces had destroyed. Graham petitioned for religious freedom for the Sudanese people with al-Bashir at meetings in 2007 and 2009 as well.

  • January 2005

    The Comprehensive Peace Agreement is signed—ending 22 years of war

    The Comprehensive Peace Agreement is signed between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), officially giving way to the process of creating an independent South Sudan. The region is in ruins with little standing infrastructure in place.

  • May 2006

    The first church built by the Samaritan’s Purse Church Reconstruction Program opens for worship

    In the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, Nyakama Church of Christ becomes the first of 512 concrete churches rebuilt by Samaritan’s Purse to open after the war.

  • 2007

    The soon-to-be first president of South Sudan visits Samaritan’s Purse headquarters

    Salva Kiir Mayardit, who would later become the first president of the Republic of South Sudan, visits Samaritan’s Purse headquarters after meeting the Bush administration in Washington.

  • July 2011

    The Republic of South Sudan becomes an independent nation

    A referendum officially grants South Sudan complete independence from Sudan, becoming the youngest nation in the world to date. Samaritan’s Purse opens an office in Juba, the new nation’s capital, as our center of operations.

  • December 2012

    The Samaritan’s Purse Church Reconstruction Program (CRP) ends with the completion and opening of the last church building

    Yargot Episcopal Church in Aweil, South Sudan, becomes the 512th and final church reconstructed through the project. While the project officially ends, Samaritan’s Purse continues to disciple and equip the church through various courses, programs, and seminars to serve their communities in Jesus’ Name.

  • 2013–2018

    South Sudanese Civil War

    Only two years after independence, South Sudan descends into full-blown civil war between the government and varying opposition forces. Once the third and final ceasefire is signed in 2018, nearly half a million South Sudanese have died—many by starvation and disease rather than the conflict itself.

  • April 2023–present

    Sudanese Civil War breaks out

    Civil war breaks out in Sudan resulting in the world’s current largest humanitarian crisis. As fighting rages on today, Samaritan’s Purse continues to provide tons of food to stave off severe hunger and combat malnutrition, and medical supplies to treat disease and sickness. In 2025 alone, we truck over 16,000 tons of food to the embattled region.

  • December 2024

    Samaritan’s Purse opens Emergency Field Hospital in Sudan

    On Christmas Day, Samaritan’s Purse opens an Emergency Field Hospital in Sudan, where our Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) members provide obstetric care, caesarean sections, and critical medicine to women from nearby displacement camps. Some 400 babies are delivered in less than four months.

Pray for the church in South Sudan and Sudan. And please pray for the ministry of Samaritan’s Purse as we work through the body of Christ to serve the least of these in Jesus’ Name.

Please prayerfully consider supporting the ongoing work of Samaritan's Purse in the Sudans.

South Sudan Relief
013954
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