75 years of ministry in South Sudan
Russ and Lyn Noble have just completed 75 combined years of ministry in South Sudan. For the majority of this time they have been involved in education.
South Sudan became the world’s newest country on 9 July 2011. It was the outcome of the 2005 peace deal that ended Africa’s longest-running civil war. The majority of the population adhere to Christianity. Only 18% call themselves Muslim unlike Sudan, which is 97%.
AIM’s work in Sudan began before the civil war, with our first members being invited to work in the country by the Church Mission Society (CMS) in 1949. The initial members were supported by additional couples and between them they quickly set up a medical clinic and a girls’ school. From the early days, the work in Sudan was also helped by African Christian workers sent out from Congo.
Over the years, civil wars and restrictions placed by the government created difficult conditions. Partial and full expulsions limited the number of AIM personnel in the country and then in the early 1960’s all missionaries were expelled. In 1972 however a peace agreement between south and north Sudan enabled work to be picked up again. The peace was not as permanent as hoped and fighting resumed in the early 1980’s. All AIM members left Sudan in the late 1980’s due to escalating insecurity.
In 2004, with the decline of the war, a gradual re-entry of AIM personnel began. With the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005 the door was opened wider. AIM provides a diverse menu of skills and ministries in South Sudan including nursery, primary, and secondary education, health, literacy in mother tongue, leadership development, theological education, and church planting.
Russ and Lyn Noble have just completed 75 combined years of ministry in South Sudan. For the majority of this time they have been involved in education.
Ever since South Sudan became an independent country there has been a lot of fighting. Why not download a colouring sheet to help you remember to pray for them?
The Laarim live in small villages in a place called the Boya Hills. You can make a model of their homes.
Angelo is 23 years old from the Laarim and is beginning his final year of senior education. He has believed in Jesus and shares his story here.
It is not hard to get a Laarim person to say, “I believe in Jesus.” The hard thing is finding the Laarim who understands that Jesus changes everything…
The Didinga live in the Didinga hills of South Sudan, in the valleys, on the plateaus and slopes, and on the adjacent plains of the region.