Jeremiah Ch 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
South Sudan Voices of Hope recently sent thanks to Euclid UMC for its prayers and financial support, given toward Voice’s mission to develop a vocational training center and provide much-needed supplies to an orphanage aiding 150 children.
Euclid UMC donated $1,923 to Voices of Hope through its December 2025 mission appeal. Over 14 years, Euclid has given $39,891 for recovery work in this East African country.
As Voices of Hope reported in May, South Sudan still suffers from the effects of a six-year civil war that ended in 2019. Ethnic violence and brutal atrocities killed over 400,000 people, while some 4 million fled their homes. An estimated 2 million people still live in Internally Displaced Persons camps in South Sudan. Over 2 million live as refugees in neighboring countries.
South Sudan also took in many thousands of North Sudanese refugees who fled when fighting resumed in April 2023. That war was triggered by a vicious power struggle between the regular army and a paramilitary force, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), over whether to move Sudan to more civilian rule.
Continued violence, refugee displacement, and four years of devastating floods have worsened an already dire situation. Exacerbated by locust outbreaks, economic inflation, and the high cost of living, Sudan’s fragile agricultural production has been further compromised, leaving many people without enough food or viable land for farming.
Voices of Hope partners with Sudanese-based groups, including South Sudan Widows Orphans Relief and Development, Concern for Woman and Children, Gimba Educational Foundation, Save Lives Initiative South Sudan, and the APAI Development Agency.
Kenneth Elisapana, Voices of Hope’s founding executive director made a mission trip earlier this year with mission partner Robert Carr. They conferred with government and church leaders and helped celebrate the official opening of the Hope Happens vocational training center. This included dedicating the center’s new solar-powered water tanks and celebrating the graduation of its third class of tailors.
The mission trip also provided non-perishable food, school and hygiene supplies to Confident Children out of Conflict (CCC), an orphanage caring for 150 street children in the South Sudanese capital of Juba.
Over the next 10 years, Voices of Hope plans to further develop its Hope Happens vocational center. Plans include fencing along the main highway by which the center is located, buying four more tailoring machines, creating a carpentry center and medical clinic, installing honey-processing equipment, and establishing office space and a guest house.
Relaying its gratitude to Euclid UMC, Voices of Hope asks, “Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!” The 501(3)c organization is based in Wheaton.