Despite ongoing attempts to silence the people of God, churches built by Samaritan’s Purse in an embattled region of Sudan continue praising the Almighty and sharing His Gospel.
Among the mountains of southern Sudan, Pastor Gabriel Kuku’s church was burned to the ground by gun-wielding Islamist forces in back-to-back years at the height of the war in the 1990s.
“The soldiers told us, ‘We won’t let this church exist,’” Pastor Kuku recounted of the second attack. “They surrounded the church with machine guns.”
At the news of enemy soldiers in the village, the community’s Muslims and other non-Christians gathered at the entrance of the church in solidarity with the Christians. Some of the teenage soldiers defected and also stood with the Christians.
Instead of opening fire, the soldiers kidnapped Pastor Kuku, a youth leader at the time, and two elders. Though bruised and beaten, Pastor Kuku and the others eventually escaped imprisonment. When Samaritan’s Purse arrived to rebuild a church of concrete and steel, he rejoiced.
“I believe that Samaritan’s Purse was sent by God to open this church for us, and when that happened, many people came to hear the Word of God,” Pastor Kuku said. “This gave us encouragement to continue to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The Nuba Mountains of Sudan, where Pastor Kuku leads his church, remain embattled long after South Sudan celebrated its independence.
Samaritan’s Purse rebuilt 168 churches in this remote, difficult-to-access region, including Pastor Kuku’s. However, because it is in Sudan, not the new country of South Sudan, aircraft from Khartoum returned years later and bombed it again. Nonetheless, the pastor wasn’t fazed.
“I went back to the Word of God and was encouraged—not scared,” he said. “We came to remove the rubble and repair what we could, and the people kept coming to church.”
The church still stands today. Under twisted beams and a caved-in metal roof with shrapnel lodged in the block walls, Pastor Kuku’s congregation has not ceased to shout praises to the Lord. The pastor’s prayer is not for a new roof, but for an awakening among his people.
“I ask you to pray that my people would accept the Word of God, and that through your prayers, they would come to know God,” Pastor Kuku said.
“The Bible talks about persecution. It happened then, and it happens now. But we continue to pay visits to sick people and care for the displaced. We encourage them with the Word of God.”
War erupted—again—in Sudan in 2023. Now in its fourth year, the current civil war has created the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people suffering from hunger and disease as millions are displaced from their communities.
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.
In cooperation with churches Samaritan’s Purse built throughout the Nuba Mountains, we are distributing life-saving food to the masses displaced by war and providing nutrient-dense peanut paste for malnourished children and their mothers. We also provide medical assistance in these camps, and basic water, sanitation, and hygiene needs. Most importantly, through the church, we tell these suffering people about the eternal hope of God’s love through Christ.
As this conflict rages near Pastor Kuku’s church, he’s relied on his training and continued partnership with Samaritan’s Purse to evangelize to those in the sprawling displacement camps. His church also distributes shelter items—like mosquito nets and tarps—we have provided to him.
“This partnership means a lot and encourages us to spread the Gospel,” Pastor Kuku said. “The Bible talks about persecution. It happened then, and it happens now. But we continue to pay visits to sick people and care for the displaced. We encourage them with the Word of God.”
With no end to fighting in sight, it’s only the church that can bring a lasting and supernatural peace to a place and a people that have known conflict for generations.
Please prayerfully consider supporting the ongoing work of Samaritan's Purse in the Sudans.
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