The focus of this year's information and meeting day was on South Sudan. Dorina and Mathias Waldmeyer, two former international staff members of Mission 21,⃰ gave an impressive account of their mission in South Sudan. There is a violent conflict in the country between the two largest ethnic groups, the Dinka and the Nuer.
The people are suffering from the ongoing civil war, which has also drastically worsened the young country's food situation. About half of the population (six million people) suffers from hunger. Farmers cannot cultivate their fields due to the constant threat of armed conflict, and children cannot go to school.
The entire infrastructure is non-existent or in very poor condition in many places. Mission 21 and its partners are not giving up hope. Hand in hand, they are building peace brick by brick. Dorina and Mathias Waldmeyer tell us how this is possible under these circumstances, based on the work of Mission 21 and its partners on the ground.
The churches play an important role in this, and so do Mission 21's partners. Depending on their size, the churches unite churchgoers from the country's most diverse ethnic groups. In the services, Nuer and Dinkas pray, sing and dance together. Although churches themselves are victims of looting and destruction, Mission 21's partners do trauma and reconciliation work wherever they can. The churches remain important inter-ethnic institutions in the country as bearers of hope and providers of comfort. They regularly act as mediators at the national level as well.
For many participants of the Info and Encounter Day, it is probably precisely these very personal and close insights into the work of Mission 21 that remain and make the suffering and hope of Mission 21's partners in such crisis areas tangible.
