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When Sudanese women join the mass protests for change and reforms, demonstrators revere them as Kandakes or Candances – the queens of the ancient African Kingdoms of Kush.

A workshop co-facilitated by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the South Sudan Council of Churches in South Sudan on 1-3 May drew 18 people to explore resources churches use to aid in trauma healing. Participants also discussed potential common approaches that could unite churches in their response to people faced with trauma.

As Christians worldwide prepare to mark Easter weekend, South Sudanese church leaders have offered peace as a gift to the people, who have experienced great suffering and trials by violence and conflicts.

An ecumenical spiritual retreat led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Francis at the Vatican ended yesterday with Pope Francis kissing the feet of South Sudan’s political leaders. The unprecedented two-day retreat was organised in an effort to support the country’s fragile peace deal.

On 5 April, the South Sudan Council of Churches officially presented its new website through a slideshow featuring photos from the site reflecting the idea of embracing peace. Several heads of churches attended to express their support for the council and its latest mode of strengthening communication with its members and with peace supporters across the globe.

Church and related organizations’ response to food crises globally may need to be strengthened following the findings of a new report which projects millions of people will be without food due climate change, conflict and insecurity.

As the implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan gains ground, Christian and Muslim leaders have united to draw to attention to a growing conflict in Yei River state, which is displacing thousands while igniting a severe humanitarian challenge.

The South Sudan Council of Churches, United Nations World Food Programme, and UNICEF have signed an agreement to work in partnership towards peace building to realize food security.

The South Sudan Council of Churches, on 21 December, released a Christmas Message of Hope. The Republic of South Sudan is experiencing a new era of peace, the message reads. “We bring it before God to bless it, to purify it, to reformulate it according to his will,” the message reads. “Peace is the gift from on high.”

World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit condemned the killing of two Catholic priests, one in South Sudan and another, less than one week later, in Cameroon.

A call to make thanksgiving a priority amplified in South Sudan as the world’s newest nation celebrated the recently signed revitalised peace agreement in Juba city on 31 October.

On 4 October, the South Sudan Council of Churches released a statement on the revitalized peace agreement as well as an action plan for peace through 2023.

Speaking in Lviv, Ukraine on 30 August, World Council of Churches (WCC) deputy general secretary Prof. Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri presented a paper on ”Women and Ecumenical Engagement for Peace in South Sudan,” reflecting on the experiences of a Pilgrim Team visit by the WCC in May 2018.

In a 19 July statement, the South Sudan Council of Churches reflected on recent developments in the country: “The winds of violence and conflict have continued to obscure our road to light and peace, while the international community remains discouraged and frustrated by the absence of peace. It is well known that the church has historically played a key moral and spiritual role in healing and mediation at various points in our history to stop bloodshed and make peace.”

A new report by Christian Aid - the UK charity - has cautioned that securing long-term peace in South Sudan requires much more than agreements between political leaders.

South Sudanese churches have welcomed the signing of a permanent ceasefire agreement by the main rivals, while cautioning that many other such pacts had also been dishonoured.

“Where is God?” Evoking the desperate cry of a South Sudanese girl stranded in a refugee camp far from home, WCC moderator Dr Agnes Abuom opened the Central Committee’s biennial meeting on 15 June with a stirring yet clear-eyed cry for deeper engagement by the WCC and its member churches to counter the world’s most intractable problems through nurturing hope and empowerment.

As a High Level Revitalization Forum met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, met to discuss peace in South Sudan, faith groups shared clear messages urging an end to war and suffering.

If the human spirit and likeness of God's will for peace with justice for all people is alive in the world, the pilgrim team that visited South Sudan this week has witnessed it. From 5-9 May, a World Council of Churches “Pilgrim Team” visited South Sudan under the theme “African Women of Faith and Gender Justice.” The delegation was hosted by the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC).

The WCC, World Evangelical Alliance and All Africa Conference of Churches, along with church-related humanitarian organizations and a coalition of church-related networks and organizations and partners, are planning 10 June 2018 as a second Global Day of Prayer to End Famine to be observed in faith congregations worldwide.