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Four days old: Many hopes, many challenges in new South Sudan

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Joyce Mulama, World Vision South Sudan in Stories

4 days old: South Sudan | World Vision Blog

Chants of “Republic of South Sudan Oyee” will forever be etched in the minds of many South Sudanese as they reminisce over their independence — today, only four days old. An overflowing crowd of people, both young and old, showed up at the John Garang Memorial to mark the historic event on July 9. Tens of thousands of South Sudanese endured the blistering sun, all along energized, as they erupted into song and dance when the country became the world’s 193rd country and Africa’s 54th. I saw men and women faint as the declaration was made. Others openly broke into tears as the new flag was hoisted....

Always enough love for one more

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Lindsey Talerico-Hedren in Child Sponsorship, Stories

A note of the sweetest kind | World Vision

This note was simply too sweet not to share. A little background: I first started talking to Debbie on our Facebook page, where she leaves us daily comments of encouragement. On Facebook, we’ve shared in Debbie’s passion and deep love for all seven of her sponsored children. When she receives a letter from one of her “littles” from Thailand, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Brazil, Zambia, or Mexico, it makes our day, too. So when she heard about our bloggers trip to Bolivia, you can guess what she did next…...

Your role in changing our world

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Rich Stearns in Advocacy

Imagine for a moment that you woke up tomorrow and discovered you were on a different planet in a different part of the universe without any idea of how you got there. Imagine what you would feel and the questions that would rush into your mind. Well, I have news for you – that exact thing has happened to every one of us. Sometime in the past 100 years, we were all born on the third planet from the sun in a solar system within the Milky Way galaxy, in a universe that is incomprehensibly vast. We had no idea how we got here, all we know is that we were born into the middle of a story that started...

Rich Stearns on Independence, God, and South Sudan

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Lindsey Talerico-Hedren in Conversations

Pre-independence celebrations in Juba. ©2011 Abraham Nhial/World Vision

God wasn’t the first thing on my mind on Monday, the Fourth of July. Truthfully, the only credit I can give myself is that I was thanking God for the three-day weekend. It’s not far-fetched to say that most Americans likely think of Independence Day as more of an outdoor show than an obvious reason to thank and honor God. That’s why articles like Rich Stearns’ in the Huffington Post are kind of a divine challenge for me — a reminder that peace and freedom are reasons to thank God, and that with Independence there is struggle, but also hope. May South Sudan’s first Independence Day be that of the latter. And may Rich’s article challenge you as it has...

South Sudan: Countdown to independence [video]

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Laura Blank in Conversations

South Sudan: Countdown to Independence | World Vision Blog

You can almost feel the excitement in Juba from half a world way here in our office in the United States. As I talk to our staff from South Sudan’s capital city nearly every day, I hear it in their voice and the stories they tell me. The city is on edge, eager for tomorrow’s independence ceremony, colorful banners hang in the streets and people wear t-shirts emblazoned with the new country’s flag. As the world watches and waits, I’ll be watching and waiting too, praying for a safe transition and peace for the children of South Sudan. South Sudan will become the world’s newest country tomorrow, July 9. As the South Sudanese prepare for their grand celebration, children are...