Believers help rebuild lives in southern Sudan.

Sudan (MNN)–Away from troubled Darfur, people in southern Sudan are struggling to recover from a 21-year-old civil war.

The war left behind a humanitarian crisis of immense proportions. Since the ceasefire was signed two years ago between the Sudanese Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), life is slowly but surely returning to normal.

Many people still stay in their mountain refuges, so farms are not being used, making it difficult for the region to start the rebuilding process. Because those who do return are dealing with food security issues, they have no time to farm, exacerbating the problem.

But, aside from food security, there is a need to get the children back into a routine. During the fighting, schools were forced to close, disrupting education and routine for thousands of the children.

Worldwide Christian School’s Dale Dieleman says they’re partnering with another agency to help address this key need there. “Basically, restart the infrastructure in that whole region. In this particular, the role that we’re playing and the role that the Sudan Christian Schools for Orphans, is exactly what it says. We’re really trying to establish schools, which will be, basically, the only schools in the region.”

They’re raising 41-thousand dollars for the project, which hopefully, will be ready to launch in the next 12 months.

Dieleman says, through the schools, they want to share the hope of Christ. “I think that it’s really planting the seeds of the Gospel but also the transformation power of the Gospel in terms of how do you live out the Gospel. I think this is the vision, trying to help the young people grasp and then go from there and be empowered.”