A Gospel Explosion in the World’s Youngest Country

Gospel Work in the World’s Youngest Country

God is opening doors in the youngest country in the world. South Sudan became a nation in 2011 after a series of events that caused them to separate from the country of Sudan. As a young country with a young government, they have much to learn and many ways to grow. The opportunities are seemingly endless for how the Lord can work in the lives of the South Sudanese people, both government officials and lay citizens.

But it’s also one of the most dangerous countries in the world due to a combination of political, security, and humanitarian crises. Despite this, Anton Roos sees evidence of God’s work as he faithfully ministers to current and future pastors and church leaders throughout the country. He delights in seeing lives changed and hearts transformed for the gospel.

In the nearly six years of ministry service to the country, Anton explained that “what God is busy doing right now is building an infrastructure of solid Bible preaching churches that have church planting and missions in their DNA. And in the years to come, you’re going to see South Sudan absolutely explode for the gospel.” He believes this is why the Lord has put a fire in his heart for the South Sudanese people, many of whom still need to hear the good news. But that starts with the pastors and church leaders, who also have limited exposure to solid biblical training.

Meanwhile, Anton also serves as the lead pastor of Lake Lure Baptist Church in North Carolina. While the thousands of miles that separate him from South Sudan provide an extra challenge in his ministry work, the Lord has used it as a strategic blessing. Through partnership with a local South Sudanese church in the country’s capital of Juba, Anton and his North Carolina church are helping to build a new K–12 school that will also be home to a Bible school—the first accredited Baptist college in South Sudan. And one instrumental need they have is theological resources, both books and Bibles.

Through Crossway Equip, Anton and his wife have taken numerous suitcases full of Crossway books and Bibles: “We took very little clothing and just loaded up on Crossway resources. I’ve never carried so many suitcases that are so heavy in my life before, but it was awesome.” Through these resources, men and women already have been blessed by what Anton prays will continue to be a platform for gospel learning and growth.

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Resourcing the Resourcers

When Anton and his wife met Wani Charles and his family, they were drawn to them immediately. Wani Charles lives in Juba, where he currently works in the transportation industry. And though he knew about Christ as a child, he didn’t become a Christian until adulthood.

My encounter with Christ happened after I got married. For me the single life was filled with selfish postures and I did a lot of things without thinking about tomorrow. I indulged in a lot of things, especially drinking and smoking. . . . Then when I got married, my wife began sensing that there were some moments when I was really very unstable.

And at a certain point my life became crushing, my health specifically. I realized that I needed a way out, to figure out how I could really get out of the situation I found myself in—or even if I could get out of it. On the day I decided to go to church (with the great encouragement of my wife), when I came back, I felt that I was different, because the feeling was absolutely different. The worries, the troubles, the angers that I had been dealing with just seemed to disappear, or at least become less dominating in my life than they had been before.

Since then, Wani's life has never been the same. Anton has seen the power of the transformation in his life as he’s interacted with Wani. Next year, Lord willing, he will graduate from a small theological college that provides biblical training, especially to those who have never had the chance to receive this kind of education. Many, Anton explained, haven’t been able to obtain a high school diploma.

Access to education and biblical resources puts those who want to be pastors and ministry leaders at a great disadvantage, which is why Anton is eager to fill his bags with books and Bibles every time he travels to South Sudan. Through his partnership with Crossway, Anton was able to give Wani an ESV Global Study Bible—the first study Bible he’s ever received.

Equipping to the Ends of the Earth

While South Sudan’s official language is English, more than sixty languages are spoken throughout the country. So for Wani, receiving this Bible “has been so helpful because it is simplified in its language. The English is not tough to understand. I have used it a lot, especially because I’m a Bible student.” He’s been able to understand and study the Bible at a level that he couldn’t before.

Anton reports that through the investment they’ve already made these past years in the South Sudanese people, they’re coming to a greater understanding of God’s Word. “[These future pastors and church leaders] are learning a lot right now. There’s so much tradition and influence from the prosperity gospel, and if you mix that with Roman Catholicism, you’ve got a mess on your hands. And so for us to be able to sit down with them with the Bible and to teach them very basic Christian principles has been phenomenal.” Resources like the Bibles and books from Crossway Equip are helping in this process, especially when Anton and his teams have to leave to return to the States or when pastors and church leaders return home after training sessions. Though they can’t always be together to challenge and support each other in their ministry work, they can be sent with resources to continue contributing to their theological education.

Wani, when asked what he’s been learning in his study of God’s Word recently, shared:

Salvation is by the grace of God. There’s nothing we can do about it in our human efforts. It’s all God who works that out in us. . . . Before when I was reading Philippians, I read that you have to work for your salvation with fear and trembling (2:12). But now I understand that Paul means that there’s nothing we can really do in our own power to make sure we are granted our salvation or that we don’t lose our salvation. I was afraid, and I would think that if I’m not doing this and that, then I’m going to lose my salvation. But now I understand that the Bible tells me that is not how it works.

The Holy Spirit works through the written Word, and does so through opening the eyes of the hearts of men and women around the world. That’s the aim for the Crossway Equip program, to allow more brothers and sisters in hard-to-reach locations worldwide to grow in their understanding of and love for the Lord and his Word.

Anyone traveling overseas for ministry work has the opportunity to take Crossway resources with them in their luggage. That’s exactly what Anton plans to do as he continues to make trips and invest in this Bible school in Juba. And he’s confident that lives will continue to be changed and the Spirit will continue to work, beyond what he could ask or think.

“Our prayer has been, ‘God, will you please do this work in a miraculous way? And so much so that no one can argue the miraculous nature of your way.’” —Anton Roos

Praise God for the ways he is reaching the ends of the earth through Crossway resources packed in suitcases. Pray that each resource distributed through Crossway Equip would serve to further the kingdom.