Josh and Helen Chard

South Sudan is the poorest country in the world, devastated by years of civil war.

Two thirds of the population need aid, and Christian teams, like SIM South Sudan, have been able to share God’s love through medical ministry, trauma healing and discipleship.

Despite this work on the ground, the team must coordinate everything from neighbouring Kenya, having evacuated the SIM South Sudan offices during the civil war. Our vision is to help establish a new base in South Sudan so that we can more effectively run our ministries and reach out to those in need throughout the land.

Our original plan was to move to Sudan, however that door closed when war broke out in 2023. Instead, God has shown us the need in neighbouring South Sudan, where we can serve the church, strengthen our team and reach out to the Sudanese refugees now settling there.

Our role

We work on the ground as part of SIM South Sudan. Our team exists to provide responsible resources and opportunities to build Christ-centered missional churches, and to improve the lives of people while providing strong biblical education among the peoples of Upper Nile state, the diaspora in Northern Uganda and Kenya, and wherever God presents new opportunities.

We will be setting up a new team base in the capital, Juba, which will serve as a logistics base for the work in Upper Nile state. We will also be exploring new opportunities for ministry in Juba through media work and through care for Sudanese refugees.

Our calling

God called Josh and Helen individually into cross-cultural ministry before he called them together. They have spent the last five years discerning where God wants them long-term: first studying Missiology with a focus on Islam at a Christian university in Kenya, and then learning Arabic in Egypt. During this time, God called them (and their two children, Raffy and Sierra) to move to Juba, South Sudan.

Our prayer

Our prayer for South Sudan. Are you ready?