Lokuta is from South Sudan, but spent much of his life living in a refugee camp in northern Uganda due to war. It was in that camp that he came to know Jesus as His Savior and became involved in his local church. Before long, he felt God calling him back to his home country to serve as a missionary with YWAM.

Almost ten years ago Lokuta arrived at the YWAM base in Yei, South Sudan with a heart to work with children. Decades of war meant there were very few schools in South Sudan and the ones that did exist were usually poorly run. So Lokuta began to pray about starting a nursery school for children from the nearby villages. Several times he prepared to enroll in a teacher training course in Uganda, only to see the doors close because of finances and circumstance. Finally he decided to take a step of faith and open the school with few finances, no proper building and only a handful of materials.

In a medium-sized mud hut with a grass-thatched roof, Lokuta soon had close to 50 children coming daily to learn their ABC's, play games, sing to Jesus and eat porridge. From that humble beginning, God has grown the school incredibly. The school now has three nursery classes and four primary classes with over 260 students. There are currently nine teachers and two blocks of permanent classrooms with plans to start a third block of classrooms later this year. The kids love the school so much they often show up during holidays to ask when the school is opening again. Lokuta is thankful that hundreds of Southern Sudanese children are getting a good education while learning about the love of God and following Jesus.

Both the Lokuta and the school are in need of people to pray for them and partner with them financially. We are praying for people to commit to supporting Lokuta with $50 or $100 a month for his personal needs. He is also in need of about $750 in one-time gifts to complete a house which he will rent out to help support himself long-term. While the children do pay some school fees, it is not enough to cover the costs of all the teachers and the porridge they are fed each day. The school needs about $7500 a year to cover all the costs. That is only $30 to help a children from South Sudan get an education for a year. Would you consider supporting one or two or ten of these children?

If you would like to support this work, donations can be sent to: YWAM Strategic Frontiers, PO BOX 60579, Colorado Springs, CO 80960. Please make checks payable to "YWAM" and do not write "Sudan" anywhere on the check. Enclose a note that states "Sudan- Lokuta" or "Sudan- Yei school". You can also go to www.ywamsf.org to make a donation online.