Dear Friend,
“This project is not by human hands, but by God’s hands.”
This was recently shared with us by the Rt. Rev. Yohanas Benjamin Dirar, the Bishop of Wandi, South Sudan. Because of your generous partnership, Five Talents was able to launch a new Savings Group program in Wandi in 2024. Bishop Yohanas went on to say:
“God has brought you to the right place. In each parish, to see crowds of people sitting together and learning how to read is amazing. The benefit of this (literacy) stage of the program is that people can read the Bible and it has brought a very huge change in the community and in the church.
This project in our area is like a miracle. Imagine someone who has never gone to school, and after three months only, can read and even write. This is a miracle to me. The fact that these learners will now send their children to school means that this program has transformed their families for generations.
I have called all the pastors in my recent pastors’ conference — these are not even pastors that are associated with the program, but all the pastors in my diocese. I told them that each parish needs to own this program because of the good fruit it is bearing.”
Bishop Yohanas’ words are particularly meaningful because baseline surveys in Wandi indicated a 90% illiteracy rate in rural areas of this region, with severely limited numbers of schools, no microfinance institutions working in the area, and only one bank in the nearest commercial center, a several hours drive away. This excitement of the early achievements of this past year are just the beginning of community flourishing.
Thank you for helping us successfully reach our 2024 year-end goal! Your faithful support has helped Five Talents work in some of the most socially and financially marginalized communities in the world —and we can continue our next phase of programming in Wandi and other communities around the world in 2025 because you showed up!
Indeed, to quote the good Bishop, we are grateful that “God has brought you to the right place.” We look forward to the places where He will bring us in 2025 and beyond, together.
