In world’s largest refugee settlement, churches offer hope
BIDI BIDI, Uganda — Scores of thousands fled the violence of South Sudan’s civil war with little but their faith. Now, in the world’s largest refugee settlement, they are improvising churches.
They dance and sometimes speak in tongues. Preacher Daniel Rasash falls to his knees and weeps in prayer. One old man with missing teeth shakes his hips as others ululate during a service at Yoyo Pentecostal Church.
Tens of thousands have been killed in the civil war, and close to 2 million South Sudanese now shelter in neighbouring countries. As World Refugee Day is marked on Tuesday, the international community prepares to meet in Uganda to draw attention and funding to the world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis.
The Bidi Bidi settlement is home to more than 270,000 refugees from South Sudan. Most have arrived in the past year. The churches for the born-again Christians are oases of joy among the daily humiliations that come with rebuilding their lives.