Empowering Women Strengthens the Local Church
At Petros Network, we believe that Redemptive Lift takes place through the local church planted in a community. That’s why we connect with our local church planters and embed a Women’s Empowerment program directly in their villages—creating transformation that strengthens both families and congregations.
With the support of our strategic partner, Convoy of Hope, Petros Network recently added to our Women’s Empowerment program five Savings and Loan Groups in some of the most vulnerable areas of South Sudan, working hand-in-hand with local church leaders. These 146 courageous women face extreme poverty, limited resources, and the daily burden of providing for their families.
But as these women experience transformation, something remarkable happens: their husbands begin attending church after witnessing the positive changes in their wives and families. The local church grows stronger and more sustainable as its members become self-sufficient and generous with their newfound prosperity. What begins as economic empowerment becomes spiritual renewal for entire communities.
A Village Transformed: Life in Imurok
One of these communities is the village of Imurok, a place marked by instability and danger. Regular threats of attacks and ambushes along the roads, and ongoing displacement due to rebel activity, have left the village in a fragile and uncertain state. Adding to the hardship, a severe water shortage has devastated the area—broken boreholes and dried-up rivers force residents, especially women and children, to walk long distances just to access clean water.
Pictured above: Sofi, our Women’s Empowerment director in South Sudan.
Creating Economy from Nothing
Led by Sofi, our remarkable Women’s Empowerment leader, the past year has marked a dramatic turnaround for Imurok. This transformation began with a simple but revolutionary idea: economic opportunity.
When our team spoke with Sofi recently, she could hardly contain her excitement. Through her thick accent and joyful laughter, she shared something incredible—the women of Petros Network had established their own market in Imurok. With the blessing of the village chief, they created an economy where there was once only scarcity.
Pictured above: Women gathered to learn about personal finance.
From Daily Struggle to Financial Freedom
Backed by small micro-grants and training in finance, budgeting, and business, women who once hiked into the mountains to collect charcoal and climbed trees to gather leaves to sell are now entrepreneurs. The transformation from doing everything they could just to make it through another day to building sustainable businesses has been nothing short of remarkable. Where there was once backbreaking labor for meager daily earnings, these women now run their own market stalls and plan for their families’ futures.
Pictured above: Some of the remarkable women making income streams in the desert in South Sudan.
The Dignity of Earning Your Own Way
Most of these women—around 75%—cannot read and have received little to no formal education. They walk over 500 meters (more than a third of a mile) daily to haul water. Their children suffer from hunger, and school fees remain one of the greatest barriers to breaking the cycle of poverty.
But now, with a steady stream of income, these women are changing the story—not just for themselves, but for generations to come.
As one participant, Annah, a mother of seven from Imurok, shared:
“My greatest joy is running my own business, the presence of food on the table, and the word of God.”
Pictured above: The women setting up their first market in Imurok.
Join the Story: Your Part in Their Transformation
The market in Imurok is just the beginning. Across East Africa, hundreds more women are waiting for their chance to discover their worth, to provide for their families with dignity, and to break the cycles that have held their communities captive for generations.
Your partnership can write the next chapter.
When you support Petros Network Women’s Empowerment, you are not just investing in women’s businesses—you’re investing in church planting. You’re saying that Annah’s joy matters, that Sofi’s vision deserves to grow, and that the women walking 500 meters for water deserve the chance to walk toward opportunity instead. But you’re also investing in spiritual transformation as husbands witness the change in their wives and join local congregations, and as newly empowered families become generous supporters of their new church plant planted in community.
For $500, you can provide a woman’s involvement in Savings and Loan Cohort of 25 women, where they will receive essential training and access to a community savings program that will support them in starting and growing their business.
These aren’t women waiting for rescue. They are entrepreneurs waiting for their breakthrough. They are mothers ready to provide. They are communities prepared to flourish.
Will you consider making a gift today? Because every woman deserves to experience the joy that Annah has found—the dignity of providing for her family through the work of her own hands, and the spiritual growth that transforms entire communities.
