She Saved $40. It Changed Everything.

By Petros Network |

April 30, 2026

The Grit Behind the Grin – A Mother’s Day Collection

Meet Jane, a single mother of five in South Sudan. When we first met her, she was carrying the full weight of her family on her own. Her husband had left, and what remained was an uncertain future and a responsibility that didn’t let up.

As a girl, she never had the chance to go to school and married young. By the time we sat across from her, she was holding more than anyone should have to carry alone. She knew it, too.

What she may not have known yet was that she wouldn’t have to stay there.

A Place at the Table

Jane joined Petros Network Women desperate for a fresh start, and what she found was more than a program. She found a table to sit at, a circle of women rooted in the local church who showed up week after week in the heat and the hunger and the hard days, and refused to let each other stay where they were.

For a full year, she saved, she learned, she sold. She did what mothers everywhere have always done—she refused to give up. It wasn’t complicated, but it was consistent, and over time that consistency began to change something in her. For Jane, it meant she didn’t have to figure everything out on her own anymore, and that changed how she showed up.

She Showed Up

Week after week, she came back to that table, contributing what she could, learning what she was taught, and encouraging the women beside her as they did the same. It was steady work, and it took discipline, but over time something began to shift.

She found her voice.

With practical training and a small grant that helped her get started, Jane began building a business of her own. It didn’t happen overnight, and it wasn’t easy, but it was real. And she kept going.

546 More Women Like Jane Are Waiting
Walk with the next woman

What $40 Looks Like

In a place where most families live on less than two dollars a day, Jane and 145 other women saved a combined $6,000 in one year—about $40 each, set aside little by little. That is what perseverance looks like in the middle of poverty.

When the savings cycle ended, every one of the 146 women chose to do it again. One hundred percent re-enrollment!

Jane describes it this way:

“This group of women made me realize that I have the capacity to bring change in my family as a single mother, to identify my talents and have confidence and hope for my children.”

Jane’s savings group that meets every week to prayer, save and grow together.

Head High

Today, Jane stands at her market stall in Inkas village, head high, her business growing and her children in school. The change didn’t come all at once, and it didn’t come from the outside. It grew slowly, through the steady presence of the church walking with her and a community that refused to let her fall through the cracks.

This is what happens when the local church is equipped to walk with women in their own community, not just in moments of crisis, but in the everyday work of rebuilding. It is more than economic change. It is Gospel-centered transformation that strengthens families and takes root over time.

And when a woman rises, her church rises with her.

Come Alongside the Next Woman

Right now, 546 women are ready to step into a group like Jane’s—ready to begin saving, learning, and building a different future for their families.

Walk with the next woman like Jane — Learn How

Petros Network walks alongside indigenous leaders equipping women through the local church. If you’d like to learn more about women’s empowerment program, click to explore the compassion project.