Pochalla Hope Church
Pochalla, South Sudan
Our Story
Pastor Jay Omot is the director of Pochalla Hope Church, South Sudan. His journey began in 1998 when he fled the war in his hometown of Pochalla, seeking refuge in Ethiopia before eventually arriving in the United States. Today, he serves as the pastor of African Bible Fellowship, a sub-church of Hope Church in Oakdale, MN.
During a return visit to South Sudan, Pastor Jay discovered that the Pochalla community was gathering for worship under a tree, lacking a dedicated space for church services. With a deep passion for making worship accessible, he partnered with ICM (ICM.org), a global church developer, to build a sustainable church. ICM has been a tremendous support recognizing the opportunity to empower the congregation with a permanent church building, within walking distance of the community.
Pochalla has long faced conflict, war, and poverty—circumstances that have left many in need of hope and reconciliation. Pochalla Hope Church seeks to share the love of Jesus through the gospel, prayer, and biblical teaching. As an indigenous-led ministry, a local evangelist serves as the lead pastor, ensuring the church grows out of the community it serves. In partnership with Favor International (favorintl.org), which is active in rural Africa providing community development and Gospel teaching, church leaders in Pochalla receive training to deepen their understanding of God's Word and strengthen the church.
Our Mission
We are committed to expanding into unreached and underserved areas, planting new churches to spread the Word of God and transform lives through faith in Jesus Christ.
Our Impact
1. A Sustainable Church
The community has embraced the church, growing to over 300 members.
The church building itself was built to last with solid construction, one of few available gathering spaces in the area. Beyond church services, it serves the community as a hub, hosting additional services as needed:
- Health care visits from traveling medical teams
- Day-care opportunities
- Education classes
- Community center space
Grain Mill - A Path to Economic Sustainability for the Church
The community faces ongoing economic challenges, including a lack of employment opportunities. Currently the congregation is not able to provide a living wage for the pastor.
To help sustain the church and support the community, our goal is to establish a grain mill in the town of Ojangbye, a 30 minute drive from Pochalla.
The entire region is home to rural farming communities, growing typical crops of corn and sorghum. These grains are traditionally hand-milled into flour that can be used for baking.
Women spend up to 6 hours grinding grains with pestle and mortar stones until it’s in a usable form. It's a grueling process that takes a heavy toll on the body.
When women choose to have their grain milled, it's a 2-hour walk to the closest mill, carrying a 50 lb. bag of grain on their heads. A powered grain mill would quickly perform this task, allowing women to spend time tending to other needs.
A powered Grain Mill will:
- Employ church leadership
- Serve the community with milled grain, an essential food source
- Alleviate women from hours spent processing grain
2. New Church Plants
Beyond Pochalla, we are actively identifying potential new areas for church plants. We are:
- meeting with community members
- building relationships
- preparing the way to expand the reach of the gospel
Join us in sharing the Word of God with the unreached and underserved in South Sudan.
"Go therefore and make disciples of the people of all nations." -Matthew 28:19
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