“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” John 10:11

Jesus describes Himself as the “Good Shepherd.” He then goes on to indicate what that means. “The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”

It can seem ridiculous to us in the 21st century to consider it a noble and good thing for any keeper of animals to give up their lives for any of them… much less sheep (which can typically be bought at any market in Sudan).

As with so many things in Scripture, the meaning can go much deeper than we see at first glance. In the ancient world, people could not just run down to the grocery store and buy pre-butchered meat at any time of the year. If you were a shepherd, every one of your animals was not just a responsibility, but a source of income and life. Losing animals could result in not only impoverishment, but starvation.

We see this in many communities in Sudan. People take prodigious care of their flocks and herds because animals are the currency of a remote, agrarian community.

But giving one’s life for sheep doesn’t have to mean literally dying for them… as it did with Christ. Christ didn’t just die for His “sheep”— He lived for them. He gave His life… literally.

In the same way, many pastors and evangelists in the war-torn Nuba mountains follow this example of Christ and devote their lives to shepherding their sheep.

This post focuses on some of these “Good Shepherds” in Sudan. Your support of Persecution Project’s Discipleship and Evangelism program continues to equip these shepherds with scripture resources to provide spiritual food and drink to a hungry and thirsty people.

Good Shepherds

The above photos show Nuba pastors distributing Bibles and audio Bibles, visiting families, conducting leadership conferences, and receiving dairy animals.