The centrality of religious agency in all human spheres provides the basis for spiritual dimension that exists in contemporary global phenomena. Religious experiences such as church affiliation or invocation of ancestral intercessions shape South Sudanese means of coping with current crisis. The interpretation of the concept of suffering beyond the physical world is an important aspect of religious experience as a strategy for coping with crisis in South Sudan. The idea that crisis is the devil’s work, temporary and will be overcome by supernatural powers plays a key role; and the lessons it draws from Biblical stories and traditional spiritual narratives are a basis for hope, perseverance and resilience.
South Sudanese refugees’ motivation to integrate and their quest to gain a sense of belonging and inclusion in diasporic communities have been shaped by religious experiences in specific ways. While they integrate themselves within their churches, the refugees’ church itself strives to garner approval and acceptance into the local church of host communities. This acceptance and subsequent solace is significant to people who have been uprooted from their homes and have lost everything. A social significance of such spiritual experience is that it also tends to unite internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees from communities in conflict and creates spirit of tolerance among those who once fought each other, but now live as neighbours and worship together. These spiritual resources are also used by religious institutions and ecumenical bodies such as the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) in their peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts. The creation of chaplaincies for displaced and diaspora communities that represent and serves the needs of conflict affected people is yet another demonstration of the role religious agency plays in people’s lives during crises; where refugee churches sometimes also act as channels and contacts through which other support comes to the displaced people.
However, the spiritual facet of conflict related crisis has not been adequately considered by modern peace efforts. The cause and effect of crisis has been analysed based on the material world, yet in many cultural contexts such as those in South Sudan, these go beyond the
material world into the spiritual realm. Considering how religious beliefs and spiritual agency inform people’s experiences and responses might prove to be appropriate methods of understanding how South Sudan makes sense of current crisis and how such resources could be used for peacebuilding. This paper argues that religious experiences and spiritual agency shape people’s perceptions and interpretations of suffering during crisis. The paper draws on data from my PhD research, collected from South Sudan between January and June 2016, and in Northern Uganda between June and July 2017, through interviews with chiefs and elders, religious leaders, civil society, IDPs, refugees, women and youth; about the current civil war, to discuss the potential role religious agency and spirituality can play in how people make sense of crises both at home and in diaspora.
Key words: Crises, religion, spirituality, peacebuilding, South Sudan