Nuba Mountains: In the war-scarred Nuba Mountains of Sudan, where conflict, poverty, and isolation have become part of daily life, the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood continue to be a beacon of hope. Through education, healthcare, pastoral care, and grassroots community initiatives, they stand with the people, embodying their founder’s vision of taking the Gospel to the margins.
For over seven years, Sr. Mary Caroline Lawia, a member of the congregation, has devoted her life to the communities of the Nuba Mountains. She insists that their presence is not an accident of history, but the realization of a dream cherished by the order’s founder, Abbot Francis Pfanner, who believed that Sudan should one day hear the Good News.
“The people who are really in need of our service are very happy for our presence with them and for them,” Sr. Mary Caroline shared. Despite war and calamities, the sisters choose to remain, striving to be instruments of reconciliation, hope, and new life.
At the heart of Sr. Mary Caroline’s mission is pastoral ministry. Her days are filled with directing the Young Catholic Students (YCS) movement, preparing couples for marriage, and instructing children and adults in catechesis. She collaborates closely with catechists, providing monthly formation, and sustains parish associations such as the Pontifical Missionary Childhood (PMC) and the Legion of Mary, even organizing regular prayer days for their members.
Sundays find her in distant outstations, praying with scattered Christian communities, visiting the poor and elderly, and bringing comfort where it is needed most. Four times a week, she walks to neighboring villages to lead prayers in Small Christian Communities (SCCs).
“There are many poor people who come to beg in our convent, and I have to attend to them,” she explained, describing her daily encounters with the most vulnerable. She also promotes vocations by visiting schools, guiding young students through counseling and encouragement.
Alongside pastoral duties, Sr. Mary Caroline teaches in the convent’s kindergarten. Children aged nine to sixteen many of whom have never set foot in a classroom learn the basics of reading and writing. Education, she says, is not only about knowledge but also about dignity and empowerment.
Life in the Nuba Mountains is physically and emotionally demanding. Her day begins before sunrise with meditation, common prayer, and Mass. Mornings are spent visiting the elderly and sick, bringing food, clothing, and companionship. “Morning is best,” she explained, “because later the heat becomes unbearable.”
Afternoons are devoted to catechism classes, followed by evening prayer with the sisters before returning to the villages to lead community prayers. Every moment is a delicate balance of service, prayer, and endurance.
The sisters live amid ongoing conflict, with insecurity, poverty, and extreme weather shaping every aspect of life. Yet Sr. Mary Caroline sees her work not as a burden but as a mission rooted in hope.
“Our work here is not easy,” she admitted, “but it is meaningful. This was the dream of our founder that the Gospel may reach up to Sudan.”
Even in the shadow of war, she refuses to leave. “We had to stay put with them and for them because we are their hope,” she said firmly. “If we decide to go back to our countries, who will be with them?”
Amid hardship, the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood embody a Gospel witness that is both practical and spiritual. They are teachers, healers, companions, and evangelizers. Above all, they are signs of God’s presence in a land often forgotten by the world.
For the people of the Nuba Mountains, their presence is more than service it is a living promise that faith, hope, and love will not be extinguished, even in the most difficult of places.