m. school takes a lot. target has it all. >> today on "christian world news" the people of south sudan finally have their own country after a half century of civil war and oppression. see why some fear the situation remains tense. plus the smiles foundation, how one man helped bring smiles to people who once had no hope in romania. how these christians responded to their needs.

a new nation born in africa, welcome to "christian world news" george thomas and wendy griffith on assignment. public of south sudan seceded from the north on july 9th. part of the 2005 peace agreement that ended a 20-year world war. more than 2 million people died. the south population is heavily christian and black african, 2 groups targeted by bashar. >> joining us in gary lane. i know you covered the civil war and witnessed the suffering of christians. what does the independence mean to them? >> they have been fighting for

22 years for independence. 2 million died, another 4-5 million left homeless. they have suffered. this is the moment they have been waiting for. they wanted to stop the advance of islam into the south. many were forced to attend mosques and learn islam. this way they can practice their faith freely. >> speaking of faith, this group of people are mostly christian. >> as muslim was atempeding to reach them, this is a christian group call the sudan people's liberation army. they stood up against this islam islam islamic ra sheem trying to get

them to become muslim. it is a buffer in south africa. >> there have been attacks in border regions. >> the north is trying to determine the border. they want to mandate what the border is without the south having a say. this border area is rich in oil. in april and may it was over a billion dollars. they want to clear the people and make it secure for the oil. they want to determine what the border is. >> this new nation is facing a refugee crisis, isn't it? >> yes, tens of thousands are refugee. so they had no homes to return

to. many of the people from the recent fighting have no homes. big humanitarian crisis in south sudan. >> what does the future hold for south sudan? >> it is bright if people can help them and build roads and in essence tugss. tugs. >> the world watching, what should we pray for? >> for the peace of sudan and pray that many more people come to the lord. so pray for the peace of sudan no. 1, no. 2, pray that more people will be open to the gospel and have an opportunity to hear it. >> governments like the u.s., what can we do to help? >> u.s. government giving 100 million dollars a year in military aid to beef up their sudan people's liberation army. south sudan army. that is needed if they are going

to stand a chance against this giant in the north that may want to do things their own way and fight with them again. >> gary, thank you so much. we know you'll keep us posted. >> you can learn more about christian ministries, visit our website at "christian world news" sub sue harn africa, george thomas takes us there. >> reporter: 20 years after the end inside south africa's biggest black township, another image emerging, soeto is on fire for god. grace bible church is where it is happening. they began in 1983 with a handful of people. it has now more than 15,000

members and 11 satellite churches across south africa. mosoono is the senior pastor. >> god said if you long for me and seek for me with all your heart, i think africa is really hungry for god. >> for 4 months, researchers crisscrossed the nations and interviewed more than 25,000 people face to face in 60 different languages, what did they discover? >> clearly the most religious place on earth. >> this team found people that live south of the sahara desert are seeking after god unlike any region in the world including europe and united states.

overwhelming number said religion is important to them. most believe in one god and heaven and hell and bible is the literal word of god and jesus will return in their lifetime. >> to the importance of jesus in people's lives to attendance to believe in god to prayer, one after another africa ranks at the highest level in terms of global comparison. >> he says christianity nor particular is exploding. in 1900 there were 7 million christians in sub sahara africa, that is up 7 fold to 770 million. christians are 70 percent of the population. >> it has to be one of the most rapid transformations in the

last 2,000 years. >> muslims has seen a big rise from 11 million in 1900 to some 234 million in 2010. >> it is not to say the indigenous african beliefs are not being practices on the continent. half of the people questions here in south africa believed sacrifice to the ancestors and spirits can protect people from harm. >> despite the dominance of christianity and islam itraditional african beliefs haven't diminished. jack could never have imagined today's phenomenal growth. born in gaborn to swiss parents, he says he was 20 years old when he got the calling from god to be a missionary to africa. >> in those days i never preached before a big

congregation. >> 57 years later, he leads one of the largest churches in democratic of congo. he has 60 other churches around the country. like his fellow pastor in soeto, he bears witness to the power in people's lives. >> god is doing something special in africa in our days>> despite hunger, famine that millions face, the people living in this region rank the highest in the worlds in terms of their optimistic outlook. back in soeto, this pastor is thrilled africa is on the leading edge of christianity's growth worldwide. he has been calling on men and

women from his church to carry the banner of christ to the ends of the earth. >> people came to us to tell us about christ. they were their dark continent. we realize history changes, we intentionally take the gospel to other parts of the world. >> yet another sign of africa's spiritual vitality. george thomas, cbn news, in soeta, south africa. >> unfortunately there is a drought gripping nations around the horn, the worst food crisis of the 21st century. thousands are leaving homes in search of water and crossing border into kenya. more than 3 million people in

need of humanitarian assistance. >> especially under 5, if they don't get the nutritional requirements thal need, they will be stunting. this is irreversible. they will never be able to live their full potential. >> united nations says throngs of somali children are dying. coming up here on "christian world news" >> here in romania, it struck me, children didn't smile. they didn't know how to smile. they had nothing to smile about. new one man is bringing hope to those that had none.

>> 20 years ago a british missionary traveled to romania,

hand out medicine and school plies and come back home. once he got there, he couldn't leave. i went to romania to follow his story. >> with a cry to god, romanias defeated nicholas communist regime. a british accountant and talent manager made the short trip to help those in the newly freed country. >> there are smiles among the children, here in romania, the children didn't smile. over the time i was here, they didn't know how to smile. they had nothing to smile about. >> seeing children that wouldn't smile for the camera broke kevin's heart. while the revolution communism, it didn't erase the poverty and its pain.

this led to one simple goal, give children something to smile about. >> fundamental mission was as simple as that. the mission known as smiles foundation continues to expand. today a social worker delivers food. this woman abandoned by her husband. 87 families live in this building. a long waiting list waiting for something to open up. adriana's apartment used to be the building's laundry room. her 7-year-old son has nightmares about losing his mom. counselors have been able to make him smile. >> i have been working with families, i testified people not

smiling turning to people that are smiling. >> joining us right here in the studio is kevin hoy, which works to bring smiles to the most disadvantaged people in romania, thank you for being here. >> it is a privilege, here. >> we have seen the pope calling for solidarity, why is it difficult to get gypsies to coexist with different populations? >> because of the culture. in romania, where i now spend my time working with gypsy communities, there is great differences and the problem the gypsies have come from, no education. they have struggled to make a life for themselves. not only are we coping with a different culture, and people who have been bad neighbors,

sent children begging and steal from the land an livestock of neighbors, if i was trying to feed my hungry child, in the end we have to work to provide them a different means of covering their needs. >> with that said you have been in romania working with 2 gypsy communities there. how has the smiles foundation been able to make things work. when you go there, you are seeing change, how have you been able to make it work? >> the paramount issue, we are motivated by the love of god. he is the one that can fill us with the desire to go the extra mile. to do what doesn't always feel the natural thing as a human being to love unconditionally, at the same time to present rules and conditions in which we should all live by. changing culture is not a quick process. we have attempted to help the

children in their education, in both communities, very few children ever went to school. >> i had an opportunity to travel with the teens in the 2 communities, where you know is farther than the other as far as progress, how are things now? >> we started in one in 2001. in the other it was 2007. naturally one is further progressed than the other. in both cases seeing progress particularly amongst the children. we have our first children graduating 8th grade which is an important stage in romania education, it is the deploma you need to be able to be officially employed. now we hope and pray we encourage them to go to high school and possibly on into university. >> kevin, we appreciate your

time. >> thank you. up next, underwater and out of reach, when floods overtook this muslim community, only one group came to their needs. e

>> more than 65,000 families in the southern philippines are suffering because of floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains. villages in muslim region are displacing thousands of families. lucille talusan reports, operation blessing is on the scene providing relief and medical care. >> reporter: it has been 3 weeks since torrential rains caused flooding in mostly muslim region in philippines. residents have no choice but endure the discomforts of cramped centered and changing

weather. >> it is very hot here during the day and at night cold and windy. most of the e people are sick with fever. our blankets too warn out to keep us out. >> they suffer from diarrhea due to poor sanitation. operation blessing helped medical missions in the areas that have been barely gotten relief assistance. areas like this are neglected because of rebel groups. this doctor went from tent to tent treating the families. the medical came just on time,

their 3-year-old daughter was diagnosed to have bronchitis. >> thank you so much for your help. this is our first time to be checked bay doctor. you gave everything for free. >> in addition to medicine, operation blessing also gave away toys to the children. for many children, it is the first real toy they have ever owned. operation blessing distributed food, mats and blankets and copies of the book of john to flood victims. the team set up a water station to provide clean water in the villages where the water has been contaminated by the floods. while the e vak wees are waiting for the flood water to subside, operation blessing is there to ease their suffering and spread god's love in these muslim communities. >> most of them, i am the first

doctor they saw. i hope they felt god's love and experience christ's love is real. >> lucille talusan, cbn news, philippines. >> you can see daily stories about god's church around the world, on cwnews.org. we'll be right back.

>> a 3-day gospel festival in southern france attracted an audience. public christian events are unusual in france. the translated messages taped for later broadcast to france, middle east and french speaking africa on other christian networks. peru's president erected a

statute of christ. it is 121 feet tall. a brazilian construction company donated it. he prayed for the nation and read christ the attitudes. finally, today, a bilingual festival to reach hispanics in southern california. franklin graham worked with some 600 hispanic congregations for the outreach. they had a saturday morning event for children and 2 nights of public meetings for adults. 1500 people responded to gram's invitation to follow christ. it is where his father billy graham came to prominence in 1949.

his granddaughters visited the sight. >> washington and hill street. this is where it all started for my grandfather's ministry, first crusade back here in 1949. the largest erected tent california has seen, 6500 people every night for 8 weeks. >> she is one of franklin graham's 4 children and brother will is a preacher as well, the 3rd generation of evangelist in the graham family. thanks for joining us, until next week, good-bye and god bless you.