Wau, South Sudan, Aug 20, 2017 / 02:02 am
As the civil war in South Sudan heightens, millions are fleeing their homes for safer ground, which many have found at St. Mary Help of Christian's Cathedral in Wau, the country's second largest city.
"Those who flee believe that even rebels still fear God and would not slaughter civilians in the backyard of a church," said Fr. Moses Peter, a priest at St. Mary's, according to IRIN News.
"Many other churches have also taken in hundreds of people," he said.
South Sudan has been in the middle of a brutal civil war for the past three-and-a-half years, which has divided the young country between those loyal to its President Salva Kiir and those loyal to former vice president Reik Machar. The conflict has also bred various divisions of militia and opposition groups.
Since the beginning of the war, around 4 million citizens have left the violence-stricken country, in hopes of finding peace, food and work. This week, neighboring Uganda received the one-millionth South Sudanese refugee, highlighting the crisis as the world's fastest growing refugee epidemic.