Modern-Day Jonahs: South Sudanese Christians Call for Repentance 

Hundreds of South Sudanese Christians flooded the streets to beg for peace and repentance.

Ever since South Sudan gained its independence in 2011 it has been the center of instability and violence. It ranks the second highest on the Fragile States Index. 

The country's Christians decided to take the streets in a town called Yei on Saturday to lead the country towards restoration through prayer and repentance. 

Christian Revival Centre pastor John Sebit Edward led the call to prayer. His congregation wore white sack clothes and read from the prophet of Jonah, calling on the war-torn country repent of their sins and seek the Lord. 

"We want to bring the nation of South Sudan before God by putting on sackcloths as a symbol of humility, wisdom and repentance so that God can forgive us to develop South Sudan together, " pastor Edward said.  

The demonstrators were images of unity in a country that has been divided by civil war for years. They walked the streets holding hands and preaching messages of hope. 

It is a message that is sometimes hard to hear over the constant reports of the death and violence that have gripped the young country. 

"The scale and types of sexual violence, primarily by government SPLA (The Sudan People's Liberation Army) forces and affiliated militia -- are described in searing, devastating detail, as is the most casual, yet calculated, attitude of those slaughtering civilians and destroying property and livelihoods," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Said in a statement. 

The humanitarian issues are so bad, churches have become houses of refuge for thousands of South Sudanese people. 

An untold number of Christians have been killed during the civil war, but that has not stopped many from opening their churches and hearts to pray for peace in their country.