CANFIELD — A missionary serving in South Sudan highlighted the nation’s struggles and triumphs in a presentation Tuesday before nearly two dozen people at Canfield Presbyterian Church.

Kristi Rice and her husband, Bob, are back in the United States to educate people about their work. An illness prevented her husband from attending the event.

Bob grew up in northern California and Kristi is from Illinois, but they met each other as volunteers in Rwanda.

“We fell in love with Africa before we fell in love with each other,” Kristi said.

After spending seven years in the Democratic Republic of Congo, they began their ministry in 2017 in the east African nation. South Sudan six years earlier broke away from Sudan and established itself as a republic.

The Rices live in the capital of Juba, located in the southern part of the country. She described South Sudan as a mixture of “beauty and tragedy.” After it achieved independence from Sudan, it plunged into two of its own civil wars from 2013 to 2018.

As a result, crushing poverty exists in most of the country. Bob Rice recently visited a town in the state of Upper Nile that “had been completely destroyed, and all the houses burned down,” Kristi said. She said farmers were afraid to grow crops for fear of being killed on the way to their fields.

However, she said that people in Juba are warm and welcoming and have a strong sense of community, often worshipping and celebrating together in large groups.

The Rices’ primary role is to promote reconciliation. Bob teaches at Nile Theological College, helping to equip people to become leaders of their churches. Kristi facilitates discussion groups, where people acknowledge collective guilt and ask for forgiveness from former enemies.

Rice said money from the Presbyterian Church is critical to allowing these experiences to continue.

“You really have a part in this ministry,” she said to the attendees.

The Rev. Larry Bowald, pastor of the church, called the presentation thought-provoking and said, “I love the reconciliation work, and I think it has something to teach us.”

Canfield resident Laura Miller concurred. She said that with all the different tribes and languages in South Sudan, the idea that people were learning to forgive and understand each other is amazing.

“It would be nice if we as Americans could figure that out,” Miller said.

Don Wilson of Canfield called the talk “eye-opening.” Noting that South Sudan is comprised of 60 percent Christians, he said, “Maybe they’re more similar to us than we think.”