Mission

Our mission is to build healing partnerships with communities of  traumatized people in the harshest places of the developing world.

We do so believing that each person and community can utilize the resources, disciplines and skills essential to leading flourishing lives of peace, meaningful vocation, emotional, relational and spiritual healing and ultimately life transformation. 

There are no lost causes.

War Trauma

THE EVENT

Emotional/psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter one’s sense of security, making him/her feel helpless in a dangerous world.

THE EXPERIENCE

Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety, but any situation that leaves one feeling overwhelmed and isolated can be traumatic, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm.

THE THREAT

It’s not the objective facts that determine whether an event is traumatic, but one’s subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless one feels, the more likely he/she is to be traumatized.

*Credit to Harvard Health

Updates on South Sudan

Former NBA player Luol Deng is a living testament to the resilience of the South Sudanese people. Born into a family that was deeply affected by the horrors of war in South Sudan, he experienced firsthand the devastating impact it had on his loved ones. Deng was born in Wau, South Sudan where JustActNow works. Though Luol and his family are not connected to JustActNow, his life demonstrates the power of healing from war trauma and the choice to return to transform his country. There is great pride in all of South Sudan for his leading the basketball program to qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games. Luol's mission is clear: he aims to present the world with a different perspective, one that showcases the beauty and rich culture of his homeland instead of perpetuating the image of a war-stricken country. Through his work and advocacy, Luol Deng strives to offer a glimpse of South Sudan that is filled with hope, resilience, and a promising future.

Founders

SMARD (SOLIDARITY MINISTRIES AFRICA FOR RECONCILIATION AND DEVELOPMENT)

James Baak, one of the lost boys of Sudan, holds a significant relationship with JustActNow. He fled the horrors of civil war in Sudan through a 1,000 mile walk across Sudan and subsequently spent the next 13 years of his life in two refugee settlements. In that time he found faith in a God who promises eternal life, victory over death and despair and hope for the future. At age 16, he began his primary school education and later high school, undergraduate and graduate work. He made the difficult choice to turn down the opportunity to be resettled in the United States, in order to follow his calling to return to his country. James founded SMARD to provide education, biblical training, women’s empowerment and peace-building. In 2016, James became the South Sudan country director of the newly formed JustActNow war trauma healing organization. With his intimate understanding of the struggles faced by war-affected communities, James has played a crucial role in JustActNow's initiatives, ensuring their interventions are tailored to the needs of the most vulnerable. His remarkable journey and ongoing dedication embody the commitment of JustActNow to bring trauma healing for the transformation of his nation.

JustActnow

Meredith Wheeler, an academic, pastor, Africanist and trauma survivor, is the visionary behind JustActNow. Enduring a life with much trauma, Meredith found solace in his calling to effect positive change in the world through the good news of the Gospel. His journey of healing and personal growth and his experiences through years serving in the war torn regions of central Africa, propelled his desire to establish JustActNow as a platform for seeking to restore God’s creation design in the most devastated regions in Africa. Meredith's post Ph.D. research has focused on the impact of complex war trauma on the brain (this is the field of neuroplasticity, the biological and psychological changes in the brain in response to long-term, complex, repeated war trauma) and the enormous obstacles it presents to the rebuilding of lives, communities and nation. JustActNow seeks to foster healing communities where individuals from all walks of life can come together to address pressing issues, pursue justice, and create meaningful change.