Calling the church to awareness and action

LOUISVILLE — Unlike many of her peers, Philile Dlamini didn’t become a social media influencer to build a following or to chase fame.

She did it to follow her faith and to chase justice.

Beginning with a host of injustices — particularly against women and girls — in Sudan, which for the past three years has ranked as the world’s most severe humanitarian crisis since the country’s most recent civil war broke out in April 2023.

“My interest in Sudan is professional, but it’s also personal, because I see a lot of what’s happening in Sudan right now as being similar to what I saw in South Africa growing up with political and economic decisions deeply shaping everyday life, especially for women and marginalized communities,” said Dlamini. “I think there’s a need for more awareness, but not only awareness around the issue but also action and sustainability.”

After earning her undergraduate degree in international relations in Pretoria and studying African politics with honors in Johannesburg, Dlamini moved to the U.S. to pursue a master’s degree in political science at the University of Louisville.

And although both her studies and her deep faith led her to dream of advocacy as her vocation, neither she — nor anyone else she knew — could quite picture what such a career path would look like.

“Everybody that I asked in my communities, they didn’t understand what I was talking about, so they could never really give me any clarity or share any stories about their journeys,” she said. “I don't think my advocacy and my faith are two separate things.”

Finally, a timely conversation with a friend who is studying at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary gave her the key.

“I had been talking to them about feeling disconnected from my faith since I moved to the U.S.,” Dlamini said. “I explained that I wanted my faith to become a part of my daily life because I believe faith is something you practice on a daily basis, not just something that you do on a Sunday when you go to church.” 

Keeping Dlamini’s life goals firmly in mind, when her friend learned about a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) opportunity at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Office of Public Witness (OPW) in one of their seminary classes, they immediately gave her the information.

“That's how I found out about it and applied,” she said.

The OPW is the public policy information and advocacy office of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Its task is to advocate and help the Church to advocate the social witness perspectives and policies of the General Assembly. The Church has a long history of applying these biblically and theologically based insights to issues that affect the public — maintaining a public policy ministry in the nation’s capital since 1946. 

Since October 2025, the 27-year-old Dlamini has been serving the OPW under the auspices of the YAV program in a 10-month internship working directly with Catherine Gordon, the PC(USA)’s representative for international issues. 

“My role is mainly monitoring the global policies and how they’re affecting the different communities and countries that I work with and have an interest in, specifically Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Dlamini explained. “The humanitarian conflict in Sudan is something that needs our attention.”

And through her groundbreaking social media series focused on Sudan — exploring what’s happening, who is most affected, and how the ongoing conflict has reshaped daily life for millions of people — Dlamini is calling attention to one of the world’s most overlooked humanitarian crises.

In one video posted on the OPW Facebook page on Sudan, Dlamini shares that women and children are often the ones who suffer the most during Sudan’s war. Gender-based violence has surged, and many women are forced to give birth without medical assistance, increasing complications and maternal deaths. But, even in crisis, Sudanese women-led organizations continue supporting survivors, documenting abuses, and advocating for justice, ensuring dignity and care remain possible despite the war.

“Through her Sudan-focused work, Philile has helped connect U.S. Presbyterians to a global crisis, embodying OPW’s mission to link faith, advocacy and international solidarity,” said Gordon. “She translated complex realities in Sudan into accessible, faithful storytelling that calls the church into awareness and action alongside global partners.”

As for Dlamini, she believes that only when people are better informed about world issues can they take action.

“I think injustice often happens when we keep quiet in the face of injustice,” she said. “But when people hear about it, it’s only then that we can start being agents for change. Because people’s rights and dignities are being threatened, we have to do something about it.”

Dlamini’s experience as a YAV working at OPW is made possible, in part, by gifts to the World Communion Offering.

Received by many congregations on World Communion Sunday, which falls this year on Sunday, Oct. 4, this new Offering can be celebrated at any time of the year. With its singular focus on reconciling God’s people around the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, it supports the PC(USA)’s initiatives in racial justice, gender justice, peacemaking, global witness, and ecumenical and interfaith relations. 

The prophet Micah’s charge to “love kindness” is uniquely embodied when siblings the world over join hearts and hands around Christ’s Table of grace.

“This Offering is a way of saying we belong to one another across borders,” said Gordon. “It helps us move beyond just knowing about a situation to actually standing with people in it.”

Because Dlamini’s participation in the YAV program has given her the clarity she needed in order to pursue the kind of work she has long envisioned, she supports the goals of the World Communion Offering and what it seeks to do.

“People who care about young people should give to this Offering to support gender justice,” she said. “Even if you can’t make a big change, even a small gift can make a big difference in a young person’s life. That’s what happened for me.”