John, founder of NOC, believes that the only one who kept him alive during the civil war was not his widow mother, but GOD ALONE. He was present in these times of trouble. Since he accepted Christ as his personal Savior at age 6, he remains a devoted Christian in His service.

In 2011, Rev. John Deng Ater took a mission trip to then autonomous Southern Sudan, which later seceded from Sudan and became the independent Republic of South Sudan on July 9, 2011 after decades of African’s longest civil war that claimed millions of lives. The heart-rending stories from orphaned, street and abandoned children compelled Rev. Ater to initiate the Orphans’ Scholarship Program. The goal was to provide financial assistance for education and care to South Sudanese orphaned, street, abandoned and at-risk children who are living in refugee camps (Kenya and Uganda).

In 2013, the program was extended to South Sudan with its first headquarters located in Yei, Central Equatorial State. But, following a political crisis in 2016, Yei was seriously affected and left with no access to humanitarian aid and other means of survival. As insecurity intensified, the organization was left with no choice but to evacuate children along with their caretakers to Juba, the place now considered to be home for these disadvantaged children.