A World Apart

It has officially been a loooong time since the last time I posted. I think it is similar to exercise; the longer you go without it, the harder it is to start back. But enough about me. Tonight I want to tell you about an amazing story I had the opportunity to hear. Our men's group at church had a young man by the name of Victor to come speak to us. Victor is one of the "Lost Boys" of the Sudan in Africa. In my protected shell of a mind, the Sudan is a place mentioned often in National Geographic where some people are killing alot of other people for no good reason. Tonight I got to hear a firsthand account of what things are really like over there.

As a young boy, Victor (his baptized name; no, Victor is not a Sudanese name) and his older brother were in charge of tending the cows. On a seemingly normal day, 8 year old Victor and his brother were watching the cows and sculpting clay cows out by the riverbanks when the sound of automatic gunfire and screams rang out from his village. Terrified, they ran away. When they reached the jungle, Victor and his brother were separated. He said he spent the better part of two days crying, both missing his family (whose fate was unknown) and afraid of being attacked by lions. Which is a legitimate fear in my book. He remembers being so hungry that he tried to eat the leaves of the trees he slept in, but his throat was so closed up that he couldn't swallow. By the grace of God he heard voices in his language, and joined these people who were also fleeing the Sudan. They made the 1,000 mile (not a typo!) journey to Ethiopia on foot. At the time, Ethiopia was not yet under siege from the Islamic movement. Eventually, they had to flee Ethiopia and travel to Kenya, and this journey continued for many years, until he had the opportunity to travel to the United States.

Long story short, Victor made it to the US, uncertain of his future, and landed in the Atlanta area, where there was a modest Sudanese population. He found a warehouse job, and guess what day his orientation was? September 11th, 2001. The first day he ever saw the World Trade Center was on the news feed as we were under attack. At that time, he began to wonder if he would ever escape a life of conflict and war. A few years later, through a friend, he got hired on with a ministry called Make Way Partners. They asked him to relocate to Birmingham, where there are virtually no Sudanese, and he said, sure, why not. Make Way Partners has been his opportunity to share his story about the terror and horror that has a stronghold on the Sudan. What was so fascinating to me is hearing his story of adjusting to modern society. For example, he was so accustomed to eating one meal a day in the displaced persons camps in Africa (where they often had to feed 70,000 a day), that he can only eat one meal a day. He said his stomach physically can't handle more than one meal a day. Do you know any Americans that could use THAT diet?? Also, at first he was very scared to leave his apartment. He didn't leave for a week, until one of his friends coaxed him out and said that there was nothing to fear here. He said that he couldn't figure out why he would look out the window and see people walking and riding bikes. "Where are they going?", he wondered. His friend kindly informed him that people do that here to exercise and stay in shape. He thought to himself, "Being that I walked 1,000 straight miles, I think I'm good!".

One thing that really stuck out to me was the baptized name he chose for himself. He was baptized in Kenya as a Catholic, and was required to take a Christian name to recieve baptism (not sure how I feel about that one, but not a discussion for here). He didn't want to at first, but once he found out what "Victor" meant, he knew that was who he was meant to be. A "Victor" is triumphant, persevering, an overcomer. I can't think of a more fitting name to choose.

A few times in his story, I found myself realizing how trivial some of my worries are in comparison to Victor. I haven't fled my home and family to a backdrop of gunfire and genocide. I haven't slept in trees to avoid jungle beasts. And I certainly haven't traveled thousands of miles with no apparent end in sight. But I would imagine there are many stories like Victor's that never get heard. I am glad he is able to share his story with those who are able to help his cause of providing and protecting children and citizens of the Sudan. What really blew me away was Victor's faith in God as his protector and provider, even after all the pain and anguish he has witnessed firsthand. He closed our time together by saying the Lord's Prayer in Dinka, the indigenous language of the Sudan.

If you would like to learn more about Make Way Partners, you can visit their website at http://www.makewaypartners.org/ Please take a moment to read about their cause to help those who don't have the resources to help themselves.