San Diego’s ‘Lost Boys’ look forward to the day that they will celebrate Christmas in Sudan

By FRANCINE PHILLIPS

Nestled behind abundant trees, blanketed soft grass and impatiens, with a proud American flag out front, the home in Coronado looks like a typical American family is inside. The residents are, indeed, brothers — a relationship forged through hunger, frustration, violence, loss and, now, hope. They are four of 4,000 boys brought to the United States from the more than 17,000 “Lost Boys of Sudan” — child refugees from the violent Islamic militias ravaging their country.

Mamer Ajak, Isaac Amol, Nicodemus Lim and Jacob Puka are students at Point Loma University, studying to become leaders in what they hope will be a Sudan free from oppression and forced Islamic conversion when they return at the end of their studies.

“My homeland is caught in a movement called the ‘Arabization of Africa,’ said Mamer Ajack, an International Business Development major and a recent intern for the United States Senate. “The goal is to change the African identity to an Arab identity through conversion to Islam.”

“We are Christians, we are not Muslims,” emphasized Isaac Amol. “We do not go along with the Heria Laws put in place by the government in Khartoum. We can’t go along with cutting off arms and putting out eyes. We don’t want to abide by that kind of law.”

The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) negotiated peace and religious freedom with the government in 1972 and there was a time of freedom. In 1983, however, the government installed Islamic Law. Christian ministers were imprisoned and civil war began.

“Most of the Christian men went to the townships to help the SPLA resist,” explained Mamer. Then the Khartoum government changed to a tactic as old as war.

“The government soldiers realized that they were losing the battle in the towns, so they sent militias to kill the women and children in the villages. They wanted to undermine the determination of the soldiers who had gone to the city,” said Mamer.

In the aftermath, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) determined that there were 17,000 children under the age of ten left behind. Mamer was 8 years old. U.N. officials went to Khartoum to try to address the situation with the government and were murdered. After this incident, the children were quickly organized into groups and began a march to Ethiopia. Later, when that government collapsed, they were marched back to Sudan, then on to Kenya. Today, 63,000 refugees make up the U.N. camp in Kenya. An estimated 1.2 million are scattered in makeshift camps surrounding Sudan.

“I lived on what God provided, the leaves from trees and dirty water sources,” said Mamer. “We sucked on mud to survive. I saw a lot of death and it was very demoralizing. I kept thinking, ‘When will I die?’ It was a situation completely without hope. We were roaming and searching, but we knew that there was no place to go that would be any better than the place we had left. It was a terrible time.”

“The journey was like a faith test,” said Mamer, “I saw many of my friends not make it and wondered why God had spared me. When we left the Ethiopian camp there were lots of prayers and worship songs every night to keep our faith strong. It was very tempting to steal food, but we asked God to keep us healthy. By then I was 12 years old and I knew that God was the one protecting my life.”

“I never imagined having choices of what to eat or living without fear of what would happened if it rained,” said Nicodemus Lim. “In the refugee camps food is distributed every 15 days, so there are long lines of people who haven’t eaten in two or three days struggling, hungry, and frustrated. At the end of the line is 6 lbs. of wheat flour and some dry corn. It is not enough.”

All four young men are convinced that it was the hand of God that brought them to San Diego and allowed them to further their education. The Alliance for African Assistance was their first stop. The group provides an apartment and cultural training for four months, teaching them how to shop for groceries, to operate kitchen appliances, to use public transportation and to find church support.

“People are friendly here,” said Nicodemus. “Our landlords, Jerry and Kathy, are Christ-minded and prayed for a way to use this home for God. They have given us this beautiful home to live in while we finish college.

Still,” he added, “most of the people I meet have no concept of what others are going through in other parts of the globe. But God has a plan at work to bring us here so we can go back and help our country. I have a desire to work with people. I like putting everything in order, so I’m studying Criminal Justice.”

The boys were also aided by a Point Loma Nazarene College professor, Dr. Miriam Manvonne, who got them settled into classes. Another individual, Karen Richards, become a “mother hen” to the boys and helped connect them with other resources.

“I have worked closely with these young men since 2001,” said Karen, “The fact that they survived enemy bullets, diseases, wild animals, hunger and thirst is amazing, let alone their powerful testimonies of God’s presence with them and His plan for them.”

“A lot of people in Darfur are dying,” said Isaac. “Some have hope because peace agreements are once again on the table. The way I see it is different, though. The Sudan government wants the world to come in and solve their problems so they can continue to create an Arab nation. That is their main goal, to make everyone Islamic.

“When we go back, “said Isaac, “we will go with an education, with friends from the United States, and with a global perspective.

“Last summer, I talked to my mother for the first time,” he said. “A worker from World Vision, Child to Child was in Sudan and he told my mother that I was alive. At first she didn’t believe him. ‘I have forgotten about him, I can’t think about him,’ she said. Then the worker met someone who had gone to Nairobi from the United States. That person got some people here to track me down and find out my phone number. Through lots of connections all over the world, we were able to talk on the telephone. Only God could have made it happen.

“I was able to tell my mother that I was very, very far away, but I would be coming back.”

“God has a plan to create leaders for the Christians in Sudan,” said Nicodemus. “We have been very blessed by the Christians here in San Diego and we will bring those blessings back to our country.”

Isaac added, “I remember celebrating Christmas in the refugee camp. We would march in the streets, singing, and go to church, have a joint choir, and worship. It was really a joyful time for all of us.”

In Sudan, Christmas is not allowed. But San Diego’s ‘Lost Boys’ look forward to the day that they will celebrate Christmas in Sudan in freedom.