John Chol Daau remembers his last morning in his childhood village. The sun was rising. He drank milk from a hollow gourd. He and his brother left to join their father with the cattle. His mother waved goodbye.
A moment later, an explosion shook the ground. Soldiers appeared, spraying bullets through the village. Daau watched a man fall dead.
With other children, Daau fled into the forest. He was separated from his family, running for survival.
Soldiers pursued. The growing throng of children—mostly boys—kept running. Daau didn’t know it, but he was part of a group that came to be known as the Lost Boys of Sudan—some 30,000 children who trekked a thousand miles across treacherous terrain seeking refuge all over Africa.
It was the late 1980s. The government in northern Sudan had tried to impose Islamic law on Christians and others in the south. Southerners had resisted. So Northern forces launched their brutal campaign. They killed about two million people and drove four million from their homes.
During the strife, Christians in the United States began stirring over the suffering in Sudan. Christian agencies offered medical aid and tried to rescue southerners kidnapped during government raids.
In the 1990s, the U.S. State Department imposed sanctions on Sudan. The U.S. government began sending aid to the southern part of the country.
George W. Bush became president in 2000. He moved quickly: His second day in office, he ordered high-level staff to find a way to end the war in Sudan.
STILL SURVIVING
Daau knew little about what was happening in America. He was in a refugee camp. He remembers praying to Jesus, “I know you are here. . . . I know you are good.”
Daau hadn’t given up on finding his family. He learned his father had died. But finally, after 11 years, Daau and his mother were reunited. She told him, “I thought I would never get to be your mother again, but I knew that God could be a mother for you.”
As Daau and his mother rejoiced, northern military forces continued assaulting southern Sudan. President Bush’s administration worked to persuade the northern Sudan’s government to sign a peace agreement with the south.
Then came September 11, 2001. America went to war with terrorism. Northern Sudanese leaders knew they needed to take sides. By early 2002, they began preparing a peace plan. An agreement was signed in January 2005.
BIRTH OF A NATION
With the war officially ended, many Sudanese headed home. Thousands returned to a southern wilderness with its overgrown villages, burned churches, and razed homes. Still, beauty began to rise from ashes.
In 2011, nearly 99 percent of citizens from the south voted for independence from northern Sudan. The new nation of South Sudan was born.
Celebrants flooded South Sudan’s capital city of Juba to rejoice. They raised their new flag and sang, “O God, bless South Sudan!”
Conflict seemed far away.
WAR RETURNS
But in 2013, the South Sudanese turned on themselves. The country returned to war—this time civil war.
Fighting erupted between soldiers loyal to South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and those loyal to Vice President Riek Machar. Ethnic strife followed. Kiir is a member of the Dinka tribe; Machar belongs to the Nuer ethnic group.
Southern leaders from different factions had fought a common enemy from the Islamic north. But they hadn’t learned how to govern alongside each other.
FALLING APART AGAIN
Today the struggle continues. Hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese are again fleeing their homes. They’re filling refugee camps in surrounding nations. It’s one of the world’s worst social crises.
Soldiers on both sides have attacked civilians. There have been killings, kidnappings, and recruitment of child soldiers.
“I thought we had learned so much,” says Daau. “But the country is falling apart again.”
Before leaving office, President Obama eased sanctions against Sudan. He lifted the trade embargo. He thought the country had made progress.
Many condemned Obama’s decision. They said Sudan still provokes fighting in the south, bombs Christians and others, and sponsors terrorism.
THE PATH FORWARD
It’s unclear how President Donald Trump will handle Sudan. But he has placed the country on a temporary travel ban list.
U.S. Representative Chris Smith—who visited South Sudan last year—has some suggestions. First, he proposes a special envoy to the South: George W. Bush. Bush and President Kiir formed a relationship during Bush’s tenure. (Kiir still wears the cowboy hat Bush gave him.)
He also advises working with faith-based organizations. Smith says the Obama administration often hindered Christian groups in conflict zones—even though they often have the most local influence.
Many pastors in South Sudan have met with government officials to promote peace. They’re teaching church members to treasure unity in Christ above tribal identities.
HOPE FOR PEACE
Meanwhile, Daau and other former refugees like William Levi return to South Sudan. Life there is dangerous. Levi, a South Sudanese Christian, fled decades ago. But since 2008, he has taken his wife and six children back to his village each year. His Operation Nehemiah project provides farming, clean water, churches, and a gospel-based radio program. He’s determined to help families and preach the gospel in the land of his birth.
Daau has launched a Christian school in Juba. Over 150 students showed up for the first day of classes.
Daau laments the suffering of folks in his country. But he remains hopeful. He knows the redemption of Christ can work peace in any tragedy.
