by Sarah Hamilton, The Committee On Religious Persecution (CORP)
Team Member at Christ Church, Louisville, KY

Growing up for anyone has its ups and downs but for Isaac Garang Kuir, childhood was fraught with danger and peril.  When he was just a young boy in 1987, his village in southern Sudan was attacked by government militia.  His mother and father were killed.  He was forced to flee.  As he wandered the countryside looking for a safe place to stay, he met other boys who had also fled their villages.  Isaac had become one of the lost boys of Sudan.

Eventually he was reunited with a brother and a sister who told him about the continued tragedy of their village.  They and the other boys continued to make their way on foot.  Without much food or water, they ate tree leaves to survive.  Eventually the reached Sudan's border with Ethiopia where the United Nations was able to provide them with food and shelter.  However when the political situation in Ethiopia become precarious, the refugees were forced to flee back into Sudan.  Just inside the border a the river Gillo, militia forces shot at the boys.  Many drowned while desperately trying to cross the river.  Isaac miraculously survived.

He and the other boys traveled hundreds of miles on foot through the desert.  Sustained by the Red Cross which provided them with food and water dropped by air, Isaac and the other boys made their way to a refugee camp in northern Kenya.  Here Isaac was able to attend school and learn a trade.  In February of 2005 he arrived in Louisville, KY (USA) and has been sponsored by Resurrection Episcopal Church.  He is working and attending school in Louisville and one day hopes to be reunited with his wife and two children who are still in Kenya.

Isaac shared his story with Christ Church on Wednesday evening, October 12, 2005.  The Committee On Religious Persecution (CORP) at Christ Church is eager to help the Christians in southern Sudan.  Currently, there is a fragile peace in southern Sudan (unlike in the Darfur region of Sudan to the north and west).  Working with the Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse, CORP hopes to contribute to the rebuilding of churches that had been destroyed by attacking militias.  There is so much we can do to for our brothers and sisters.