I was a skinny little boy, with no mother, father, brothers or sisters. As this only child with my grandfather I would obey all the rules I had no one to fuss and fight with in my house there was no arguing with my grandfather...I had no older sibling to follow I had no younger sibling to boss I had no one to help defend me from the mean boys. Yes, we have bullies in South Sudan. On my walk to school, there were high wet grasses, taller than me, which I would have to pass through. The boys would push me down and into the grasses so I would soak up all of the dew to keep them dry as they passed. My only clothes would be all wet and messed up before I got to school each day. This made me really scary and nervous about my walk to school. I would delay as long as possible so the boys would be way before me. My grandfather was on my nose to get going boy... you must get to school. The bullies told me if I reported what they were doing to my grandfather that would be the end of me. God helped me to press on and be thankful for the opportunity to go to school. God also used this to shape me into a compassionate young man caring for the "least of these". Although I was so nervous, my goal was to go to school to learn lesson that would last me a lifetime.
In 2001, missionaries from South Africa came to Southern Sudan to start a real Christian school. The name of the school was Christian Liberty High School and it was a branch of the home-schooling curriculum from Christian Liberty Academy. They repaired an old brick building, which had been damaged by the war. An announcement was made through the churches about the interview process to enter this school.
At the age of 16, I interviewed with Pastor Nelson and my interview questions that I answered were (1) How do you become a Christian? and (2) Why do you want to go to school? I told Pastor Nelson about becoming a Christian at age 14 and explained that my purpose of going to school was to help my people. Praise God, I was accepted! I was one of fifty students going to school out of over 200 interviews. For the first time in my life I was able to use a book, paper and pencils (although I did have to break the pencils in half to share with others). I received a uniform to wear and I learned to march in lines and sing. I studied Bible, history, arithmetic and English and all at NO COST!...Paid for by GOD through His people. My teacher, Beth Grayson, was from America and she was working with Frontline Fellowship during this time. I will never forget her name or face and how much she impacted my life. God continued to work in my life and provided me an education that I could not afford. However, this did not last long, after 6 short months the Muslims heard what was happening Christians learning and they bombed our school again. As a result, the missionaries left and the school was closed. My heart was broken because I wanted to learn more but I trusted that God had a plan, there was nothing else for me to do.
Being this little orphan in the jungle, I would run to meet whoever came to our village. I was a talker and I can remember names of people very well. I was so excited to learn anything and meet new people. The missionary who came from South Africa was named Peter Hammond with Frontline Fellowship. Still to come.......
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