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CBN.com – It’s the true story of John Dau. When he was just 13 years old, John was separated from his family by civil war. He became one of 25,000 others known as the “Lost Boys of Sudan”. He traveled barefoot and completely naked across the sub-Saharan desert -- fleeing rebel soldiers and living in refugee camps along the way.
“There was a lot of problems mounting on us,” he tells The 700 Club, “including starvation, thirst, the fear of being killed by other local people or the wild animal. The very difficult situation was the lack of water.”
At one point early in his exodus from southern Sudan, John was on the verge of death.
“I see my body. It’s so white. I feel like I’m cracking,” he says. “Sometimes I cry and I can’t; there’s no water. I mean I can’t have tears.”
John remembered a song about God he’d been taught back in his village, and It’s message of faith.
“There are a lot of songs composed in Dinka that praise the Lord. If you meet with a big problem, praise the Lord, call the Lord. He will help you.”
But with no water, John collapsed.
He continues, “Now I said, ‘This is when I have to put the Lord to the test, right now. I have to see if I can survive this. Let me just do it.’ I ask, ‘Jesus Christ, You say that You are always everywhere. Wherever I go, You are with me.’ What can I do? I am now dying of thirst. I was just singing that song in my heart. I have no any other way, but that was just the last resort. And the last resort became the reality.”
John was already a Christian, but it was at this point that he realized what that truly meant. He says, as he called on the Lord, God listened to his cry.
“I think two hunters came, and they came with water in a gourd. I drank that water, and my life came back.”
John’s faith grew as the Lord protected him and provided for his needs.
“The Lord is always with you, and not always when you are undergoing some difficulties does not it mean the Lord abandoned you. He is with you.”
John relied on his faith in God to not only protect and sustain himself, but many others as well. As one of the older refugees, he was responsible for more than 1,000 other lost boys.
“In Dinka culture, you have an obligation to take care of the young ones, so I thought it is my duty.”
During the years that John spent in refugee camps, he put others’ needs before his own. In fact, it is that very quality that eventually attracted documentary film makers to ask him to be part of their film.
“All of the sudden, I was going to Syracuse, New York,” he says. “I was so happy. When I look around, I see Christopher Quinn and his crew. I thought this guy was sent by the United States government, so I said, ‘I am going to America. This is a very good thing, but what about other lost boys that are remaining behind?’”
The film, God Grew Tired of Us, documents how John and other lost boys resettled in the United States. John hopes that he can use his new found notoriety from the film to gain awareness for the plight of his friends and family still in Africa.
“Southern Sudan is completely destroyed. There are no houses, no schools,and the infrastructures are completely destroyed. There are no hospitals, no clinic, no road.”
He also wants others to see how God will bless a faithful believer.
“It’s a difficult journey. If you give up, then you fall short of receiving the Lord’s glory.”
He continues, “I got my associate degree. I’m now at Syracuse University. I am building a medical clinic. I didn’t have all those things. I am moving to my house. I just wrote a book. I have my wife and my daughter. My mother and my sister are here. I know my brother and father are still alive back in Sudan. I didn’t know all this, but if I had given up, I would have not reached all this.”
At one time he feared that God grew tired of his people. Today he knows that God doesn’t give up on his followers.
“The Lord is always with you, and He is watching you. He's listening to your next step. What are you going to do? If you praise Him, if you glorify His name, you will be completely rescued. You will live forever. Your life will be better than before, like myself right now.”
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