Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight program. I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 2
“We had no protection and the whole village was on fire. I ran away from the fire and the guns. I did not know where I was going. I was alone. My parents and my brothers and sister were gone.”
Voice 1
In 1983, a civil war began in southern Sudan. Many people say that this conflict was only continuing the first civil war. Most of the fighting took place in the south of Sudan. A rebel group fought the government. The rebels were called the Sudan People’s Liberation Army or the SPLA.
The results of this war were especially tragic for the children of Southern Sudan. Many parents died. Their children were forced to flee and find safety. Today’s Spotlight tells the story of one of these children – Zachariah Jok Char. He experienced many terrible things. But he believes that it all had a purpose.
Zachariah Jok Char was born in 1982, in the village of Duk–Padiet. This was a simple village in Southern Sudan. The people were poor, but the community was strong. There was also an active Episcopal Church in the village. This church was a big part of Zachariah’s life. Zachariah remembers:
Voice 2
“My family was Christian; we had been baptised by Sudanese Episcopal priests and every Sunday we went to church. I spent a lot of time in church, and I knew I loved God and that He loved me. In church school I learned to read and write Dinka, my language.”
Voice 1
But in 1987 Zachariah’s peaceful life changed forever. Zachariah was only five years old. But he can still remember the attack on his village. The attack destroyed Duk–Padiet. Whole families died. Zachariah was extremely frightened.
Voice 2
“We had no protection and the village was on fire. I ran away from the fire and guns. I did not know where I was going. I was alone. My parents and my brothers and sister were gone.”
Voice 1
Zachariah joined with other children from the village. The children were tired, hungry, afraid and alone. Members of the rebel group told them to go to Ethiopia. So, the children began the difficult walk.
Voice 2
“We were very young and the walk was more than one thousand six hundred [1,600] kilometers across the desert. We had no food or water with us. Many of the children died from hunger and thirst. Many were killed by animals like lions and hyenas. Some children just lay down and died because of the great heat.”
Voice 2
Zachariah was one of the boys who made it. He finally arrived at the Ethiopian refugee camp, Panyido. During their time at the camp, Zachariah and other boys worked together. They tried to create a community to support each other. And Zachariah continued to work and lead in the church. But soon, the children had to leave again. Ethiopia was experiencing war. Zachariah tells the frightening story:
Voice 2
“Ethiopians shot at us with guns while we crossed the Gilo River to Sudan. That river is very wide and very strong. Half of us were killed by guns and crocodiles. I cannot swim but I made it to the other side. I felt a hand help me. Those of us who lived began again to walk one thousand six hundred [1,600] kilometers across Sudan to Kenya.”
Voice 1
But their troubles were not over. During their walk in Sudan, men in airplanes shot at the children. However, the Red Cross helped the children across Sudan to Kenya. Zachariah arrived at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya in 1992. But it was not a nice place to live. Zachariah describes life at the Kakuma camp.
Voice 2
“Life was really horrible at the camp. We had enough food for only one meal a day. I went to school in the morning and came home early in the evening to do my homework and sleep. I did not have a job and I did not know where my family was. I was about to lose hope in life.”
“The only thing that I could do was to go to church every Sunday. I prayed to God that he would give me hope. When I prayed, I felt happy. I believed that God would answer my prayers, and He did. God gave me hope that one day I would be independent and have my own job. My suffering could have affected my opinion of life. But my hope was that God knew my suffering and that he would someday take my suffering away.”
Voice 1
Life in the camp was difficult. But Zachariah never lost faith in God. He believed that God wanted him for a special purpose.
Voice 2
“In 1994, when I was about twelve, I realized that God was calling me to do something for His people.”
Voice 1
Zachariah soon began to understand what that purpose was. In 2001, a Christian Lutheran group from the United States wanted to help. They brought three thousand eight hundred [3,800] of these Sudanese refugee children to the United States. Zachariah was one of them. He travelled with a group to western Michigan – to the city of Grand Rapids.
Here, the group of refugees knew what they wanted to do. They wanted a place where they could worship in their own language and with their own traditions.
In 2003, these refugee children, now adults, began their own Sudanese church. It was in Grand Rapids. They performed church services in their own language, Dinka. Zachariah was an active leader in this Sudanese community church.
In June 2007, Zachariah became a priest in the Episcopal Church. As a priest, he leads and a church. He can also perform particular ceremonies. He knows that this is what he is supposed to be doing.
Voice 2
“God called me before I was born. He saved my life, and I have a duty now: that I will take care of His people. This is a big responsibility, but I have to follow it.”
Voice 1
Zachariah has experienced many terrible things. But he also believes that God is always in control.
Voice 2
“Some things about that long walk I have hidden in my mind; other things I remember. The memories hurt me and make me very sad. Sometimes I am guilty that I lived and others died. I can only believe that I lived because God has work for me to do. God knows the reason. I must trust God, and I do.”
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