Yesterday our Sudanese brother, Arok Garang, left for Africa. He has been in the states since year 2000, and has been back to the continent of Africa once, but has never returned to village, Palliyou, in Sudan.
His dream is to go back to the village to see what remains from the destruction that took place over 20 years ago when the Jinjaweed came and burned their village, raped the women and killed everyone; except the young boys in the cattle fields.
These young boys, between the ages of 3 and 7, began to walk and find one another. They eventually became known as the "Lost Boys of Sudan" and 15,000 walked over 1,000miles, without adults, to Kenya, where they lived in the Kakuma Refugee Camp.
Arok was a leader at Kakuma, having responsibility for over 500 of the boys. He is a leader who takes initiative, putting himself through college at Colorado University, without help. He is a man who grabs my compassionate heart because of how he is stewarding his life.
He lives to help his village and the people of his village. He took on responsibility for half of the orphan children when the Kakuma Refugee Camp closed.
We met Arok through our Sudanese friend, John Kher, who lives in Seattle. Arok and John divided up the children, each taking on 35 children to help find homes and to educate.
This is when Seeds of Hope Missio Community was born. It was birthed alongside, Missio Lux, and has provided boarding school tuition for 34 kids through generous sponsors.
Arok is going to see those children in school at Roots Academy. He will be able to film them and bring back their stories so we can continues to be inspired by the privilege of helping children whom the world has long forgotten.
This is what Jesus loves to do: to come alongside those that the world has made invisible. When we care for them, provide basic necessities such as housing, clothing, food and education, Jesus is delighted with us. When we help provide an avenue for education, we are moving in an area of justice, beyond compassion, when true transformation begins to happen.
Arok is also going to meet up with Angie, the Seeds of Hope Missio Community leader, and accompany her to Kodera, Kenya, where they will come alongside the village of Kodera. Pine Lake Covenant has befriended Kodera and has the privilege of being part of an enormous community transformation.
We are excited for Arok to see Kodera because this is our dream for Palliyou. I will keep you posted on Arok's travels and story because this is one story of Missio Lux where God is at work in a miraculous way.
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