Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Abraham's Background
My trip to Ethiopia was amazing. It was incredible to see a family that has been seperated for two decades reunited. Here is a little bit of background to Abraham's story.
Six year old Abraham Deng was tending his father’s cattle with the other young boys when his village in Southern Sudan was attacked. Islamic militias from the north were attacking the southern Christian villages. The boys tending the cattle fled into the jungle with the sound of machine gun fire echoing behind them.
Abraham’s group was soon joined by 20,000 other boys and girls. Their sheer numbers attracted the attention of airplane bombs, camel raids and wild animals. Traveling by night with only roots and berries to eat and muddy water to drink, the children eventually reached Sudan’s eastern border with Ethiopia.
In Ethiopia they find rest in a refuge camp sponsored by the UN, and here they received some food - although only a few kernels of corn per day. However, four years later the new government became sympathetic to the Islamic government of Sudan and the military chased the boys out of Ethiopia across the crocodile infested Gilo River with machine guns and grenades.
Abraham and the thousands of others cross Sudan again to another refugee camp in Kenya. These surviving Lost Boys, as they have come to be known, traveled barefoot over 1,000 miles including twice through the desert. They saw others killed by wild animals and starvation, and had to swim with crocodiles amid machine gun fire and grenade explosions. Many wonder how he is still alive, but Abraham will tell you that God heard his prayers and God sustained him.
In 2001 Abraham was selected, along with other Lost Boys, to come to the US in an effort to restore the future of Sudan by educating these boys and giving them a future. Abraham was pursuing this dream of an education in order to go back and minister to his people through medicine when one phone call changed his life.
Miraculously, Abraham’s mother and three of his siblings survived the attack on his village. They are alive in a refugee camp in Ethiopia called Fugnido. Fundraising began to send Abraham and his cousin, fellow Lost Boy Peter Mading, to Fugnido to be reunited with their families and to provide much needed food, medicine and clothing for the refugees. More than twice the amount of money needed was given, and now I have the opportunity to go with Abraham and Peter to document there reunion in photograph and video.
It has been my dream to be a missionary doctor in that part of the world and to the Islamic people. I am excited to see God provide this opportunity to continue to grow a passion in my heart for the African Muslims right before I begin medical school this fall.
I ask that you keep Abraham, Peter, and I in your prayers daily as we embark on May 14th for a very spiritual and emotional journey. Pray that God will use us as we minister to a very broken people and shape our hearts for the future work He has prepared for us.
Thank you for your prayers and support. I look forward to sharing this experience with you.
In His Service,
Aaron Tolan
*If you would like more information on Abraham’s story, you can visit www.abrahamsdream.com.
Six year old Abraham Deng was tending his father’s cattle with the other young boys when his village in Southern Sudan was attacked. Islamic militias from the north were attacking the southern Christian villages. The boys tending the cattle fled into the jungle with the sound of machine gun fire echoing behind them.
Abraham’s group was soon joined by 20,000 other boys and girls. Their sheer numbers attracted the attention of airplane bombs, camel raids and wild animals. Traveling by night with only roots and berries to eat and muddy water to drink, the children eventually reached Sudan’s eastern border with Ethiopia.
In Ethiopia they find rest in a refuge camp sponsored by the UN, and here they received some food - although only a few kernels of corn per day. However, four years later the new government became sympathetic to the Islamic government of Sudan and the military chased the boys out of Ethiopia across the crocodile infested Gilo River with machine guns and grenades.
Abraham and the thousands of others cross Sudan again to another refugee camp in Kenya. These surviving Lost Boys, as they have come to be known, traveled barefoot over 1,000 miles including twice through the desert. They saw others killed by wild animals and starvation, and had to swim with crocodiles amid machine gun fire and grenade explosions. Many wonder how he is still alive, but Abraham will tell you that God heard his prayers and God sustained him.
In 2001 Abraham was selected, along with other Lost Boys, to come to the US in an effort to restore the future of Sudan by educating these boys and giving them a future. Abraham was pursuing this dream of an education in order to go back and minister to his people through medicine when one phone call changed his life.
Miraculously, Abraham’s mother and three of his siblings survived the attack on his village. They are alive in a refugee camp in Ethiopia called Fugnido. Fundraising began to send Abraham and his cousin, fellow Lost Boy Peter Mading, to Fugnido to be reunited with their families and to provide much needed food, medicine and clothing for the refugees. More than twice the amount of money needed was given, and now I have the opportunity to go with Abraham and Peter to document there reunion in photograph and video.
It has been my dream to be a missionary doctor in that part of the world and to the Islamic people. I am excited to see God provide this opportunity to continue to grow a passion in my heart for the African Muslims right before I begin medical school this fall.
I ask that you keep Abraham, Peter, and I in your prayers daily as we embark on May 14th for a very spiritual and emotional journey. Pray that God will use us as we minister to a very broken people and shape our hearts for the future work He has prepared for us.
Thank you for your prayers and support. I look forward to sharing this experience with you.
In His Service,
Aaron Tolan
*If you would like more information on Abraham’s story, you can visit www.abrahamsdream.com.
