Sometimes I use my blog to spill my heart.....for awhile now God has put two people who are very special to me heavy on my heart! A few years ago I met two of my brothers in Christ all the way from Sudan. In the summer of 2009, I had the pleasure of tutoring them while they were studying at Southern Union in Wadley. I have never met sweeter guys who so eagerly wanted to learn and strived to do their very best work! We shared some special afternoons together including the day I literally ran out of our tutoring session early to learn that I had been accepted to Auburn University's School of Nursing. Andrew and Bullen were so excited for me and celebrated this news!
I thought of them and mostly prayed for them often during my time at Auburn. I could relate a little to the stress of college and how hard it really is as well as striving to make good grades and learn. I could also relate with them on how at some points during your college career all you have is God and He provides. God completely carried me through nursing school and remained faithful.
God has also remained faithful and provided for Andrew and Bullen the past two plus years while here in the US! They have attended Southern Union State Community College as well as Jefferson State Community College. They have worked extremely hard and want to continue their education at Troy State this fall.
I was blessed with parents who fully paid for my school. I never had to worry about tuition money, books or a place to live or really anything! I was never made to work a part time job. I am thankful and will be forever grateful to Richie and Tammy Fetner for their support, love and encouragement during my college years. My education is something I will forever cherish......I thank God every day for blessing me with such amazing parents but mostly for providing my family with the ability to send me to school without worry.
As I said earlier, God has faithfully provided and remained faithful to Andrew and Bullen through their college time here. Through donations and sacrifices of others their tuition, books and living expenses have been paid for and we BELIEVE that God will continue to provide this fall. Andrew & Bullen also have been working hard at part time jobs this summer to save their money. Andrew also recorded a CD of praise music that is amazing that he is also selling to raise money for his school! Let me know if you are interested in one!!
I just want to share their stories with you!! They wrote these letters themselves and I can't read them without crying. I have also heard them tell their story in person.....you will never be the same after hearing from these guys!
Please read their stories......
Mostly I ask that you pray for my sweet friends!!!
**If you however can help Andrew and Bullen in anyway this fall or in the future or would like to learn more about their journey please email me!! skfbaggett2010@gmail.com
They need financial support!
They will be living in the dorms so they can also use "dorm life" stuff!
Things like:
Plates/cups/silverware
Coffee Pot
Surge Protectors
Extra Chair for their Desk
Iron
Ironing Board
TV
Microwave
Rug
Shower Curtain
Bath Mat
Care packages I think would also be greatly appreciated! These might include things like:
Soap
Tooth paste
Tooth brushes
Washing detergent
Cleaning supplies
Notebooks
Pencils
Ect.....
The journey of Andrew Mahandis:
From the jungle of Sudan, God chose me to be educated in-order-to educate others in South Sudan and beyond. My life is not different from other Southern Sudanese Christians who suffered, were persecuted, and killed for their faith in Jesus. However, God has rescued me for “such a time as this” from the jungle of Sudan, and has send me to school in the United States.
I did not play with toy guns and bombs as a child. My life was spent in the middle of a civil war hearing gunfire and bombs continually. As a child, I found myself running in the jungles of Sudan with my family and hiding in- order-to survive. As I grew, I realized we were fighting for the freedom to worship Christ. Muslims in the North forced their Islamic Shari’a laws in the South, which brought much persecution to Southern Christians.
There are eight siblings in my family. Three of my sisters were captured in the war and taken to Juba in 1989. One sister died of malaria at the age of nine months. After the peace treaty was signed in 2005, I went to the town of Juba and found them. I lived with my mother and father, sisters, my uncle's children, and their children. There were 35 of us in one home.
The oppression is ever where you turn. Our hospital and clinics are under a tree. Parents have to taste medicine with their tongue because they cannot read. Many children have died because of the illiteracy. My cousin’s daughter was one of those who died because they give her the wrong medicine due to the parent’s illiteracy.
Even though I was born in Sudan, I was not recognized as a Sudanese. I lived in Sudan as a foreigner. I had no freedom as a Christian in my own country. As a Southern we went to school under a tree and wrote in the dirt with a stick. We were not allowed a formal education. Furthermore, we had no electricity, no running water. We rode on dirt roads with large holes. We worshiped God under a tree. It is still that way. Yet in the North they have all these things....WHY? WHY? WHY? ....because we are Christians, and Muslims despise us.
My American friends ask me, “Andrew how could you go back and live in a place where there is no electricity, no food, no clean water, no medicine, no formal communication?” My answer to this is, “Jesus left heaven, everything in heaven and came to be with us in this world. He gave his life for my sake. I am going back because God called me to teach my people.”
My father is a great hunter. He said to me, “Andrew! When you go hunt, kill big animals so that all the village people can eat meat.” The education God is giving me in the United States is for God’s glory and honor. It is like a big animal. I want all the people in the village to be able to “taste and see that the Lord is good”. My desire is to spread to His Word through education to villages, cities and ultimately into all the nations.
My desire is to begin a school called, Global Christian Academy. 85% of Southern Sudanese cannot read or write. Therefore, my goal is to change lives for Christ Jesus through a quality education and to rise up Christian teachers. I want to educate Southern Sudanese so that they will be able to read God’s Word and work to support their families independently for generations to come.
I thank God for choosing me from the jungle of Sudan to come to the U. S to study. I would appreciate your prayers and financial support. My dear friend, I’m in the middle of a storm I need your prayers and support so I will be able to finish my studies and be qualified to offer an education when I return. As you educate me here, you educate millions of people in South Sudan. “I thank my God every time I remember you.” God Bless you!
I did not play with toy guns and bombs as a child. My life was spent in the middle of a civil war hearing gunfire and bombs continually. As a child, I found myself running in the jungles of Sudan with my family and hiding in- order-to survive. As I grew, I realized we were fighting for the freedom to worship Christ. Muslims in the North forced their Islamic Shari’a laws in the South, which brought much persecution to Southern Christians.
There are eight siblings in my family. Three of my sisters were captured in the war and taken to Juba in 1989. One sister died of malaria at the age of nine months. After the peace treaty was signed in 2005, I went to the town of Juba and found them. I lived with my mother and father, sisters, my uncle's children, and their children. There were 35 of us in one home.
The oppression is ever where you turn. Our hospital and clinics are under a tree. Parents have to taste medicine with their tongue because they cannot read. Many children have died because of the illiteracy. My cousin’s daughter was one of those who died because they give her the wrong medicine due to the parent’s illiteracy.
Even though I was born in Sudan, I was not recognized as a Sudanese. I lived in Sudan as a foreigner. I had no freedom as a Christian in my own country. As a Southern we went to school under a tree and wrote in the dirt with a stick. We were not allowed a formal education. Furthermore, we had no electricity, no running water. We rode on dirt roads with large holes. We worshiped God under a tree. It is still that way. Yet in the North they have all these things....WHY? WHY? WHY? ....because we are Christians, and Muslims despise us.
My American friends ask me, “Andrew how could you go back and live in a place where there is no electricity, no food, no clean water, no medicine, no formal communication?” My answer to this is, “Jesus left heaven, everything in heaven and came to be with us in this world. He gave his life for my sake. I am going back because God called me to teach my people.”
My father is a great hunter. He said to me, “Andrew! When you go hunt, kill big animals so that all the village people can eat meat.” The education God is giving me in the United States is for God’s glory and honor. It is like a big animal. I want all the people in the village to be able to “taste and see that the Lord is good”. My desire is to spread to His Word through education to villages, cities and ultimately into all the nations.
My desire is to begin a school called, Global Christian Academy. 85% of Southern Sudanese cannot read or write. Therefore, my goal is to change lives for Christ Jesus through a quality education and to rise up Christian teachers. I want to educate Southern Sudanese so that they will be able to read God’s Word and work to support their families independently for generations to come.
I thank God for choosing me from the jungle of Sudan to come to the U. S to study. I would appreciate your prayers and financial support. My dear friend, I’m in the middle of a storm I need your prayers and support so I will be able to finish my studies and be qualified to offer an education when I return. As you educate me here, you educate millions of people in South Sudan. “I thank my God every time I remember you.” God Bless you!
Andrew
The journey of Bullen Timo:
The year was 1989…the month I cannot remember…the time was morning…I was in my small village in Mundri, Sudan. Muslims from the north raided my village…all of this because we were Christians. The goal for the Muslims was to take everyone as a prisoner or slave, and burn anything that remained. However, they did not succeed…my God had greater plans for me…at the age of three I survived. On this terrible day my parents were taken as prisoners, but my grandfather took me into the jungle to live…and for the next 16 years he and I survived on nothing more than roots of wild fruits.
In the jungle we lived life the best that we could. Tukuls were built for shelter…gardens were planted for food…wood was gathered for fire. Clothing was scarce but the love among us was great. My grandfather that cared for me was a preacher. He understood the love of Christ and he shared it with me often. At the age of 14 I knew that I had no hope and that Christ was the only way I could continue to live…so I asked Christ to be Lord of my life. My life has never been the same. My grandfather continued to model for me how to walk with the Lord. My past will always be my past, but I knew that by following Christ my future would be bright!
Life continued fairly normal in the jungle for the next 16 years. Then in 2005 a peace treaty was signed in Sudan to end the war between the Muslims in the north and the Christians in the south. At this time I had the opportunity to begin looking for my immediate family. My search began in Juba at a refugee camp and thankfully my search ended there as well. By God’s grace I found my mother and my sister, but was saddened to hear that my five brothers and my father were killed in the war. My mother’s heart was filled with joy, and I knew that our reunion was just another part of the greatness of God in my life.
Education has always been a priority in my life. My grandfather constantly encouraged me to learn. At a young age I would attend school under a tree. I learned with no paper and pencils, only with dirt and sticks. But God continued to work in my life and I continued to trust Him for my education. Soon missionaries came to start a “real” school. For the first time I was able to use a book and pencils (although I did have to break the pencils in half to share with friends). However this did not last long, after 6 short months the Muslims heard what was happening…Christians learning…and bombed our school. As a result the school was closed. My heart was broken but I trusted that God had a plan. After 2 years of trusting God to complete the work that He started in me…my cry was heard… American missionaries came and wanted to help me go to school. Through the missionaries God would provide a way for me to travel to Uganda where I would complete high school and begin preparing to accomplish my dream of a college education.
Most in Sudan will never have the experience of attending college, but I know in my heart that God had different plans for me. In January 2008, I was given the opportunity to apply for a student visa to travel to the United States. After eight long months of waiting and trusting, God saw fit for the Embassy to grant me my student visa. I could see my dream coming true…I was headed to the United States to attend college.
I have now been in the United States attending college for two years. This experience has exceeded all of my expectations. It is my desire to remain in the United States in order to complete the remainder of my college education, but this can no longer happen without the assistance of friends like you. Many years ago God placed a desire in my heart to earn a business degree so that I could return to my country as an honest, Christian businessman and help provide employment for my people. I would first like to ask you to pray for me as I continue in this journey. I know that when believers pray our great God hears our cries. Second, I would like to ask you to consider giving financially to the completion of my education. I know this is a large task, but I believe through faith in our Jesus it can be accomplished.
Thank you so much for your love and support! It is a blessing to call you brothers and sisters!
Bullen Timo
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