Being My Brother’s Keeper: Towards a Theology of Reconciliation among the Lost Boys of Sudan (Part 1)
I am a Priest in the Episcopal Church, originally from South Sudan and now living in Phoenix, Arizona. My experiences during the 58 years I lived in Sudan, including living through the long years of civil wars has heightened my desire to pursue a course of study for a Doctoral Degree in Global Health and Wellness. When I was in Kosti (Northern Sudan) many people were displaced from the South to North, and they came naked, without food, shelter and basic needs.
They would come at all hours of the day, and we would take them to refugee camps where the non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) could start helping them. The NGO’s and churches registered the names of people, kept statistical data on the refugees as in some cases, people disappeared from the camps, spirited away by Islamic regime security forces who believed they were rebels. Refugees were provided with food, blankets, shelter, cooking utensils, and medical personnel were also sent to deliver health services; registrations for schools were arranged, clean water projects were set up, and environmental assessments for healthy living were also done.
Many of the people working for the NGO’s and churches laid down their lives for the sake of others. My experiences reaffirmed my belief that indeed, we have a responsibility to care for our fellow human beings. The Lost Boys of Sudan were among the refugees who suffered greatly from the civil wars. When the Arab regime in Khartoum (now North Sudan) began to attack villages in South Sudan, entire villages were destroyed and many people were killed. Those who survived these attacks fled for their lives and banded together in small groups, eventually joining other groups in other places on their journeys to freedom. They became known as the Lost Boys of Sudan.
Relationships between people, God, and our responsibility to care for one another are the areas of focus in my thesis project. A portion of scripture that speaks to me about these issues is that of Cain and Abel in Genesis chapter 4. Verses 1-10 present the story the birth of Cain and Abel and their relationship with the Lord as well as with each other. Abel becomes a shepherd while Cain becomes a farmer. Both bring their first offerings to the Lord but the Lord favors Abel’s offering over that of Cain, which angers Cain and leads to the first murder and shedding of human blood in the Bible. Cain and Abel went out into the field where Cain killed Abel whereupon, “The Lord said to Cain, ‘where is Abel your brother?’ He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”1 One commentator on this passage states that the “penalty for man’s rebellion against God is separation both from God and…from other men.” 2 Here he is referring to the fall from grace of Adam and Eve who were the parents of Cain and Abel. History repeats itself when Cain murders his brother: “the sundering of the familial bond between husband and wife is now paralleled and intensified by another act of violence in the family, fratricide…. Cain’s act of violence is an attack on the integrity of the family, an offense against the divinely intended order of creation expressed in the command to reproduce. But Cain’s sin is more than a rejection of the divinely established order; in arrogating to himself the divine sovereignty over life in ending a life, Cain has repeated the sin of his parents by making himself ‘like God.’”3 I believe that when Cain killed Abel that violence was carried over into humankind and with regard to this project, to South Sudan. For when God asked Cain where his brother was, what God really wanted was for Cain to be a “Brother’s Keeper” to Abel; to be in a brotherly, caring relationship with him for the rest of his natural life. God intends for us to be in relationship with God’s self and with others; to strive to live in peace and harmony with others and with all of the created order, and to restore/reconcile relationships to the way they were before the fall of man.
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Editor’s Note: this article was originally published on PaanLuel Wel: South Sudanese Bloggers website.