‘Lost Boy’ Leader Returning To Newtown

On Saturday, May 22, Trinity Episcopal Church will host the return of John Dau, one of the 27,000 boys driven from their villages when the northern Arab government attacked the ethnic minority population of southern Sudan in 1987.

Mr Dau — a novelist, filmmaker, public speaker, and award winner — will be in Newtown for an evening of awareness and a U2charist service planned and produced by the Young Adults in the Church (YAC) Class of Trinity Church School and held at Reed Intermediate School, 3 Trades Lane.

At 6 pm, Mr Dau will share his inspiring story of heartache, loss, and personal triumph. As a 12-year-old he led thousands of Lost Boys across 1,000 miles as they escaped from government troops that were annihilating towns and killing inhabitants. Years later, by the end of the journey, half of the boys had died of thirst, starvation, wild animals, and disease in one of the bloodiest civil wars of the 20th Century.

Mr Dau’s program will be followed at 7 by a U2charist service, an Episcopal Eucharist service that features the music of the rock band U2 and a message about God’s call to rally around the UN Millennium Development Goals.

As an adult, Mr Dau wrote a book and co-starred in an award-winning film called God Grew Tired of Us about his experiences walking across the Sudan, later in refugee camps, and finally coming to America.

Today he is a husband, father and activist living in Syracuse, N.Y., working to rebuild his homeland of southern Sudan, through his foundation, The John Dau Foundation. He also continues to write and has a children’s book about to be published.

Trinity’s relationship with John Dau and his foundation began more than three years ago when three of the Lost Boys of Sudan visited the Newtown church for its annual Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Sunday service. A member of the church’s youth group was moved by their story and asked, “What else can we do to help?” The YAC Class (high school students from Newtown and the surrounding towns) then worked together to plan and produce a whole weekend of events to raise money and awareness for the Sudan.

At last year’s U2charist and Walk of Hope, the YAC Class raised more than $8,000, enough money to build a well in the southern Sudan.

This year the group is raising money for The John Dau Foundation to support the Duk Lost Boys Clinic in Duk Payuel in the State of Jonglei, South Sudan. Since it opened in 2007, the clinic is seeing between 75 and 150 patients per day. Some people walk more than 50 km (30 miles) to access clinic services. More than 600 expectant mothers have been seen, and for many this is the first prenatal care they have ever had.

On May 22, Mr Dau will speak about his experiences and work, and share a life that is a profile in courage. He is an experienced motivational speaker and is committed to rebuilding his devastated native country.

The U2charist music will be provided by the rock band Station Wagon Mishap, which includes members of the Trinity YAC Class and other youth in the community.

The event is appropriate for the entire family. There is no charge to attend, but a freewill offering will be collected during the offertory and all proceeds will go to the Duk Lost Boys Clinic through The John Dau Foundation. There will also African finger foods and related items available for purchase, the proceeds of which will also benefit the foundation.

For more information, visit TrinityNewtownCT.org or call the church office at 203-426-9070.