God Grew Tired of Us

I watched this movie last night. I was profoundly impacted by so much of this film. It is a short documentary about the story of the Sudanese “Lost boys.” Orphaned by a tumultuous civil war and traveling barefoot across the sub-Saharan desert, John Bul Dau, Daniel Abol Pach and Panther Blor were among the 25,000 “Lost Boys” (ages 3 to 13) who fled villages, formed surrogate families and sought refuge from famine, disease, wild animals and attacks from rebel soldiers.

It was a difficult movie to watch. The interviews of the boys are stark and raw. the pictures of these boys traveling in large groups, kids, walking across miles and miles of desert. There is no adult in the midst. John Bul Dua describes being a tall 13 year old. Because of his height, he was put in charge of 1200 boys on this journey. He talks about having to bury the boys, their friends. He asks, is that right, for a 13 year old boy to know how to bury the dead?

There is humor in the story, especially as they come to the USA and are confronted with our excessive and wasteful society. They work so hard! John and his friends get up at 4 or 5 am each morning to be taken to the factory where they work, only to have to sit 2 hours each morning in the cold Philadelphia winter waiting for the doors to be opened.

There is a constant search for their family members, some connection to their life in Sudan. They cling to their culture, to the music, the way they eat (only with hands, no utensils), to their dances, to their “brothers” in the refugee camp in Kenya. They mourn their families, the loss of their land. They continually seek answers to questions of why Americans do the things they do. John talks about how there is so much to do to celebrate and get ready for Christmas in the USA. He then says that in his home country, they focus spiritually on the birth of Christ.

Some of the boys who came over have become “American” losing their Dinka culture. There is a sadness as John talks about how these boys have lost the values of the Dinka people.

There is so much to unpack in this film. I need to watch it again and continue to be reminded of the world outside of here, outside of my little home here in Colorado. I sit and wonder, what can I do? How can I help?

Watch this movie. Sit and reflect on these boys stories. Weep with them, rejoice with them, don’t let your life NOT be changed.