The Trinity YAC (Young Adults in the Church) Class ended the year with a huge splash and the ripples will be felt around the community and across the world. They spent the last year planning and preparing for raising money and awareness for those in the Sudan through an organization started by two former Trinity Parishioners, Jerry and Ann Marie DeLuccio, called The Hope of Sudan. The youth decided to have some of the men who were once Lost Boys of Sudan come to speak to three area high schools to tell about their ordeal as children during the long-running civil war in their home country fo Southern Sudan. Five of the Lost Boys of Sudan (now grown men living in the US) came with the DeLuccios to speak to large groups of students at Brookfield, Danbury and Newtown High Schools on Friday, May 29th.
William Riak, Thomas Mum and Jerry DeLuccio speak at Danbury High School
The students were very moved by what the men said. The message they gave of "Never give up" and "Always give back" was powerful and inspiring. John Dau came to Newtown High School from Syracuse, NY. John is co-author of the book, God Grew Tired of Us: A Memoir published by National Geographic. He was also featured in the award-winning movie documentary God Grew Tired of Us. John spoke to the Newtown students as he told of all the organizations he has started and how he has raised millions of dollars to start medical clinics in Sudan since he came to America in 2001. Then he told the high school students that his first day of school wasn't until he was 17 years old when he learned his abc's writing in the dirt with his finger. He's now 32 years old and the head of the John Dau Foundation which provides healthcare in the war-torn region of southern Sudan by building and sustaining medical clinics and training community health workers. "As Americans, you are lucky," he explained to the students, you have many opportunities here such as education, healthcare, jobs that we didn't have in Sudan or in the refugee camps." James Riak (from New Haven, CT) was also at NHS. He was so excited to "meet" John Dau again. He remembered him as a leader of the boys back in Sudan. Both men shared how their faith was how they managed to keep going - it gave them hope.
John Dau and James Kurchuk greeting people after speaking at Newtown High School.
Then on Saturday, May 30th, the YAC Class set up for the U2charist and Walk of Hope at a local school. The stage had the altar with frontal designed by a parishioner with photos of Lost Boys, banners made by the each class of Trinity Church School representing the 8 MDGs and the Hope of Sudan Alliance and the band which consisted of more high school youth who had spent hours practicing U2 songs.
The youth also sold bottles of water, picture books called, Brothers' in Hope, handmade necklaces with footprints on them, and ONE bracelets to help raise money for Sudan. The Walk of Hope began with a short singing of Siyahamba as over 150 people walked through the Fairfield Hills Campus across the street from the school. Along the way, the YAC Class members had posted signs with facts of what the original Lost Boys had gone through in Sudan in the 1980s. We paused at the 1,000 step point to remember the 1,000 miles the boys had to walk in hope of finding safety.
Walk of Hope
The U2charist (an Episcopal Holy 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) began after the walk and about 300 people were in attendance as the music started. U2's lead singer, Bono has given permission for his music to be used free of charge or permission as long as all the profits go to a cause that supports the MDGs. It was a rockin' service of music, prayer, and emotion as we watched a short video piece about the story of the Lost Boys and how we can help Sudan recover today. People came from all walks of life and from all over the greater Newtown community. One woman said she heard about it through a co-worker at Danbury Hospital, another said she had just seen the Walk of Hope advertised on a poster at a coffe shop and decided to come that afternoon.
The U2charist service
The YAC Class had set a goal of making $5,000 to provide a much needed well for clean drinking water to a village in Southern Sudan. Salva Dut was another "Lost Boy" who came to speak and be a part of the U2charist Weekend and he founded, Water for Sudan. "$5,000 puts a well into the ground, and you get to name it," says YAC Member Ellen. The well will be called The Well of Hope given in the name of Educating Youth To Youth (EY2Y) from Trinity Episcopal Church, Newtown, CT.
"It seemed like a huge goal at first - we weren't sure we could actually make that much money," says Anna (YAC Member and a leader of this mission project). "But we actually made $8,400 all together!" The other $3,400 will be used to support some of the other important needs in Sudan through The Hope of Sudan Alliance like supporting a health clinic.
This weekend was such a success, the YAC Class (who are 11th and 12th graders this year) are planning more exciting events including another U2charist for this spring. "In the name of love. What more in the name of love?" -- U2
Some members of the YAC Class pose with their teachers behind the altar frontal from the U2charist