God Grew Tired of Us A Memoir by John Bul Dau

   What a beautiful story. John Bul Dau is a Lost Boy and begins his story from his village in Sudan until his present day life in America in 2007. He tells the story of his flight and refugee status in different camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. The grueling marches that span a country. Being shot at, beaten, crossing crocodile infested rivers, naked, starving, dying of thirst. And yet, through it all, his spirit, hope, faith, courage and strength shine through.
   God Grew Tired of Us testifies to the enduring legacy that marks a man who is raised with faith, family and character. Throughout the book, John Dau's simplicity and natural curiosity are evident. Having been born in a part of the world that knows little of the outside, modern world; everything is new to him, everything we take for granted as a given, he accepts with appreciation and thankfulness.
   I read A Long Way Gone  by Ishmael Beah, his story is remarkable and heartrending, but it did not move me in such a character shaping way. God Grew Tired of Us challenged me in a way that I believe I needed to be challenged. It made me examine myself and the way I look at my daily "trials".

Favorite Quotes:

"Sometimes all you can do is keep going, even in the face of great danger."

I am ashamed to say it, but in the time of our greatest crisis, most of the people of Duk Payuel turned away from their social traditions and focused on saving their own families."

"That was my first ride in a car or truck. For the first time, I moved faster than the thiang or the lion, and I glimpsed a vision of the modern world: fast, blurred, and chaotic."

"The desert achuil trees soaked up the moisture and started to sprout tiny green leaves. They spread their branches and touched the limbs of other trees, like boys holding hands."

"It was the sweetest thing when I felt the spirit of the Lord moving through me. It was like drinking cold water on a hot day."

"In America, students ask the teachers, "Will this be on the test?" and they try to find out what part of the textbook they don't have to read. Ha! What a piece of cake that is. That is not school. That is not the way to get anywhere in life."

On being asked if he had children or a wife, in that order: "Now why did he ask that? In the Dinka culture, if I had children then I had a wife, and if I had a wife then I had children. I did not know that the two did not necessarily go together in America. That idea still takes some getting used to."

"It violated the Dinka way of life to refuse education, even when more education lay on the horizon."

"We made up a song about a saying among my people, "A human being can never be eaten." The song means the test of a man lies in the good or bad things he does, not in his physical body. A man who brings help to his community proves his worth."

Overall Opinion:

I am glad, glad, glad I read this book!

Rating:

10 out of 10