Lost Boy No More: A True Story of Survival and Salvation [Paperback]

Abraham Nhial (Author), DiAnn Mills (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2004

Lost Boy No More tells the incredible true story of Abraham Nhial—but the story is not his alone. As a nine year-old child, Abraham found himself orphaned as civil war in his homeland of Sudan ravaged his entire village because they refused to embrace Islam. His journey is one of a perilous walk along with 35,000 lost boys of Sudan who fled to Ethiopia. Abraham and others like him made it to the border but hard times were not over as he endured the refugee camps of Ethiopia. Abraham becomes a lost boy no more when he discovers real salvation through Jesus Christ. Lost Boy No More gives more than a narrative of Abraham’s story. It also gives a history of Sudan and the persecution of Christians by Islamic militants.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nhial survived the unthinkable. Rebels attacked his village in southern Sudan in 1987, killing many dear to him. He ran into the jungle, meeting other "Lost Boys" and wandering with them for months, and survived by eating wild plants and even mud. He watched some of his companions attacked by lions and daily feared for his life. The Lost Boys—35,000 of them—found safety first in Ethiopia, and when attacked there moved on to Kenya, losing a great deal of their number in their escape across the Gilo River, where they were attacked by crocodiles, shot or drowned. Eventually, Nhial was one of the 4,000 relocated to the United States. He and the others dream of going back to rebuild Sudan into a peaceful and prosperous country. Nhial's story is told third-person, in Mills's voice, which drains its power. Numerous chapters in the middle of the book get weighed down with studies of Sudanese history, a comparison of Islam and Christianity (Nhial's own faith), details on the development of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, life in a refugee camp and the history of oil resources and slavery in southern Sudan. These facts are relevant, but they stop the progression of the story. The story is a page-turner; unfortunately, the book is not.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: B&H Books (November 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805431861
• ISBN-13: 978-0805431865
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #808,320 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #93 in Books > History > Africa > Ethiopia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful, Important Book, December 16, 2004

By 

Louise M. Gouge (Kissimmee, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost Boy No More: A True Story of Survival and Salvation (Paperback)

Lost Boy No More is a powerful, important book. More than just a story, it is a challenge to every reader with a heart.

Who among us can imagine our entire family being wiped out when we were only nine years old, leaving us desperately alone in a dangerous jungle environment? Yet that horrific reality happened to Abraham Nhial and 35,000 other boys of Sudan. Most people would expect these boys to revert to a survival-of-the-fittest mentality such as is recounted in William Golding's Lord of the Flies, where castaway boys turned on and murdered each other. Yet, with eleven-year-old boys as their eldest - and thereby acting as their respected elders - many Lost Boys sacrificed their own lives to help their brothers survive as thousands formed families and trudged barefoot through the jungle to tenuous safety in distant Ethiopia.

Mark Twain, who loved to write about adventurous little boys, said, "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear." These Lost Boys did not choose their adventure, and they were desperately fearful. Yet they chose to master their fear and courageously press on, dodging poisonous snakes, lions, crocodiles, and raging rivers. Many did not survive. Those who did survive know that God saved their lives so that they might live for others.

Four thousand Lost Boys came to the United States, not to enjoy the "American dream," but rather to secure an education so that they can go back to their beloved Sudan. There they hope to educate and serve their countrymen. Perhaps that will be the greatest challenge these Lost Boys No More will face, for war still rages in their homeland.

Abraham Nhial's tragic, triumphant story is told through the able pen of DiAnn Mills, yet never in the entire narrative did I sense Mills' voice dominating. After telling his story, Nhial challenges the reader to look beyond self and help in the restoration of Sudan. Several practical ways of helping are listed.

As a college English professor and published author, I heartily approve of and endorse this book. It is not entertainment. It is not meant to be. Rather, Lost Boy No More is a challenge to anyone who thinks he or she owns a heart of compassion.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What an eye-opening book!, January 18, 2005

By 

Melissa L. Richardson "Christian fiction writer" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost Boy No More: A True Story of Survival and Salvation (Paperback)

This book draws attention to unimaginable atrocities in Sudan. Thirty-five thousand boys, caught in the crossfire of a religious and civil war, are stripped of their families, homes, and food sources. These orphaned boys join together to trek across Africa to refugee camps, and thousands die during their journey. However, by relying on each other and God, many boys rise above the violence they have witnessed. They vow to get an education and somehow make a difference in their native land.

This is a book that everyone should read. The Sudanese genocide represents an era in recent world history that the media has overlooked and under-reported. Kudos to DiAnn Mills for bringing these boys' true stories to life. This book will make your heart go out to the "lost boys" while you realize how much we take our religious freedom for granted.

Melissa Lowe Richardson
www.BlueDoveMinistries.com

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Thing, February 1, 2005

By 

Karen O'Connor "wordykaren" (Watsonville, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost Boy No More: A True Story of Survival and Salvation (Paperback)

It is one thing to read about the atrocities in the Sudan in the daily newspaper. It is quite another to hear first-hand the stories of real people who witnessed and experienced unspeakable crimes against humanity. I was shaken to the core by this book. It is one that everyone should read, especially those of us who will never travel to the Sudan in person. It challenges us to pray, to write to our government for assistance for these people, and to give from our own wealth to help in whatever way is possible.