In 1998, I was volunteering with a refugee ministry at my church, Highland Park Presbyterian Church. I worked with some other people from HPPC and Catholic Charities of Dallas to help set up apartments for new refugees from Kosovo.
After that, we continued to minister to them, and I became a friend to the children, as well as a mentor. In 2000, The International Refugee Committee called HPPC and asked us if we would like to sponsor 50 “Lost Boys from Sudan.” We were taken aback by the amount of need and sheer number of people that we said we really had to think and pray about it for a few days.
Luckily, we said yes, because the Lost Boys have been a blessing, though challenging at times.
Since 2000, I have worked with and mentored the boys who then were in their late teens, or early twenties at the most. They had never seen running water, toilets, ovens, or lived in houses, as we know them. They had to flee from their villages at very young ages. The youngest that I know of was three years old, and the oldest was 12. They spent almost ten years in a refugee camp in Kenya after traveling thousands of miles on foot from Sudan to Ethiopia, then back to Sudan and finally Kenya.
Our ministry guided them in areas such as learning to cook, cleaning their apartments, and beginning the process of formal education. They had to first get their GEDs then enter junior colleges in the Dallas area.
They knew from missionaries in the refugee camp that education was the way to “make it” in the United States. Through donations, we were able to give the boys college grants. Starting at a Dallas Community College and then graduating from their respective junior colleges, they would go on to schools such as UTD, UTA, UNT, DBU, Midwestern State, etc.
About four-and-a-half years ago, my friend Lois Glasgow, who is also a member of Highland Park Presbyterian Church, starting working a lot with the boys and me.
Her oldest of three sons had graduated from high school, and she felt that she had time to give to the Lost Boys. We continued the ministry, finding donations for college, helping them to find jobs and mentoring to many of the guys.
Three years ago, we realized that it was time to form our own foundation. We had dreams to continue aiding the Lost Boys through ever-changing life phases, including graduation and finding a professional job. Several now had very pressing responsibilities, like raising children of their own. Lois and I also heard about Deanna Charles, who was helping one of the boys that she got to know while he was working for a local grocery store. She had mentored 'Bol' for over a year and became a big part of his life. We saw her passion, which was similar to ours, and called her for a meeting.
That summer, two-and-a-half years ago, Lois, Deanna and I formed our non-profit organization (501c3), Friends of the Lost Boys, DFW.
Since that time, we have continued to help more young men graduate from colleges and universities in the area – a total of 44, with a few more graduating this spring. There are always ups and downs with this many people to help, but they are so resilient. When things are running too smoothly, we start to wonder what is coming.
Many times, we have several guys who are in need of jobs, both hourly and salaried. We are always so proud of what the boys, now young men, have accomplished in their lives and are thankful for the opportunity to do what we can for them.
There are about 100 Lost Boys in the DFW area today. Most of these young men have become U.S. citizens and feel so blessed to be a part of our community.
Dawn West Barnett
President, Friends of the Lost Boys, DFW
For more information on the Friends of the Lost Boys, DFW, click here.