Peter Gai was hit and left for dead while crossing a street in Sioux Falls, S.D., but the quick response of a pastor and an outpouring of community help saved his life and boosted his recovery.

Peter Gai of Sioux Falls, S.D., was once one of 20,000 “Lost Boys” of Sudan.

The war between northern and southern Sudan raged from 1983 to 2005 and caused devastation to the families as many parents were killed. 

Gai was in a refugee camp from 1990 to 2001. He then was brought to the United States and lived in Las Vegas, Nev., until coming to Sioux Falls in 2008.

Gai, 30, was looking forward to continuing his education at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, but his dream was cut short on Aug. 15 when he was hit by a car and left for dead. The hit-and- run driver left the scene, but a pastor witnessed the accident and called 911.

“The pastor came to visit me in the hospital,” Gai said. “He helped me. If he wouldn’t have called 911, I would not be here today.”

Gai had two broken legs and was in the hospital for two weeks. He couldn’t stay in his upstairs apartment, but the Department of Human Services helped him find a room on the first floor of a motel for a couple of months.

“People have been helpful to me. Roger Quam brought me breakfast! He has helped take me to the doctor and to the grocery store. I am very grateful,” Gai said. “People in South Dakota find me unique. They find me interesting. They seem to know I am from Sudan. My name is Peter. They expect me to have another name. My parents were Christians in Sudan and gave me a Biblical name.”

Gai was born in 1980. Growing up in Sudan, he lived with his parents and three sisters in the village of Bor, Jonglei State, southern Sudan. They raised cattle and farmed maize and sorghum.

“I looked after the cattle and worked in the fields. I spent a lot of time with my uncles working with the cattle. We used candles and lamps as we had no electricity,” Gai said.

There were many wars in Sudan as Muslims and Arabs from the north fought with Christians in the south. The fighting reached a peak around 1990, and food was scarce. Gai remembers that time as being very scary with much bloodshed.

“My mother was killed in the war,” Gai said. “My father was captured and tortured. Someone told them I was in the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army. I was not, but my dad passed away from the injuries he received. They took all his property.”

In 1990, Gai escaped and went to Ethiopia. He was in a refugee camp, but in 1991 the Ethiopian government changed and did not want the refugees to stay. He left Ethiopia and went to the refugee camps in Kenya. Gai was educated through high school and became a teacher to younger children. He taught fifth-grade religion class and junior 

high civics and science. In 2001, the United Nations and churches from the United States decided to settle the Lost Boys in America. 

Candidates had to go to interviews and write their life stories. Not everyone was chosen, but Gai was one of the fortunate ones.

“My parents were Christians,” Gai said. “In the 1800s, Episcopalian missionaries came to Sudan. My family was Christian and played an important part in my life. I believe in God and prayed. God saw the conditions we were in and allowed some of us to come to the United States.”

Twenty-four Lost Boys were brought to the United States and settled in Las Vegas, Nev. The program helped the boys find jobs and places to live. Gai also was able to complete two years of college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

In 2008, Gai and a friend decided to get away from the hot weather in Nevada and move to Sioux Falls. Gai had been working in Sioux Falls and was accepted to attend the University of South Dakota at Vermillion in the fall, but because of his accident his education plans had to be postponed. Gai’s legs are healing now, however, and he hopes to start school this month. He is majoring in economics.

Gai is grateful to be in the United States, where he says people are very generous. Three years ago he became an American citizen.

He was once lost, but now is found. He has found a new home and new brothers and sisters in this country.

But being free is a wonderful thing not to be taken for granted. Gai asks us to pray for his native country of Sudan.