About Us

Background

My name is Pastor Santino Bol Akok from Akuak Rak, South Sudan. I am the Founder and Director of Christian Reaching Ministry (CRM). I became a believer and accepted Jesus Christ in 1988 while living in exile in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. Before I accepted Jesus, I knew nothing about the Gospel or the Good News that Christ came into the world to set mankind free from the bondage of Satan.

Journey to Ethiopia

I left South Sudan for Ethiopia in 1987; we walked for five months. I was forced to flee my home village of Akuak Rak by the oppressive regime of the Sudan Government in Khartoum. The main reason I went to Ethiopia was that I was expected to be trained as a child soldier and provided with a gun to return to my home region of Akuak Rak in Western Aweil, South Sudan. My home area had been destroyed by Arab radical abductors. They attacked our village and left my people with nothing. They abducted our children and took women and young girls into North Sudan for slavery and forced labour.

The Lost Boys of Sudan

Since 1983, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Sudanese Government have been at war in Southern Sudan. The conflict claimed more than 500,000 lives and displaced huge numbers of people. Many of the displaced were boys between the ages of 10 and 17. We were separated from our families. We trekked thousands of miles over a vast, unforgiving wilderness, seeking refuge from the fighting—hungry, frightened, and weakened by sleeplessness and disease. We crossed from Sudan into Ethiopia, with many of us dying along the way. The survivors are now known as the Lost Boys of Sudan; some were later resettled in the United States, Canada, Australia, and several European countries.

A Call to Leadership

The late Dr. John Garang de Mabior visited us in the refugee camps and briefed us about the liberation struggle. He encouraged us to take up pencils, books, and exercise and to concentrate on education rather than training as soldiers and taking up arms. He said we would be the preserved seeds and the hopeful future leaders of the new South Sudan. He added that it would be unwise for the liberation movement to take these preserved seeds and future leaders to the battlefield.

Return and Ministry

I returned to the Aweil region and began to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ in 1995, which marked the establishment of evangelical churches in the region. During my evangelization in 1995, hundreds of thousands of people came to accept Christ. The region I was serving had been devastated by radical Arab forces. Some family members and relatives had been killed, abducted, and taken to North Sudan.

Current Mission Work

I founded Christian Reaching Ministry (CRM) in 2008 as a Christian organization to restore hope and the lives of orphans and redeemed children through basic services: education, feeding programs for orphaned children, healthcare, hygiene and clean drinking water, mission and evangelism outreach, food security, and youth and women's empowerment.

After the end of the civil war between North and South Sudan, orphaned and abducted children returned to Western Aweil region, Akuak Rak, South Sudan. CRM initiated Hope Mission Christian School in Akuak Rak as a Christ-centered orphanage and school where over 350 redeemed orphans and severely disadvantaged children are housed and supported. I am therefore appealing to your goodwill to help us support these 350 orphans and redeemed abducted children to receive education and basic necessities in Akuak Rak, South Sudan.