Reverend John Chol Daau, former 'Lost Boy' of Sudan, Daystar graduate and Pastor
The students and alumni of Daystar University are the driving force behind the work we do at Daystar U.S. Daystar alumni are passionate, hardworking, and full of integrity. Read their stories and get a taste of how they are impacting communities in Africa and around the world.
Life for Reverend John Chol Daau has not been easy. Growing up in the war torn country of Sudan, John was forced to flee his village when he was 14 years old and make a long and dangerous journey to safety. He said, “It was a difficult trek. We could go without water for many days and without food, and we could survive only for the leaves of the trees.” After surviving the journey from his village in Southern Sudan he arrived in the Kakuma refugee camp and lived there for ten years.
Before fleeing his village John was led to Christ by his uncle. While John was a refugee at Kakuma, he reached out to his fellow refugees with discipleship and Scripture readings, setting the stage for his education and his life work.
In order to better equip himself for the ministry God had given him, John applied to Daystar University. He completed his undergraduate degree in community development with a minor in public relations. He said, “It has been very good for me to be at Daystar and to be trained in an environment where the Scripture is a measurement for all the teachings that we have. Daystar has molded me and equipped me with information that is biblically based and I am so happy to be part of Daystar University.”
John is currently serving as a missionary at Daystar University, teaching in Daystar’s Institute of Christian Ministries Training. He trains Sudanese pastors at the refugee camps, teaching them how to serve people, how to reconcile, and how to mobilize people to use their own resources to solve their own problems in a biblical way. John also founded the first newspaper in Southern Sudan, the New Sudan Christian, that has a circulation of more than 5,000 readers in Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda. The focus of his ministry is pastoral development with the goal to raise up godly leaders in Southern Sudan. John’s vision is to launch a Christian college in Southern Sudan.