Beyound the Beating

Hounded from his homeland, he came to Australia seeking peace and safety. He ended up beaten nearly to death on a Brisbane street. Marelle Ward tells his story.

In 1989 war hit Waru Wani’s hometown in southern Sudan. Civil war has ravaged the country since 1983, with fighting between the predominantly Muslim north and Christian south, resulting in kidnappings, injury and the deaths of an estimated four million people.

Waru was born into an Anglican family, one of 12 children. His father was a policeman. The war claimed the lives of Waru’s father, brother, sister and then his stepfather.

After a period in the village under the protection of rebel soldiers, as a 15-year-old, he then made a seven-day walk from Sudan to the Congo to stay with relatives. After spending a year in safety, he returned to his family.

As the war continued, government forces visited local families “requesting” children as soldiers. Parents were told how many of their children were required, then had to make the heartbreaking decision as to which children would be sent to war. Refusal wasn’t an option.

With two of his brothers already in the army, Waru knew that to live, he had to leave. This time he walked to Kenya, where an older sister had settled.

After an interlude, an exciting life developed—drinking and drugs helped him forget the hardship of his young life. Waru’s sister, a practising Seventh-day Adventist (the publishers of Signs of the Times), began to talk to him about God and the Bible. He listened but decided her religion wasn’t for him. He wanted the good times and excitement.

Then a friend asked Waru to go with him to a refugee camp, which offered hope of a better and safe life in a foreign country. Waru agreed and spent the next six years in the camp.

While there, a friend took him to hear a Nairobi-based Seventh-day Adventist missionary speak. Listening to the message, Waru was convicted of his need of Christ, so decided to be baptised.
But shortly before his baptism, Waru was granted refugee status in Australia. Instead of baptism, he headed to a new country and a new life. Aged 24, Waru arrived in Australia in October 2001.

With several other refugees, he soon settled into a house in Brisbane. However, just as in Nairobi, the fast life of the city enticed him. He slipped into old habits and God was pushed from his mind.

Waru found work picking cotton. Filled with excitement about his prospects, Waru cycled to his cousin’s home to share his good news. As he rode through a suburban street, he was attacked by two youths. Bashed and beaten with bricks and a steering wheel locking device until he was senseless, he was rushed to hospital where doctors performed a tracheotomy in an attempt to stop him drowning in his own blood.

With little hope of survival, Waru spent the next five months in intensive care. The attack had left him with brain damage and unable to walk, unable to smell and blinded in one eye.

Discharged but confined to a wheelchair, he spent months learning to walk and, against all expectations, amazed his friends, family and medical staff.

But Waru showed no malice toward his attackers, only a thankful heart for his restored life. “When God gave me back my life, it was a miracle. I finally understood God. I knew He had a plan for my life,” he declared.

Waru began studying his Bible once again and searched for a church in which to worship. He knew God was answering his prayers, even experiencing a dream that helped lead him to biblical truth and understanding, despite never dreaming as a result of the beating. He also continued studying the Bible, finding the truth he’d been seeking. Eventually, he once again made the decision to be baptised, which this time happened, in August 2003.

Although Waru now walks freely, he’ll never recover his sense of smell or see with his right eye, but he also knows God has given him far more than he has lost. Waru says his future belongs to God.

Waru is now studying English part-time through a community program and remains unwavering in his resolve to master the language.
He has recently begun long-distance running and jokingly states he may just be interested in a marathon one day. Deeply thankful and awed by God’s hand in his life, Waru lives each day as a precious gift from God. He faces the difficulties of life in a new country with a quiet dignity, and profound faith in a God to whom the impossible is possible.

And he leaves open the possibility of one day returning to Sudan as a missionary. But would it be safe to return?
A gentle smile spreads across his face and, holding wide his arms imitating Christ on the cross, he replies, “If Jesus died for me that I would not perish, then I will die for you or for anyone. Life is a gift. I am forgiven. If I die, then I will still live because I am saved.”

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