Nonfiction

Dear Parents and Siblings:

It is a great pleasure and honor to write this letter on my second graduation day to inform you that I am graduating on May 7th, 2011 with a Master of Science Degree in Professional Science with a concentration in Biostatistics from Middle Tennessee State University. This testifies to what my father told me before I fled South Sudan in 1987 due to civil war: "My son, you will succeed in your academic endeavor just like most of your age-mates."

Dear parents, I am pleased to write to you in your graves to tell you that I have been a good child. I have never let you down, never forsaken our family's name, and never brought shame upon our family. My adorable sister Kuer has done the same despite the unbearable hardships she went through as a young girl until now, as a wife and mother of six.

Yet it is sad that you will not be here to celebrate and rejoice with me as I put a comma to my academic quest. I want you to know that I am proud of both of you for your great upbringing of us. I believe beyond doubt that I will be a great father when I marry. Your absence in my life has taught me what most children with living parents never learn: that parents are not a burden. They are a blessing. The short time we lived together in Bor Town and Panyajur taught me how to be a good person and to respect others.

To my dearest brother and sister, Chengyol and Abuol: I love both of you so much. It is very sad that you died the way you did during the civil war. But I believe our merciful God will rest you in peace and keep you at His right hand until the day we join you. Please pray for us as we pray for you to rest in peace. The Lord loves all of you and will always be by your sides. Until then, rest in peace.

Many Blessings to you all!

© 2011 Alier Reng

Orphaned at a young age, I faced two paths. I could live like an ordinary child—seeking comfort, escaping responsibility, and slowly dimming my family's light. Or I could grow up early—deny myself certain pleasures, embrace discipline, and protect the candle my family had lit before me.

I chose the second path.

With the unwavering support of relatives, friends, colleagues, and professors, I continue pressing toward the future I believe God has prepared for me.

For a long time, I thought my suffering was unmatched. Then I met a young Congolese man at Middle Tennessee State University during a Kenyan friend's graduation ceremony. He had lost his entire family in war. His only memory was escape.

Yet he persevered. He came to the United States, studied accounting, and built a stable life.

That encounter reshaped my perspective.

There are moments when life feels unjust—when it seems the world has singled us out for hardship. In those seasons, doubt creeps in. We question ourselves. Sometimes we even question God.

But Scripture reminds us:

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Faith is not always loud. Sometimes it reveals itself quietly—through survival, through unexpected opportunities, through strength we did not know we possessed.

If you are facing difficulty today, remember this: you are not alone in your suffering. Others have endured worse and still rose.

Perseverance is rarely glamorous—but it is powerful. And those who hold on discover that the ground beneath them was firmer than they feared.

© 2023 Alier Reng