Angelo Maker, a part of the so-called “Lost Boys of Sudan,” and a group of his friends started the Abukloi secondary school last year in Rumbek, South Sudan. When Maker was 7 years old, his mother and two brothers were murdered by rebels in his South Sudan home. Maker came to the United States when he was 21 and now shares his story of survival as a public speaker.

CHICORA — A survivor of the second Sudanese civil war will share his story of loss and compassion at 5 p.m. Sunday at St. Paul’s Community Church, 2167 Route 268.

Angelo Maker was 7 years old when his village in the African nation of South Sudan was attacked by rebels who murdered his mother and two brothers.

That day began a decade-long fight for survival as Maker joined the so-called “Lost Boys of Sudan,” a group of 30,000 children orphaned and displaced by the war.

With the others, Maker walked more than 500 miles from Sudan to Ethiopia, where he lived in a refugee camp for three years before being forced back to Sudan, then to Kenya.

In 2001, the United Nations moved 21-year-old Maker and a group of other Lost Boys from Kenya to Virginia to further their education.

“When I came to the United States, I never wanted to share my story,” said Maker, who now recounts his story as a public speaker. “It was a really horrifying situation that I will never forget. I was so angry.”

Maker said the day he lost his mother and brothers, he promised himself he would join the army and find a way to avenge his family, but love changed his mind.

“I began to learn that wrong plus wrong never makes right,” Maker said. “So I began telling my story. Every time I share, I feel relief that I am doing something.”

But Maker’s desire to help other children in his homeland goes further than his public speaking. Maker and a group of friends started the Abukloi secondary school last year in Rumbek, South Sudan.

Maker’s “adopted” mother, Margaret Kutz, a retired pastor who sponsored Maker when he moved to Virginia, said she was one of two teachers at the school Maker opened in fall 2013.

Kutz taught for five weeks before four teachers from Sudan and Kenya were hired.

“We’re really excited about the teachers who are there,” Kutz said. “We have a temporary facility and we had desks made. They have their own syllabus, but they don’t have their own curriculum yet, so we’ve used Kenyan curriculum and textbooks. Many of the students spent eight years in school, and they had never seen a textbook, so they were really excited when they got the textbooks.”

This year, the school has about 45 ninth-grade students, with an average age of 23. Kutz said the goal is to add one grade level per year for the next three years.

Maker, who still visits South Sudan and intends to move there with his wife and children, said he hopes those who hear his story will feel inspired to support children facing hardships today.

Kenneth Tack, a member of St. Paul’s Community Church and brother of Kutz, said the presentation will begin at 5 p.m. with a covered dish dinner, followed by Maker’s discussion at 6 p.m.

There is no cost to attend and no need to register in advance, although attendees are encouraged to come early because seating is limited.

“If I can make it at the age of 7 and be able to come to the U.S. and be able to go to school, get a college degree and work on my master’s, you don’t have an excuse,” Maker said.

“If you are born in this country, you are rich and you can do it. Despite the difficulties we have in this country, you can do it.

“It is something we will never pay back,” Maker said. “No matter how much we say thank you, thank you will never be enough.”