By Katie Patrick
Springtime is often associated with new life and fresh beginnings. After a long, cold winter, nature reawakens—birds chirp, flowers bloom, and the grass turns green. In my backyard, for example, near our Marian statue, our rose bushes, which struggled last year, are beginning to show signs of hope.
Just like those rose bushes, there are many people in our community who are given the chance to grow and rebuild, no matter how difficult their past has been. One such person is Jacob, a young man who, after more than a decade in federal prison, is navigating his own journey of transformation with the help of Catholic Social Services and RISE.
At Catholic Social Services (CSS), we are privileged to work alongside organizations like RISE, which provide transformative support for individuals like Jacob. RISE is the largest nonprofit in Nebraska focused on helping individuals in prisons and those reentering society, giving them the tools to succeed, heal, and break free from the cycles of incarceration.
Jacob’s story began nearly 30 years ago when he arrived in the U.S. as one of the “Lost Boys” from Sudan. In the late 1980s, the conflict between the Khartoum-based government in the north intensified with southern Sudanese rebels. Though the South would eventually earn independence (2011), the cost of it would take thousands of lives and displace millions more.
Often referred to as the “Lost Boys,” tens of thousands of children, many orphaned or separated from their families, fled their homes, and walked hundreds of miles through dangerous terrain, facing starvation, dehydration, attacks from wild animals, and the threat of gunfire to escape the violence. Once they arrived at refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, many were resettled in western countries, including the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Their transition and integration into American culture, including Lincoln, Nebraska, was difficult.
Jacob’s integration story in Lincoln was not without struggle. Choices he made led to criminal activity that ultimately placed him into the federal prison system for more than a decade. The gamut of physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual warfare defined his sentence. After some years of anger and resentment, Jacob connected with the in-prison programming of RISE. There, he met Bryan Dahlberg, a RISE staff member and ardent Catholic evangelist. Jacob’s path toward forgiveness and redemption started to manifest. He experienced God’s unconditional love, and by the time he was released, hope had reentered his life. Thanks to the compassionate case management at RISE and CSS, Jacob was not alone in his efforts to rebuild his life.
CSS was first connected to Jacob after a Lincoln priest encountered him at Mass and referred him to us. We quickly made the connection with Bryan Dahlberg at RISE, who previously worked at CSS and knew Jacob. Together, we met with Jacob in support of his reintegration. While RISE assisted Jacob in a move to Omaha to be near his cousin and his support network, CSS offered immigration legal services by helping him renew his documents, as well as securing a donated vehicle for him.
Recidivism often happens when isolation, and familiarity, which often means reverting to that which led to incarceration, take over. Jacob’s cousin was a crucial part of his success in staying out of prison, and so was securing employment. For several months, things were going well until one day, Jacob was detained by ICE and his deportation to South Sudan was scheduled. His social support network in Lincoln and Omaha was devastated. But as with all things, God has a plan.
Within a few weeks, Jacob left the U.S. and arrived in South Sudan. Several “Lost Boys,” who previously returned of their own accord to rebuild their home country were informed of Jacob’s homecoming. We are all hopeful that he will receive support in finding employment and setting up a new life in South Sudan. Additionally, many family members, who Jacob hadn’t seen since he was a child, greeted him with open arms and joyous smiles. A few hours after Jacob’s arrival, we received an email from his cousin in Omaha. He said: “Jacob arrived safely in South Sudan. They called me a few minutes ago. He is finally a free man. He is in great spirits.”
God works in mysterious ways. Similar to the rosebuds in bloom, so too are our lives. Pray that Jacob’s second chance, now free from many of the barriers he faced in the U.S., brings him love, prosperity, and, most importantly, hope—hope in a new beginning and in all the things God has planned for him.
