Southern Sudanese in Southern California dream of forging a new nation

The Rev. Peter Lual gathered his flock of Sudanese exiles in the parking lot of a Denny’s restaurant in suburban San Diego.

Before him stood former guerrillas and farmers, some bearing the intricate facial scars that are a badge of manhood among the major tribes of southern Sudan. Others were students and teachers before they were swept up in the bloodshed of one of Africa’s worst civil wars.

They stood together in a circle to pray as traffic droned by and diners walked past on a cloudy Saturday morning.

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