Biography of Rev. John Yen
October 31, 2006 

My name is John Yen. I am from Bor, Southern Sudan. My education back ground is from the Civil Aviation Authority Institute in Khartoum, Azra Seminary in Khartoum, and an ESL certificate in the USA. My wife, Rebeka Beak, and our children all live in Manchester, NH. We have been married for 23 years and have 8 children: Samuel (age 22); Akur (age 18 – senior at Central High School); Yen (age 16 – sophomore also at Central); Anay (age 13 – 8th grader at McLaughlin Middle School); Jok (age 11 –  6th grader at McLaughlin); Ayuen (age 9 – 4th grader at Wilson Elementary); Yar (age 7 – 2nd grader at Wilson); and Atoch (age 3).         

Our family came to America in 1999. Before that we lived in Egypt for a year. We moved to Egypt after fleeing from our home in Khartoum, Sudan. I use to work at an airport in Khartoum. I was arrested by the security men who gave me a hard time. I decided to get out of the country. The church where I was one of the head priests was raided and destroyed along with its schools by police men. All of these things worried me and made me unhappy, so I had to move for myself and my family’s safety.          

The man who arrested me worked the same shift as I did. Each day he would threaten me because I was not comfortable in the place where I worked and also because I was an Anglican priest. He hated the fact that I was black and from South Sudan. They did not want some one from South Sudan to be successful. They also did not want me near the military equipment that was being shipped to South Sudan through the airport to the Mujahadin.          

The United Nations did not help me get out of Sudan, but they helped me come here to America from Egypt.  A nice lady from the UN, who was American named Caroline, helped me. She accepted our application, and helped finance us in Egypt.  She helped process our paper work to come to America.         

I came directly from Egypt to Manchester, New Hampshire. I like the name New Hampshire because it began with the word new as in a new life. I thought the people were nice and New Hampshire would be a great place to raise my children.          

God called me to be an Episcopal minister at the age of ten. My family also wanted me to preach the Word of God. I used to go to church until I became an Episcopalian priest in 1994. In Manchester I am in charge of the Sudanese ministry that meets at Grace Episcopal Church. We have Sunday services at 4 p.m. every week and we have Sunday school for children and youth on Saturday at 3 p.m. I hope to begin more ESL classes for immigrants with Jean Ralph as our teacher. The women have one activity a month. We have special events also. Another thing that I do is assist other people with prayers. Some times I would go to one’s home and pray with them about there concerns. I also help with transportation and translation for those who need it. We try to find items and other things needed by people.