It was a hard night, the strikes came from every side, and the accusations faced me from all sides, but as much as the pain was so intense, the doors of blessing that were opened to me were more intense, and the beginning of divine miracles did not end in my life ever since !!
A tough night:
My name is Citrallo Spiriano Meshary, I was born in 1964, I studied the primary stage in St. Teresa, Tourit, and then I moved to Supere Secondary School in Juba. In 1985, I moved to Khartoum; where I lived there for a long time. I used to work in the American aid and I used to be a drunkard, I was drunk most of the time.
The alcoholic drinks took over my body; so that on the night of December 24, 1990, I became at the peak of madness. When I visited Port Sudan for the first time, and I went out of the house at 2 am, and entered a Nubian house of a stranger, thinking it was my aunt’s house. So the house owner called for a traffic patrol.
When they came, they took me outside and beat me severely from three to six in the morning. They dug a hole in the ground and put a large piece of wood in it, and then they tied my hands from the back, and they hung me on the piece of wood. Eventually, they poured cold water on me to wake me up. In all that I didn’t know what was going on to me.
When they thought I was dead, they took me off the large piece of wood, and I heard what they were saying about me; some suggested putting me inside a sack, and others wanted to wait until they knew the name of my tribe.
They asked me, “What’s your name and from which tribe are you?”.
“The Latokas” I said, “The Latokas do not steal.” They said.
When they found the tickets with me from Khartoum to Kassala to Port Sudan, they became sure that I was a guest in the city, and they decided to release me.
New crisis:
After they left me, and while I was hurt and in pain due to their beatings, and my face was very swollen, I was surprised by a woman who came quickly and said, “Do not release this person, because he stole my house; he took the clothes and bed sheets.”
I was extremely terrified, that I found myself saying out of fear: “Yes, I did.” I asked them to accompany me home; I made this false confession because I wanted my brothers and my mother to know where I was.
By the time we arrived home, I found my aunt and brothers, along with the Chief of the commissions, so they asked the police: “What is this person’s problem? We have been looking for him from since yesterday.”
“This person stole clothes.” They said.
I replied them: I honestly don’t know what they are talking about, however; when this woman came to accuse me of stealing, I told them, out of fear, that I did so, and I brought them here, in order to let you know where I was since yesterday.
They insisted on going to the police, and there, a report was opened against me. After I gave my statement, I was put in jail. Then they spoke to the woman saying:”This guy is now in trouble because of you, if he died in prison, you will be responsible for it.” So the woman got scared and went home, claiming that she is going to bring proof of my robbery, but she never came back, and so; they were sure she was a liar and finally they released me. However, I kept lying in the house for about four days, unable to move, my face was swollen, and I was still shocked by what had happened to me.
Forgiveness:
Later on, when my health improved, I applied for a job at Celini, on 8/1/1991. Three months later I took leave, and I returned to Port Sudan. I went to my aunt and asked her to accompany me to the house where I entered and where I was beaten. “Do you still remember the house?”She said, “Yes “, I said. Consequently, my colleague and I went, and there I met the woman” Halima “and her husband” Tia “.
Right after they greeted me, they asked me: “What do you ask for?”
“Surely you have forgotten me; my name is Citrallo; the person you hit so hard a few months ago, and you handed me over to the police. I only came to ask you for forgiveness.That night my visit was improper, with no prior knowledge between us, the darkness made me think it was my aunt’s house, so I entered. It was my first visit to Port Sudan, and because of the incident that occurred that night, I made an irrevocable decision; not to use alcohol ever again. “I said.
Surprisingly, the woman and the man smiled at me, and said: “No problem, anyway we’re sorry you have been beaten up that much.”
The beginning of the service:
In 2003, after I was reborn by God, I travelled to study at the Faculty of Theology in Egypt. Right after completing the study of theology, I returned to South Sudan; where I was ordained as a priest and I served in prisons. In 2010, the Lord used me to baptize 57 people in Juba prison, as well as 57 people in Tourit prison.
I got married to Madame Ellis, and we had no children for seventeen years. My mother used to urge me to marry another woman; as my wife didn’t give birth to any children, but I told her: “I will never marry another woman.” My-mother-in law came from Khartoum, and she stayed with me in Cairo for six months, even she asked me to have a second wife; other than her daughter, but it was my firm decision: I will stay with this woman to the end.
A Miracle:
In October 2012, my wife became pregnant after many years of infertility. On 9/7/2013, South Sudan Independence Day, the Lord blessed us with a newborn at 8:30 am.
Immediately, I phoned my mother, she was unbelievably joyful, right away she prayed to God saying: “O Lord, whom my Son worships, I will continue with you, I want to deliver my life to you”, since then, my mother was reborn.
Also, my-mother- in law was drinking alcohol excessively, and as soon as she learnt the news of my wife’s pregnancy, she took the step of repentance, she prayed saying:” O Lord, whom my-son-in law and my daughter worship, I will worship you the way they do”, These testimonies have added to us a double joy, in addition to our great joy for the newborn whom God has honoured us with.
Dear… this is a short story and a simple testimony for you, but if I didn’t take a step by faith towards God, and leave drinking alcohol forever, I wouldn’t have reached this state, and many doors of blessing wouldn’t have been opened in my life.
Nowadays, I am the Bishop of the Inner Church of Africa, and whenever I visit the family at Port Sudan, where I was hit, I remember the blessing that the Lord has given me through these beatings, and His blessings are still showering us. God can do much with you if you take the same step, towards Him not away from Him.