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QUINCY, ILL. -- At only 14-years-old Pastor John Akunnguet Garang  was taken from his home in southern Sudan.

He thought he was going to school, but instead he found himself forced into a military camp.

Years later he escaped the Sudanese Army, on foot, all the way to Kenya.

John went back to visit his home village, now a part of the world's newest country, South Sudan.

The country is packed with children who need help.

"I want to rebuild our nation," Garang said.

Pastor John Garang's first step toward rebuilding his nation of South Sudan is education. John has taken in more than a hundred children from South Sudan to his home in Kenya. He tried to teach children in South Sudan, but lack of supplies made the job impossible.

"I desire to build a school there, put a medical (building) there, and get the teachers to teach the children. That is the reason I came to the U.S," Garang explained.

Dixie Koch met John when he was in bible college in Uganda. They worked together to build a non-profit called "Children are People."

"We want to build a large dormitory for the children in Kenya so we can all be housed on the property. That's part one. Part two would be to build in Sudan, south Sudan," Koch said.

John came to the United States to ask for help with these plans. Several area churches support the children living in Kenya, but John continues his push to help the children he couldn't take back to Kenya with him.

"We cannot wait the children who are there have no education, no food, no clothes."

Koch says the non-profit has gained wide support recently. She plans to take more mission trips to Kenya with local volunteers.