A series of lectures on the humanitarian crisis in Sudan will be presented at Samford University Sept. 27 and 29. The programs, both on the "Save Darfur" theme, will be at 10 a.m. in Reid Chapel.

Mark Bixler, author of The Lost Boys of Sudan: An American Story of the Refugee Experience, and Jacob Magot, whose story is told in the book, will speak Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 10 a.m. in Reid Chapel.

Bixler writes on the national news desk at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he has written extensively about immigrants and refugees as well as about Sudan. He founded a refugee ministry at his church, Grace United Methodist Church, and donates a portion of the proceeds from his book to the Lost Boys.

Magot was forced from his home in southern Sudan at age six. After walking hundreds of miles with other children, he lived in refugee campus in Ethiopia and Kenya before the U.S. government resettled him as a refugee in Atlanta in 2001. He attends college and works to support three siblings in Africa. He has not seen his parents since an attack separated them in the 1980s.

Mohamed Yahya, a native of Sudan and chair of the Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy, will speak Thursday, Sept. 29. The coalition advocates for the human rights of the people of the Darfur region of Sudan, and for the preservation of their ethnic communities. It seeks to coordinate a movement to end the genocide in Darfur, and to establish foundations of democracy.

The public is invited to both programs, which are presented as part of the Samford fall convocation line-up.

During their Birmingham visit, all three guests will also address Samford classes. Bixler and Magot will also lead a panel discussion of the "Lost Boys of Sudan" documentary Monday at 6:30 p.m. in Brooks Auditorium.