Rebecca: Survivor
of burned Slave Train
The Islamic Militia had captured hundreds of women and children from the south and crammed them into a few train cars to take them north where they would be forced to serve as slaves.
Rebecca is the name of the woman who washes our clothes each day here on the compound. The combination of the extreme heat and strong wind blowing dirt in your face all day makes for very soiled clothes.
Washing clothes in Sudan is beyond archaic. First, Rebecca must walk to the well to stand in line with many other women so that she can pump enough water to fill a large plastic jug. Then she must hoist the jug to the top of her head and walk back to the compound. Next, she will repeat the trip – several times – ensuring she will have enough water to wash all the clothes.
Then Rebecca will build a fire so that she can boil the water. This takes a long time as her one pot only holds about a gallon. Since soap is a rare commodity and is usually flown in from Kenya, she uses it very sparingly. This means most of the “washing” is scrubbing each item with her hands, struggling with each individual stubborn stain in the hot water until the stain relents.
Knowing this process, I marvel at how, even when given a white shirt with dirt, sweat and spilled medicine stains that the doctor told me would never come out, Rebecca tirelessly returns my clothes fresh smelling and white as snow. On top of all that, she is usually singing as she delivers the clean laundry!
Last year when documenting the persecution and slavery inflicted upon the Sudanese, James took me to a village called Eldhen. The Islamic Militia had captured hundreds of women and children from the south and crammed them into a few train cars to take them north where they would be forced to serve as slaves.
Yesterday, I learned that Rebecca was on that train. She was a young girl when the attack took place. Rebecca watched as her father and many others were tortured and murdered in the attack.
When the Sudanese Liberation Army (SPLA) heard of this, they rode ahead of the train and dug up the train tracks so that the train could not carry the captives north into slavery. As the SPLA backtracked toward the train, the Islamic Militia learned what they had done, so rather than set their captives free, they stopped in Eldhen, doused the train with diesel and set the trains on fire, burning the victims alive inside.
The train was a chain of 13 cars. The back 10 went up in flames immediately. The first three began to smolder but did not flame up so quickly. The panic and rioting from inside loosened the door of one of the first three cars. The captives ran out. They saw the two other cars that were still not engulfed so they freed those doors as well. Rebecca, her mother and a young brother were in these cars. They all began to run.
Lost in the desert, they ran without being sure where they were going. Finally Rebecca, her mother and young brother came to a village where they met another Southern Sudanese woman who had been forced to marry a Muslim man from an earlier raid. The woman quickly identified them as from the south and told them they must hide. The Militia from the train was looking for the escapees. The Southern Sudanese woman hid them in a large grain bin and told them not to make a sound even if they heard someone banging on the box.
Their protector told them she had a son who was old enough to help them get to Darfur where they would be safer because other black people (vs. the lighter skinned Arabs who had invaded the north) lived there. But, because her slave master had sent her son out to tend the cows, they must wait until he returned. Rebecca and her family waited, never leaving that wooden box for eight days. Each day their protector would try to sneak them a little bit of water. They had to urinate inside the box where they stayed.
When the woman’s son returned, he was also anxious to help them. The journey was treacherous but they made it to Darfur where they lived for several years in peace. Rebecca married a Dinka man who had also fled the attacks in the south and was hiding in Darfur. Then last year, the same Militia that had sought to kill them in the south, came to Rebecca’s village in Darfur. They burned the village and killed many of Rebecca’s friends. Once again Rebecca was on the run, this time with six children – she lost one giving birth alone in the bush.
They made it to Nyamlel, where she heard about New Life Ministry (sponsored by Make Way Partners) and a pastor named James Lual Atak, who offered compassion and sometimes a job. Indeed, Rebecca says she has found both here.
In Sudan, few people know their age, but as I look at Rebecca, I would guess she is maybe mid twenties. It amazes me every time I pass by her with her hands busily toiling in near-to-boiling water that she is singing and never fails to greet me with a smile of pure joy. Often she pulls herself up from her labor to hug me.
It pricks my heart. I think of how the Savior suffered for my scarlet sin to be as white as virgin wool. He never holds sin over my head nor does he cast judgmental looks my way. In the same way, Rebecca and many of the once captives who are now free seem to suffer with a smile, grateful they have something to offer towards another’s comfort, making their stains as white as snow.
-Kimberly Smith,
President
Through the Make
Way Partners' Slave Repatriation Ministry, we provide loving
care, discipleship, food, jobs and a home. It costs about
$1,000 per former slave to provide this Incarnational care
including building them a home. Please consider sponsoring
a former slave or widow, or find partners to share in the
support with you.
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slave or widow today!
