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Mary Achon: Freedom
one step at a time
I could hear the roar of trucks rolling into our small village. This sound meant two things. Firstly, and thankfully, more food for our village which was in desperate need of it. Secondly, more Returnees would be on the trucks, which would put yet further demand on the already strained food supply. Since the Peace Treaty was signed, the Arabs began driving large open air trucks out of Khartoum and into the desert toward Nyamlel. These flatbed trucks were full of life-saving rice, grain, sugar and lentils. There were only thin wooden rails running along the side of the trucks to hold the 100 kg bags of food inside. These bags were stacked six to eight bags high. It is here, high on top of these food bags, that the Returnees were perched, riding exposed to the harsh desert elements for days at a time trying to return to their homes.
One of the men on top of the truck began to push the woman toward the sheet. She twisted her body angling away from the truck while a man below her grabbed the dangling leg. With a quick-jerk movement, the woman was suddenly in the sheet as if cuddled in a hammock. The men began to slowly lower her. When the dangling leg found the desert floor, another man handed her a set of make-shift crutches. It wasn't until then that I realized the leg I saw dangling from the top of the truck was, in fact, her only leg. She spied me moving toward her; I stood out for obvious reasons. I asked if I could speak with her. She said her name was Mary and that she had heard of the Kawaidja Woman (white woman) before she even made her way out of the North. She had hoped I would care to hear her story.
With me in tow, Mary hobbled her way to the shade made by the truck. In 130 degree heat, the diesel/tar smell made me nauseous; I wondered how in the world she had survived the trip. She was very thin. Mary returned to Nyamlel full of hope to find her husband. They had been separated for many years – since her abduction by the Muslim Militia. She had been used as a sex slave in the North. Today, however, she was sad and discouraged because the men who helped her down from the truck told Mary that her husband did not want her to come home because she was “used up and crippled.” When her village was attacked years ago, Mary was shot in the leg and dragged off to the North. Her leg became gangrenous and her Muslim master cut it off. Now, she had risked her life to get home to her husband, but he was declaring a divorce from her. She had no other known living relatives, save her children.
Mary still has many emotional and spiritual wounds, but she is now in a safe and loving community where, over time and with God's grace, she continues to heal each day. Your support enables Make Way Partners to reach out to these society “cast offs” with tangible help and hope for the future. These are, indeed, the least of these. 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. CLICK HERE to sponsor a former slave or widow today! |
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A
Returnee is either an escaped slave or someone who fled North
during the war trying to escape the bombing and raids upon
her village. As soon as I heard the trucks, I ran for the
drop off point where I knew many former slave women would
be dumped with no means of help. By the time I arrived,
everyone was down from the truck except one woman who still
sat on the edge, with one foot dangling down. Several
men were holding a sheet; two stood on top of the food bags,
two clinged to the back gate of the truck while the four of
them struggled with the sheet. 
We
took Mary into Make Way Partners' New Life Ministry care program
and built a home for her. She began working in our micro-enterprise,
Mary's Crosses. Later, a couple of our partner families learned
how hard it was for Mary to get around the desert on crutches,
so they bought her a special bicycle which she can “pedal”
with her hands.