Our host’s church in Zambia met in a school classroom. Every Sunday, we would wake up early to help the family carry all of the instruments and equipment for the service. My teammate, Meggie, and I were walking back to the pastor’s house to get the rest of the drums when we heard a voice say, “Are you running today?”
Inwardly, we both groaned. We just wanted to go somewhere without being followed by children yelling, “Mzungu! Mzungu!”
Meggie loves to run. Our host told us it wasn’t safe to run alone, so we decided to go together each morning. Three days later, we decided it wasn’t worth it between the crazy taxi drivers, children chasing us, and men calling at us.
As we turned, we saw a young girl standing under a tree. I recognized her immediately from our few attempts at running.
We walked over and introduced ourselves. She told us her name was Daisy* and she had watched us run each morning. Meggie told her we weren’t running, but were getting ready for church. She seemed eager to come, so we told her the room number and time and then scooted off to fetch the drums.
As I stood up for worship in the service, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Daisy sitting with my teammate, Rachel. My team had been doing street evangelism all week, meeting people and inviting them to service. Very few people actually came, so I didn’t really expect Daisy to come either.
After the service ended, everyone congregated in the school yard to chat. I glanced around and noticed Rachel and Daisy talking. Daisy seemed upset as she tried to communicate with Rachel in broken English. Rachel listened intently, trying to understand and then prayed for her.
We collected all of the instruments and began the trek home. The pastor looked back and noticed Daisy trailing along behind us. He called to his wife and they invited her back to their home for lunch.
Daisy and her neighbor sat under a tree in the yard and with the pastor and his wife for several hours as she retold the story she tried to share with Rachel.
We learned that Daisy was thirteen years old and lived in a home nearby. Her mother was gravely ill and unable to care for her. She sent Daisy to live with an aunt and uncle so that she would be taken care of and could attend school.
Or that’s what her mother thought she was doing.
Daisy told the pastor that she hadn’t attended school in almost a year.
Instead, her aunt and uncle were keeping all the money. They would tie Daisy up and lash her with a whip. They told her she couldn’t leave the house. They told her if she told anyone, they would kill her.
Daisy’s neighbor confirmed the story. She said she could hear Daisy screaming every night.
The pastor actually knew some of Daisy’s other relatives and he called to follow up on her story. He learned that no one had heard from her in over a year and they had been trying to contact her.
Daisy’s aunt and uncle always told the family that she was great and performing well in school, but never allowed them to speak directly with her.
I was mortified. A young girl tied up and whipped?
Held in bondage by her own family?
This was the horror you read in articles and see on the news, and it was happening right in front of us.
When Daisy’s relatives heard what was happening, they took immediate action to get her to safety, but the next bus didn’t leave for a week. She couldn’t stay with the pastor because they wouldn’t be able to hide her if her aunt and uncle came to look for her.
She went back, but she came by every day to let us know she was okay.
When the time came, the pastor helped her get to the bus station. As far as we know, Daisy is safe.
Trying to run in Zambia was terrible.
Honestly, it was one of my least favorite experiences on the Race. It was exhausting. It was degrading to be whistled at, laughed at, chased, and ogled.
But because Meggie and I ran, we met Daisy.
Because we ran, Daisy was set free from bondage.
In Luke 4, Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah. He says,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the Year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus came to bring us liberty and freedom.
We’re running the Race to set the captives free.
That’s enough for me.
