I first met Lahema in the summer of 2003 when we were putting on our annual Camp LIFE program, which used to be held at the orphanages, for the children at Yasheni Day-School Orphanage in Lusaka, Zambia, Africa. Our team was up front leading the life-filled songs for the excited sea of children, when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a solemn little girl with a blank stare standing at the back of the concrete room – a shadow of a soul trapped inside a hollow body.
After the songs, I tried everything to bring God’s joy to this sad child. Hugs, smiles, love, and heart-warming words made no difference. She continued most of the week in a state that we so often see in Zambia called the “walking dead” – alive physically, but dead in spirit, emotion, mind, and even socially. When I found out her story from her teacher later, I soon realized why Lahema was devoid of any hope…both of her parents died when she was a young girl, and a few years later at the age of eight, with no one to look after her and protect her, she was raped. The Cry of Lahema was heard by no one.
It is a common myth in Zambia that if a man has relations with a virgin, he will be cured of AIDS. Therefore, young girls are frequently raped with no one to help them pick up the broken pieces of their shattered lives. This myth has had devastating effects throughout Zambia and has thrust the entire social structure of the country into a deep downward spiral.
Lahema’s frail, disease-ridden body was tiny. I could see her ribs very clearly and her wrists were as thin as they could be. She told me that year that she was sixteen years old, yet she looked like a fragile ten-year-old. The sad thing is that Lahema told me every year for the next four years that she was sixteen…every year I would ask her, and every year, she would tell me that she was sixteen years old. Poor Lahema didn’t even know how old she was…no one ever cared to celebrate her birthday or to even make one up for her. She was a dying orphan child who mattered to no one…
That soon changed when God sent us to Lahema’s “front doorstep” as we showed up with Camp LIFE at Yasheni. By Friday of that week, Lahema had received an abundance of love, and her walls of numbness to the pain of the world finally came down. This precious child received Jesus Christ as her personal Savior, and for the first time in her life since the loss of her parents, she began to hope. The Cry of Lahema had been heard by her Heavenly Daddy…smiles and joy replaced the pain and sadness, and true LIFE graced her face and heart.
I knew that God had done something very special that year to bond my life to Lahema’s. He had given Lahema to me as my true daughter in the faith, and our hearts had become supernaturally connected forever.
The following year when we came in 2004, Lahema’s heart was hopeful, and her health had improved, yet she was still very ill. You can even tell that the light of Christ is shining out of her eyes in this picture, but she is still suffering from the devastating effects of AIDS.
When we returned in 2005, I was shocked beyond words when I first laid my eyes on Lahema! Her face was gorgeous…she didn’t even look like the same girl! Lahema gained a lot of very healthy weight and actually looked like a vibrant and joyful teenager. Wearing the clothes I had given her as a Christmas present, her beautiful face lit with joy was a sight to behold. I discovered that the USA had sent over $15 billion of ARV’s (Anti-RetroViral) to help relieve the suffering of AIDS victims in Africa. Praise the Lord that Lahema was one of the chosen patients to receive the free medication. Everyone who knew her from years past could not believe the change in Lahema.
In 2005, we taught the children to “Go Light their World,” and become the Light of Jesus to others. I personally watched as Lahema went around her community and prayed for God to heal other sick children and adults. The Cry of Lahema had been replaced by the Prayers of Lahema !
In 2006, we heard great reports that Lahema was doing very well health-wise. Two weeks before Lahema was scheduled to come to Camp LIFE, her orphanage director, Evelyn Mwenso, told her that she was going to get to see “Auntie Holly” real soon. Evelyn told me that her face lit up so brightly with a joy in her eyes that she will never forget, and that Lahema had literally been, “counting down the months” until Camp LIFE came again.
However, when the time was nearing for Camp LIFE to start, something happened that no one anticipated.