Deborah is a young woman with albinism. In Tanzania, that can carry dangers most people will never have to consider.
In parts of the country, generations of superstition have fueled harmful beliefs about people with albinism. Witch doctors have claimed that their bodies possess supernatural properties capable of bringing wealth, power, or good fortune. Those myths have had devastating consequences: people with albinism have been hunted, kidnapped, attacked, and killed, their humanity reduced to limbs and body parts assigned staggering prices on the black market. Women face an additional threat because of the belief that sex with a woman with albinism can cure HIV, leaving many especially vulnerable to sexual violence.
For Deborah, who attended a Journey of a Life-Giver training in Tanzania, these were not distant issues. They were the realities faced by people like her.
The value of every human life
During the training, participants explored the biblical foundation for the value of every human life. They were asked to identify the ways life was being devalued in their own communities.
Near the top of their list was:
“The killing of people with albinism.”
Participants repented for ways the Church had failed to respond and considered what it would mean to bring healing, truth, and life into their communities.
Then the conversation became personal.
The group turned toward Deborah. They affirmed her humanity. They declared her value. And together, they committed to protect and defend people with albinism in their communities.
In that moment, the biblical truth they had spent days discussing had a face.
It was Deborah’s.
She was not an issue to debate or a statistic to consider.
She was their sister.
She was made in the image of God.
And her life was worth defending.
This is what it means to Defend Life.
