بخيتة

Sudanese religious sister

1869-1947

"If we had no hope in the Lord, what would we do in this world?" -Josephine Bakhita

In the village of Olgossa in the country of Sudan in 1869, a little girl was born. She was part of the Daju people, in Darfur, where her uncle was the chief. She lived well in the village surrounded by her loving family. 

Suddenly, when she was just 9 years old, she was kidnapped by slave traders and sold into slavery. She was treated very cruelly by the many different people who enslaved her. She felt so lost. Far away was Olgossa, her family, and her village. She could not even remember her own name, and her captors mockingly called her “Bakhita” meaning "fortunate one."

“Bakhita! Fortunate one! How did you get so lucky?” her oppressors laughed as she lay bruised and bleeding, sad and lonely.

Little did they know that inside Bakhita’s heart, there was a powerful stirring, a quiet voice whispering, “You are loved.”

Years later, in the city of Khartoum, also in Sudan, Bakhita was sold to an Italian politician named Callisto. Although he continued to enslave her, he was kinder to her. He did not hurt her. So when Khartoum was attacked, Bakhita begged Callisto to take her with him as he ran away to Italy. 

There, in the middle of another move, another country, another enslaver, the voice whispered again to Bakhita’s heart. “You are loved.”

In Italy, Bakhita was a nanny for a girl named Mimmina. When Mimmina’s father, Augusto, needed to return to Sudan, he left Bakhita and Mimmina in the care of the Canossian sisters, nuns who lived at the church. Bakhita learned from the Canossian sisters about the life of Jesus and the love of God. 

The voice inside Bakhita grew louder. “You are loved,” it said to her heart. 

A warmth came over Bakhita as she recognized the voice in her heart. It was God all along who was speaking love to her. She said, "Those holy mothers introduced me to that God who I had felt in my heart from childhood without knowing who He was.”

Then Augusto returned, intending to bring Bakhita back to Sudan and continue her enslavement. Bakhita said, “No!” She refused to leave. She finally felt love, acceptance, and freedom in the church and wouldn’t let anyone take her freedom from her again. 

Augusto was angry and took Bakhita to court. He wanted to own Bakhita, to make her do what he wanted. But slavery wasn’t legal in Italy or Sudan, so the court said Bakhita was free to make her own choice. 

Bakhita stayed with the Canossian sisters and dedicated her life to following God. When she was baptized, she added the name Josephine, but also decided to keep and reclaim the name Bakhita. Josephine Bakhita felt truly fortunate, blessed, and lucky. The name that was meant to hurt her, to break her down, she made it her testimony to God’s love. So as she went forward, doing the work of God in the world, she introduced herself as the fortunate one, Bakhita. 

Then Josephine Bakhita allowed God to perform a miracle in her heart- she forgave. She forgave the people who hurt her, who mocked her, who tried to take away her dignity. They no longer had power over her body, mind, or heart. Her captors never knew she had forgiven them, but Bakhita was freer through her forgiveness. She spent the rest of her life serving God, helping others, and teaching people about love and forgiveness. The people around her said she had supernatural joy. 

Among her last words were: “I am so happy!”