Sold Again and Again

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” — from Matthew 6

The next morning, the raiders shared out their prisoners. Ajayi was given to the chief, and then traded for a horse! But the horse was no good, so he was sent back. For a while he was in the same town as his mother and his baby sister, and he could visit them.

Then one evening Ajayi was chained up with other prisoners, to be taken to market in the morning. He lay awake all night. At dawn they set off, and he thought they walked right past the house where his mother was. He did not dare to call out. He thought he would never see her again.

Ajayi was sold again, and again, and again. Altogether he was sold or traded about six times, for things like cloth, tobacco and rum. Each time he was taken further from home, among people who spoke differently from him.

He was so unhappy that he stopped eating and became ill. At last he came to the shore of a great lagoon. He had never seen so much water! It terrified him. He was taken across it by canoe at night, to a town called Lagos, where the slave ships came.

Years later, Ajayi looked back on those dark months. He saw that God had been watching over him the whole time, even before he knew God’s name. He said that God had “delivered me from evil,” just like the prayer Jesus taught us, long before he had ever prayed it.

God watches over you too, even on days when you feel all alone.

Dear God, thank you that you watch over me even when I feel alone. Please keep me safe and deliver me from evil. Amen.