Abraham

This is Abraham:

Abraham lives with very contracted hands and feet mostly likely from Cerebral Palsy. His 2 brothers take care of him on a daily basis helping Abraham complete simple tasks. When we went to visit Abraham, he came out of his house scooting on his bottom to come see us. Then, his brothers and friends picked him up to put him in his wheelchair.

I was impressed with the way that Abraham is able to communicate so plainly. Abraham works from this rock pictured below to repair shoes. It's crazy to me that he has learned to repair shoes when you look at his hands, but he has. Last time Chris went to Ghana, the group he was with purchased supplies for Abraham to repair shoes. Now, Abraham says that if he had more supplies he could train others to repair shoes. He will serve as a teacher. Abraham is making the most of his life. While we were there we gave Abraham a whole bunch of t-shirts to sell. The goal is for this to serve as a way for him to get started developing his business a little bit more.

He was very proud of his new store!

Abraham is striving to make the most of his life despite his disabilities. I'm so proud of him and his brothers for taking care of him. You can tell that they love him and that they care for him. Unfortunately, there are many places in Ghana where people with disabilities are completely shunned by their families and communities because they are considered cursed. I was so happy to see this situation yet so heartbroken because I can't help but think, "if only Abraham had access to better medical care as a child......where would he be today? would he walk? would he be more independent? would he be able to use his hands better?" It's easy to think about all the "ifs." I don't want to dwell on that (even though my mind did....), I want to dwell on how good God is that Abraham is one of God's own. Abraham is a Christian and he loves the Lord. God is blessing him with family and friends and community. God is using Abraham as an inspiration to all those that surround him. I am a better person because I met Abraham.

Here is Tommy with Abraham. I love his smile in this picture. It's so genuine.

Blessings to you!