When I See Her , I See God
Churches Inc in Elburgon By Kerry-Lee Tamlyn
Smati is a young girl in rural Kenya with cerebral palsy who was brought by her mother to one of our workshops . Her mother exclaimed , “ I thank God for Smati ’ s life . Through her many people came together . She was fed through tubes and given oxygen after she was born , and then she came back to life . When I see her now , I see God . When I see the way she is , I see her as my wealth . I know God has a purpose for her that I may reach out to others so that they will love their children with disabilities ”. It is people like Smati and her mother who embody the message we bring on our Churches inc mission trips .
This trip to Elburgon in Kenya was hosted by our longstanding partner , Rev . Davis Gatua , Founder of the Hope of Glory Centre for People With Disabilities . Four hundred leaders , including pastors , community leaders , and local government leaders attended the Leaders Event to hear how God views disabled people like Smati . A further four hundred people attended our workshops to learn about the barriers to inclusion and how to combat them .
We saw a tremendous shift in attitude of the pastors who came along . They were strongly challenged by God ’ s Word , and personal experiences of disability . Their attention was captured , their hearts were moved , and attitudes that have prevented the Church from responding to disability were
Smati ’ s mother knows God has a purpose for her daughter
confronted . One of our team members , Pastor Shadrack from Tanzania shared how his own father was born with disabilities in a village where people believe that disabled people bring misfortune in the way of famine to the village . The consensus there is that such a person needs to be killed or banished . But his grandmother ran away to save the baby ’ s life and now his father is a respected pastor .
We appealed to the pastors to preach that ‘ God ’ s power is made perfect in weakness ’ rather than a false prosperity message that God only favours ‘ the strong ’. We challenged them to talk openly about disability so that it is not a taboo subject , and so that people can have the confidence to tell them about relatives hidden in their homes .
A Churches Inc . team will be travelling to Sierra Leone from the 9th to the 17th of October – we ’ re looking for a few more people to join the team , particularly those with a background in teaching , or who have practical experience of working with disabled people , have a personal story of disability to share , or who have photographic , administrative or pastoral skills . If you ’ re interested , please email Shaun @ throughtheroof . org to find out more , or to apply to be on the team .
Kerry-Lee speaks at one of the workshops for parents , helping to prevent pressure sores and back injuries
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