In 1958 a young boy named Baffour Emanuel was out horsing around like little boys do at the age of 5 with his friends. Probably causing mischief around the small village, climbing structures he shouldnt be on, running down streets he wasnt allowed down, hiding in places he thought his friends couldn’t find him, when he suddenly fell down. This wasn’t a simple scrape of the knee, but a fall that landed little Baffour in the hospital for a major surgery on both of his legs.
This was a year that altered his life forever, this was the year he was given crutches and put in braces on both legs. This was the year that he was told he would be restricted to using these crutches in order to walk.
Baffour went to school at the age of eight. As most kids would feel, he felt sorry for himself, he would look at other boys and feel bad. He felt different than the other kids and watched as they played and grew up with no limitations. He was now labeled disabled, which was seen as a liability for the family and ultimatly marked as “useless.” Being disabled meant that it would be hard to get a job, hard to do things on your own and result in you depending on others.
As he got older he watched the other boy’s grow up and get interested in drugs and alcohol, but by the grace of God Baffour never turned to substances as a crutch. In 1970, at the age of 17 his mother passed away and shortly after, so did his father. This left Baffour and his siblings to fend for themselves. Due to his disability, he was struggling to find a job and receive the financial support needed in order to eat.. he found himself begging for food on the streets and from his friends.
While searching for employment that would work with his disability, Baffour found himself gifted with the ability to weave! This craft taught him to create beautiful pieces of furniture and creations for others. During the process of finding a steady job, he was asked to be a secretary at an education center in an apprentice program where he made 2 cedis ( which is equivalent to 50 cents USD) for living expenses. Through the center they heard of his gift in weaving and he became a crafts man teacher. From 1972 to 2012 he taught all subjects in the elementary school and ended his career in the middle school. During this time he had a great mentor who happened to be the head mistress of the school. This was someone who believed in him, taught him how to teach, and encouraged him to grow. He is proud to tell you the success stories of his students, including one of them who became a doctor.
He was married to a young women who lived in Cote D’Ivoire. They had a beautiful son together, but their marriage was cut short when she became sick and passed away. Feeling as though he has failed, years later he had planned to marry a young lady who was also disabled thinking it would be easier. Unfortunately before they got married she left him for another man, leaving him feeling as though he failed once again. But God had other plans for our friend Baffour, plan A might not have worked out like he had hoped but Gods plan B was so much greater. He met his beautiful wife Agata and had 3 more children, a little boy and two precious girls. Through his struggles and pain, he was able to beat the odds, he was determined not to be defined by his disability. Instead Baffour Emanuel used his disability to inspire others by becoming a teacher, a father, a husband, a friend to all in his community and most importantly a man of God. Through his weakness God is strong and he fought for our dear friend.
My heart was all over the place as Baffour, who is now 65 told us his story. Tears of pain, success and love were flowing through my body. I had so many questions but sat back and let him speak his heart to us, allowing us to enter his testimony. We met this sweet man one day while evangelizing in a small village in Ghana. What started out as a group of girls approaching an old man sitting under a beautiful tree to talk about Jesus, turned into a beautiful friendship full of lessons, bible studies and laughter.
We returned multiple times to sit with our new friend Wofa. Wofa means uncle in their local language Twi and that is what he requested we call him. Wofa is a 7 day Adventist, and we felt uneducated regarding his beliefs. As we sat day after day with him, we exchanged our beliefs, talked about Jesus and realized we believe in the same God, but have different practices and convictions. There are different sects in 7 day Adventists but the few differences in his specific beliefs and Christianity are based on the different traditions we withhold and their focus on the old covenant as well of the new. They have sabbath and go to church on Saturday instead of Sunday because it was the 7th day of the week that God rested, so they believe we should too. I truly enjoyed our time learning and teaching with our new friend Wofa.
While listening to his story he requested that I take notes. At the time I laughed but continued to do as he requested. I didn’t realize at the time how much of a blessing it was until it was brought to my attention to use those notes to share his story with all of you. I am forever thankful for his patience, guidance and laughter he shared with my team of Beloved Daughters.
