When our project partners first met Constantino, the young man could only get about by crawling, using his arms to drag himself from place to place.
Added to the discomfort were the insults – some who met Constantino despised him and called him “a dog.”
Constantino had never been able to walk. He struggled to attend school and was falling behind his peers. It seemed as though his disability would keep him from ever living a life of dignity and independence.
Constantino had never been able to walk. Before our project partner stepped in to help, it looked as though his disability would define his entire life.
Constantino’s story is not unique. It is estimated that three quarters of a million people in Mozambique live with disabilities.
Their suffering is compounded by the overall deprivation of their country. Mozambique is regularly ranked as one of the most impoverished countries on earth. Political instability, natural disasters, and Islamist terrorism have worsened the situation.
Demonstrating the Love of God
“In Mozambique, people living with disability are among the most marginalized, stigmatized and excluded,” says our project partner, a Christian ministry based in Maputo, the national capital.
“Those living with disability often don’t have access to school and are likely to have higher levels of illiteracy,” they continue.
“A significant proportion of people with disability have mobility needs caused by genetic conditions, natural calamities, war, work, and road accidents, diseases, and so on. Yet in the Mozambican culture, disability is seen as a curse or a result of someone’s misdemeanour.
Can you demonstrate the love of God by provided wheelchairs for adults and children with long-term disabilities and complex needs?
“But,” they add, “God’s love compels us to love those around us, including those that live with physical and intellectual limitations.”
Working through churches and church leaders, our partner plans to provide specialized wheelchairs for adults and children with long-term disabilities and complex needs.
Funds are needed for the wheelchairs themselves, and to conduct assessment clinics and wheelchair fittings for disabled individuals.
Can you help them to demonstrate the love of God?
Make a Life-Changing Difference
Receiving a wheelchair made a life-changing difference for Constantino.
The church celebrates with Constantino after he received his wheelchair.
Many had assumed he would never be able to learn or work. Now he works as a wheelchair technician, using his practical skills to share the love he has received with others.
He has also joined the worship team in his church as a keyboard player and started to regularly attend Bible study.
Can you make a life-changing difference for another person with a disability?
