"Even The Pastor is Blind": The Story of a Nigerian Church Where Every Member is Blind
In the bustling city of Lagos, there is a Nigerian church where all members of the congregation are blind. As worshippers with sight wake up every Sunday morning and go to church, where they sing and dance to praise their God, some blind Christians who have organised themselves into a congregation also do the same.
It is not that the church employs some persons with good eyesight to run technical and key departments like pastoring, music, or playing instruments; blind individuals run every aspect of the church.
Source: TikTok
This means that the drummer, the percussionist, the keyboardist, the choristers, the lead guitarist, and all supporting instrumentalists are blind.
Also, the children in the church are blind. More interesting is the fact that the pastor of the church and the music director are all blind.
Not only is the pastor of the church blind, but he is also an ordained man of God. While scrolling through TikTok, a Legit.ng reporter ran into a recent video that shows when the church was in full gear and praise and worship was going on. That was how the idea for this story was muted, more out of curiosity to know more about a congregation of the blind.
There are many exciting things to know about the Bethesda Church established by Mrs Chioma Ohakwe, the founder of the Bethesda Home for the Blind. Her upbringing tells an interesting story.
Welcome to Bethesda Church, where blind people have defied the odds to live a normal life.
The interesting story of Bethesda Church and how it started
Located in Idi Oro, Lagos, Bethesda Church kick-started in 2020, has become a place of joy and solemnity for blind people who find comfort in worship and are not discriminated against by anyone. Established by Mrs Chioma Ohakwe, the church hosts over 100 blind worshipers every Sunday.
There is an interesting background about Mrs Chioma Ohakwe, who founded the Bethesda Home for the Blind in 2005.
Although she is not blind, as a child, Mrs Ohakwe was temporarily cared for by a blind woman who was above 80 years of age. At that time, Mrs Ohakwe was too little to realise or know who was caring for her, but her mother told her the story when she grew up.
As a matter of fact, Mrs Ohakwe's mother used to drop her off with the blind old woman before going to the farm as she was the smallest of her mother's four children at that time. Because she was too small to go be taken to the farm like her siblings, she was left under the care of the blind old woman who nurtured her in the absence of her mother.
Mrs Ohakwe spoke to Legit.ng about the blind old woman who cared for her:
"My mother told me the story of how a blind woman raised me up. I'm the 4th child of my mother who was a farmer. So when it's time to go to the farm, there would be nobody to take care of her child. She would go and give me to an old woman who was above 80 years. The woman would help to carry me. Each time she carries me, she used to sing and say that I'm going to take care of the less privileged. That's the story my mother told me. She was totally blind. Before I grew up, the woman was already late."
Why Mrs Ohakwe established Bethesda Home for the Blind
But that was not the only motivating factor that made Mrs Ohakwe establish a home for the blind. Growing up, she realised that some of her relatives were visually impaired. In fact, she was charged with taking care of two of his close relatives who are blind. She carried the burden stoutly for a long time.
She recounted those days while speaking to Legit.ng:
"When I grew up, I found out that I have two brothers that are blind. Though it was not my biological mother who gave birth to them, but my uncle's son is blind, and my aunt's son is blind and they were living with my mother, and she was taking care of them. She was helping them the way she could. I grew up and found out that it is my responsibility to take care of them. I used to escort them to the Oji River School for the Blind. They are now working and are married."
Interestingly, Mrs Ohakwe met her husband while taking her blind relatives to school. Her husband also had blind relatives who he accompanied to the same school. She and her husband became caregivers to their blind relatives when they graduated from the school in Oji River. That was how her interest in caring for the blind started, and today, she has founded the Bethesda Home for the Blind and the Bethesda Church in Idi Oro, Lagos.
Interesting things about the Bethesda Home for the Blind
Lagos state is home to over 20 million people, and the city never goes to sleep. Out of this bustling crowd, there is a group of blind people who have found comfort in one corner of the city in Ido Oro. This place is called the Bethesda Church. There are so many interesting things about the Bethesda Home for the Blind, but the church stands out.
It is hard for many to imagine a congregation of over 100 worshipers who are all visually impaired but who run their own church, assisted by Mrs Chioma Ohakwe.
Mrs Ohakwe also told Legit.ng about the church:
"All of them are blind. Our pastor is an ordained pastor. He is a blind student too. The music director is a blind man. The keyboardist is a blind man. The members, the choir and everybody there is blind."
The pastor of the Bethesda Church, himself a blind man, is Chimaobi Ndukwe. He is an interesting young man who is a music enthusiast and lead vocalist. Pastor Chima, who is from Ohafia, Abia state, was not born blind. He was even working before he became visually impaired in 2008.
"By the grace of God, I'm a pastor by ordination. I was working in a company before the blindness started. In every hospital I went there was no solution."
"I travelled in December 2008 and woke up on the 25, and my eyes were itching. For the next two days, I couldn't see anymore. When I went to the hospital, they said there was a wound inside the eyes. I tried all I could, but there was no solution. That's how it happened."
After he got blind, Pastor Chima, 43, was forced to stop working with the construction company where he was a staff. He said the company put up with him for another four months before he was paid off. Pastor Chima said no work-related incidents led to his blindness, but he was told in the hospital that he had a complicated cataract. The pastor got married last year.
Running a church as a blind pastor may pose challenges, but Pastor Chima said technology has always aided him. He said he often relied on his phone's voice recognition and assistant apps such as Siri and Google.
Source: Original
The Bethesda Church has a blind drummer
Another interesting personality in the Bethesda Church is Ahmed Isola Kareem, who was also not born blind. Ahmed, who is from Isale Eko, Lagos, is the Bethesda Church's lead drummer.
He also interacted with Legit.ng:
"I was a very rough child. I went to play and got injured. Although, I was treating catarrat before then. When I hit my head on the wall, it really affected me and I lost my sight."
Ahmed lost his sight as a child in 2003. At that time, he was attending the Command Children School, Bony Camp, Lagos. Despite his blindness, he went through primary and secondary school and then graduated from the University of Lagos, UNILAG, where he studied History and International Relations.
Ahmed, who describes himself as a musician, spoke of his drumming skills:
"It was when I came to Bethesda Church that I learned how to play the drum. I was just opportunity conscious. They needed a drummer, and I had to learn by putting all my mind in it. One thing about being blind is that the moment we put our hearts into something, all our attention dives to that particular space. So learning how to drum for me was learning how to take the next breath."
Apart from his music skills, Ahemd is training to be a teacher.
Challenges facing the Bethesda Home for the Blind
The BHFB has a primary and a secondary school and vocational training centres. There altogether 126 visually impaired persons at the Bethesda Home for the Blind.
There are several challenges facing Bethesda Home for the Blind. Mrs Ohakwe told Legit.ng that the home is accessible to all the students and is free. She said every service rendered there is done for free. This means blind students do not pay school fees; vocational training is also free.
Asked how the place is funded, Mrs Ohakwe said they rely on donor agencies and kindhearted Nigerians to run the home.
Apart from donations, she said skilled people at the home produce crafts which are sold to make money used for offsetting costs. According to Mrs Ohakwe, the Bethesda Church also has a strong music department that attends concerts in other churches.
Her words:
"We have music that we produce ourselves. We also have craft works that we produce. If we write letters to churches, we go there, and we perform. Sometimes, we get invitations from churches to sing and perform. When we go there, we sell our cassets and bags."
However, despite the challenges, she told Legit.ng that she is strengthened by the achievements of some of the blind students who have passed out from the school.
She told the story of one of them:
"There are many success stories, but let me mention a few. In 2019, one of my students came out from the University of Nigeria, Nsuka, as the best in the department and best in the faculty, and came out with a first-class. Among the hundreds, a blind person came out with first-class."
PAY ATTENTION: Stay Informed and follow us on Google News!
Source: Legit.ng
