After you read this book, it cannot help but change how you view your life. We all have problems and sorrows, some tragic. This common ground we share. But how many of us will turn our grief into hope and use the scars that are left as a stepping stone to help others? It is far too easy to sink into despair and focus on our pain. This is the story of one young man that did not.
In 1994 Fredrick’s family was torn apart by the Rwandan genocide. He was only 15 years old at the time. Fredrick was already living in hardship and poverty when blood massacre began in his country. He lost family members and watched horrific atrocities, but that was not where it ended for him.
Fredrick was on a bus to his aunt’s, to help her after the death of his uncle. Terrorists stopped the bus and brutally beat all the passengers, including him. Then handing him a machete, the men ordered him to kill everyone on the bus. He refused and said, “My God won’t let me do that.” Those words of faith cost him dearly. They severed his hands and ordered him to be stoned. God miraculously saved him from death, sent help and lead him to a hospital where there “just happened” to be a surgeon skilled in the type of surgery he needed.
In a country where you must work for your living, having no hands was almost a death sentence. There are no facilities for rehabilitation or therapy. He shares how he struggled through all the emotions, fear, and desperation. When it seemed all was hopeless, he was accepted by an orphanage, where with love and support he healed not only in body but spirit. Through his strong faith in God, he began to teach himself to do things that would be impossible for one with no hands.
Throughout the book you see the hand of God guiding Fredrick to the new life He has prepared for him. The Lord consistently led him to just the people he needed.
Instead of wallowing in self-pity Fredrick was open to God’s plan. He developed a burning desire to help others like him, and he did it with no money, little education, and a devastating disability. You will be nothing short of amazed at all he accomplished.
His life is an illustration of Genesis 50:20, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” Fredrick’s account will forever stay with me, not only in strength, perseverance, and forgiveness, but also in an unfailing trust and faith in Christ. I don’t think I will ever look at my problems and trials quite the same. This is a book you will want to read!
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