The church was the first place of refuge he looked to after a terrible fate befell him in December 2010. After falling off the 2nd storey of a building whilst roofing it, a spinal injury caused paralysis in both legs.
After months of treatment in the hospital, he realized he couldn’t walk anymore.
He was confined to a wheelchair but this would not stop young Ellah Ametor Avumatsodo whose passion for church and the work of Christ remained unflinching despite his challenge.
But he was disappointed, first by his pastor and then by the entire church membership when he needed them most.
Yes, they assisted him financially when he was on the hospital bed and needed aid with treatment bills but when he could finally make it to church, he was discriminated against, and rejected.
Sharing his story with Wonder Ami Hagan on GhanaWeb TV’s ‘People and Places’ Show, he painfully recalled how his pastor (name withheld) whom he said fathered one congregation at Odorkor in Accra, treated him on one occasion at church.
“When the thing (accident) happened to me, I was going to church; I always say this thing…
“That church, they never gave me the reception I was supposed to receive from Christian brothers that I have. When the accident happened, I was staying at Atomic, then I go to Odorkor to Church, every Sunday. When the thing happened, they supported me in a way when I needed financial support, at the hospital, I won’t lie about that. But I wanted to have a feel of the auditorium and I took taxi from the house, I wanted to see my brothers, and hear the preaching that my pastor had been preaching that had been keeping us going.
“When I got to the entrance of the church, the pastor told me, I should go home, they’ll come and visit me in my house because I was using wheelchair,” he stated.
Adding;
“At that time, I still was not in a good state, I was in a devastating state and I needed encouragement so when he said that, that interest in hearing what my pastor had to preach at that very moment vanished. I just packed my bag and baggage, and at the time, I was using a big wheelchair so I had to pack everything into the car and my mom was very supportive.
“She just went to look for a taxi, I packed my wheelchair into the taxi and we left. They never came to me in my house. I stayed in the house for a very long time, but they didn’t come.”
Though pained by the experience, he explained that another Christian group helped him “back on his feet” and encouraged him till he picked up his faith in God.
Using his experience as an inspiration for others who may be faced with similar situations, Ellah said,
“In life, we must accept every situation that comes our way. Without accepting the situation, things will get worse.”
