He is blind – and serves the Lord full-time!

Blind pastor Danilo Henniquez. Every weekend he travels into the countryside outside Panama City to meet members of the rural congregation he planted. Panama. Photo: UBS/Dag Smemo (PAN03DJ-259.JPG)

PANAMA — After suffering an eye disease in 1987, 55-year-old Danilo Henniquez gradually lost his sight. His reaction was not what one might expect. Already a Christian, he viewed his blindness as a blessing from God, an opportunity to devote himself to a life of Christian witness.

“My father was a Cuna Indian and my mother a Mexican, although I was born in Colombia,” he explains as he starts recounting his life story. “As a small boy I was sent to live with a North American couple in Panama City. They provided me with an education and were good parents to me. When they returned to the USA, I stayed in Panama. Later on I went to the area where the Cuna Indians live.

“Twenty years ago I came to a house where they wanted to know more about Jesus. They wanted me to be a teacher and pastor. I agreed, even though the work I was doing then was very time-consuming. After a while I handed some of the teaching over to my Christian brothers, who continued the work I began. That church is still going strong and now has about 100 members. Distances are long in our area, and many members walk for an hour or two to get to church.

“I was married, but my wife left me shortly after my vision disappeared. I have two grown-up children. I receive a disability pension, so they know that I manage financially. I now live in a small village outside Panama City, but every weekend I travel for two hours into the countryside to help the congregation at the church I set up. My only formal training for this work is the one month I spent at Bible school, but I have studied a lot since then. Audio cassettes have been particularly helpful in increasing my knowledge of the Bible.