A powerful testimony by a man born without arms is changing the world with the word of God and love.
Daniel Ritchie was born without arms and did all the normal things kids his age did. He went to elementary school and learned the ABCs like other children. He says they were not allowed to say the words “I can’t” in their house, and although it was a bit of a struggle trying to make toes do what hands and arms were supposed to be doing, he adapted.
Reality check
Things changed when he was 8–9 years of age. They went to Disney World, and while they were getting some ice cream, a little kid aged 2–3 came up to him and asked where his hands were. He said he didn’t have any, but the little boy accused him of being a liar and said he was hiding his hands inside his shirt.
That moment changed him. He started thinking that he wasn’t like everybody else, and that everyone could see he was different from them. He believed he was a “weirdo” and “damaged goods.”
Depression
He started slipping into darkness and depression and felt hurt all the time. He began hating people and questioned God: if God loved him, then why didn’t He create him like everyone else? He began to stay away from other people and became an introvert.
One day, a fellow student asked him if he would come to their church for a dodgeball lock-in. He was 15 years old, and though it was a fun night, he agreed to go. There, at one in the morning, the youth pastor gave a simple devotion on John chapter 3 about Jesus coming to save the world, not to condemn it, and on Romans 5, that while people were sinners, Christ died for us.
Change of heart
The young man sat in his chair, fighting thoughts that God did not love him because He did not give him arms. He felt the whole gospel wash over him at that moment. Even though he hated God, He was pursuing him through the death of His Son on the cross.
A new hope
God broke that hard heart of the young man, and his entire life was changed. Weeks after he was saved, the weight was lifted off him. He felt worth and knew that he was not a mutation or a mistake by God.
When he was 16 years old, in the year 2000, someone asked him to speak at a New Year’s Eve lock-in. He told them he couldn’t. But his friend kept persisting, asking him to come speak to a crowd, which he had hated doing just months earlier. However, he knew the hope he had now, and he had to tell everybody about it.
Impacting people
He was nervous about it and was throwing up before the meeting, but after he shared his story and message, one young person came up to him and told him about how God encouraged them through his story and how God moved in their life. He understood then how God was working through his life to change other people’s lives.
He started teaching and preaching at age 16, and today, at 34, God has used him powerfully for the last 18 years. God used an armless man to share His hope.
Marriage
He has been married to Heather for 12 years, and they have two kids. People always tell him how much of an inspiration he is. His life’s mission is for people to see how God takes broken people, stitches them together, and uses them for His glory.
This story shows us that God can take the most unlikely people and the obstacles in our lives and use them to show His glory and the work of His Son.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
Video not working?
