Hermes Baqa's Story

Hermes Baqa’s Story

My name is Hermes and I am 18 years old.  I live now in Albania in the village of Marikaj at the God Loves Albania Foundation.  This is my story as I remember it:

By the time I was 5 years old my mother, Lina had left my father and I was staying with my father.  He had sheep and cattle and my job in the summer months was to take the sheep out on the hills to find grass for them.   I was five years old at this time and I used to walk a big distance with my 20 sheep.

I would leave home at 5am and take some food which my granny made up for me and lead the sheep through the mountains till about 9 at night. Sometimes I would walk with others and their sheep but often I was on my own.

My mother had left to go with another man and they now have 2 children.  I have never seen these children and don’t know what they are like.  They stay in the city of Korcha.

One day when I was five and I was out with the 20 sheep, I fell asleep and when I woke up one of them was missing.  Later at 9pm I went home and my father counted the sheep and found there were only 19 there.  He was very angry with me and sent me out in the dark to find the missing one.  I searched in the dark and eventually I went to the house of the friend who I was with that day.  I asked him “is my sheep here”.  “Yes” he said.  He checked the number and I got my sheep to take back home.  When I arrived home again my father was very pleased and gave me a kiss.  Ever since then I was very careful about falling asleep when watching the sheep.

In the mountains I was often afraid of wild animals such as wolves.  I had a dog who was called Poopy.  Poopy was my friend.  He was about 1 metre high and black.  In the mountains, the wolves came but the dog saved the sheep.  I would just say eek(?) which means “go” and the dog would go and fight the wolves.

I remember one day I woke in the morning and went out with the sheep into the mountains.   I left the sheep in one place and I cut the wool off the sheep with shears.  I was still five at this time.  I used the wool for sleeping and it was lovely and warm.  I took it home as a surprise for my grandmother and grandfather who were sick.  It was a great present to keep them warm.

One time in the mountains I was in a cave and sleeping with the sheep.   There was a wolf just outside the cave and I was afraid to go out as the animal would eat me.   The wolf waited outside watching and then when I thought it was asleep , I walked very slowly out and past it .   Suddenly the wolf woke up and the dog then attacked the wolf.   I ran as fast as I could.  The dog did not kill the wolf but hurt him badly.  Poppy was much stronger than the wolf.

In the summer we cut the wool to make clothes and I helped to weave it.  My wool clothes covered all my body, a top and trousers and it was lovely and warm.

My dad had cows and sometimes I took them out to get grass but I loved the sheep the best.  I liked to touch them and to sleep with them.  I remember helping the sheep give birth.

When I became 6 I had a birthday with the sheep.  Also at 6 years old I started to get sick and I couldn’t move all my body.  I felt it was no more mountains for me and I was very sad.  I was also very sad I could not be with the sheep as I loved them.

My dad moved to Greece with me and when there I went into hospital.  Dad’s friend was a doctor and dad worked in the building trade.

I spent one month in hospital and was very sick.  I did not understand what they were all saying as I did not speak Greek.  I was still 6 years old at this time.  I felt very sad and down.

They discovered I had muscular dystrophy ducherne and dad was crying so much.  Dad’s friend the doctor said “one day you can come for a coffee and we can talk all about Hermes. When they met for coffee, the doctor said I needed constant care.   The doctor said he could not do anything else for me.

So I went back to stay with Dad.  He was working all day and I would stay in the hotel room on my own.  There was one Greek girl who came in and helped me a lot every day. It was very difficult with the language because I could still not speak Greek.

After two months Dad and I returned to Albania.  I went to stay with my stepmother and dad went back to work in Greece.  At this time life was not good for me and I remember there were always problems.  It was not a nice time in my life.

During this time and while I was still 6 years old, my real mother appeared and wanted to take me to live with her.  Dad was still in Greece at the time and did not know what was happening.  When he returned and found out I was with my mother he was very angry as he did not want me to be living with her.  There were arguments and eventually the police came to sort out the problem of the fighting.  I was left with my mother.

I am not sure of the details but I do remember being in the car with my dad and he was driving terribly fast and crying because of the situation – I know it was to do with me.  I was very frightened we would crash and I was sad for my father.

My mother and father and I met once for a coffee to discuss the situation.  My mother would not allow my father to take me to live with him and so I went with my mother and she took me shortly after that to live in Greece.

It was only one month later that we came back to Albania along with a man my mother had befriended.   There were no other children at this time.

Mum was not good to me and used to hit me and be very nasty to me.  I did not feel loved by her at all.  I remember she broke my arm once by bending it backwards and it was very sore.  She eventually abandoned me in a farm with nothing, not even any food.  It was here that a woman from Belgium found me and brought me to God Loves Albania.  I had been lying in the barn at the farm with nothing to keep warm or to eat.

I am so happy that I live at the centre here in Marikaj now and since coming here I now believe in Jesus Christ as my Saviour.   I have also been baptised in the swimming pool.  Knowing God and having him in my life has made such a difference.  He helps me with my disability and to cope with it.  Jesus did not leave me as so many others did but he cares about me all the time. 

Now I am very happy.

At the Centre here I have learnt to speak English and I am so thankful for what the Centre has done for me.  Here at the centre I found Jesus and I have Him in my heart.  The centre cares for me and I have brothers and sisters in all the people here.   I am very happy that God showed me my real Father here and He will always be with me.

I would love if it were possible to open a centre like this one in Korcha as there are so many disabled people there.

Dad is now manager of a building firm in Korcha and he is helping me to get all the documents I need for a disability pension.  He has come to see me three times now.

Recently I fell twice and broke my leg both times.  It was very hard in bed with a plaster on my leg and I was very sad but I prayed that Jesus would heal it and that I would be able to get back into my chair again.  He answered this prayer.  This is why I believe in Jesus because I know He is with me and he answers prayer.

My heart is still sometimes painful when I think of how life stopped me from doing so many things.  Sometimes I have a lot of pain in my body and I know I cannot move my legs, my arms and even a lot of my body but I am grateful God took me to the Centre here.

It is like the woman in the Bible who gave her two coins and although it was so small, it was everything she had.   I feel like the woman that I don’t have much but I want God to use everything I have.

My dad knows I am a Christian and he thinks it is good to believe in God.  I have not seen my mother for ten years and have never seen the the other children she now has.

I don’t feel alone any more as God is with me.  Everytime I pray I say “my father”.   I love to hear more about God.  In church sometimes people say two hours is too long to sit and listen but I can listen happily for 5 hours.

Some people say for me or for themselves that this is not a good life, it is a terrible life.  I am in a wheelchair and I cannot move many parts of my body – but it is not a terrible life if you believe in God and you know Christ as your Saviour.  There can still be problems but they are not big problems if we know God.

It’s a good life in Jesus!     

I would love to be a pastor but if not then even to tell my story and how good God is to me.   I have had many dififculties and with my muscular dystrophy ducherne I still have many physical problems but through it all I know God is good and I want to share Him with as many people as possible.