Jude 21-22   "keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.  And on some have compassion; making a difference:"   (NKJV)

 

This article was written for the Oct. 11, 2000 newspaper.

Barry Fowler:

God’s plan helps overcome cerebral palsy
By DAVID SNIPES

Reporter with the "Tabor City Tribute"

 

Barry Fowler had a choice. He could lie around
bemoaning being born with cerebral palsy or he could strive to live
life to its fullest while helping others in need.
Thanks to the urgings of his mother, plus a strong faith
in God, Fowler made the latter choice. Every day he overcomes a
birth injury that affects his body’s motor movements. Every day,
Fowler hopes to witness God’s saving grace and share a positive
outlook on life.
“God has a plan for everyone,” said Fowler. “For everyone who reads this,
God has a plan for them. I challenge them to search for that plan God has for them.”
The son of Eugene and Ledenia Fowler suffered a birth
injury that had his mother’s doctor concerned about losing both patients. 

“When I was born, the doctor said it was difficult.
There were problems. Mama heard him say, ‘Maybe we can save the
mama, not the baby.’
“After I was born, he said my brain wasn’t functioning.
He said I had maybe a 10 percent chance. Mama was the one who never
gave up. She taught me that.
“I was lying in bed; I could have either stayed in bed
or get up and go. Mama said, ‘Come on.’ She said, ‘Barry, let’s do
it. We’ve got to do it.’
“We were determined nothing was going to pull me down.
She was the one who helped me. She gave me the courage to go on.
“Mama taught me that whatever I do, never give up.
Whatever I see that I want, go for it. Whatever I determine myself to do, focus on it and do it.
“Mama inspired me. She never gave up on me.” 

Fowler required operations in 1964 and ‘72 on his left
leg heel chord in order to flatten the foot so that he could walk.
While lying in the hospital in ‘72, Fowler underwent a spiritual change.“That’s where I met the Lord,” Fowler said. “I was watching Billy Graham in the hospital.  He just spoke to me. I’ll never forget that.”

Fowler has strived to serve the Lord since. “I’m the
type of guy who if anybody needs help, I want to help if I can
whenever I can,” he said. “I like to see people enjoy themselves. I
like to help people whenever I can.”
Fowler grew up in New Life Missionary Baptist Church.
In recent years, he’s attended Grace Tabernacle church, where he’s
helped run the church’s sound board and has done some singing.
“A man approached me about singing,” Fowler recalled.
“I was shy but I said, ‘I’ll do it.’”
Fowler’s first solo was “Thank God for Kids.” He
brought the church’s children to the front and “I sang it to them,”
Fowler said. Soon afterward, Fowler was singing in the church choir.
“God planned my life out. He had me in the choir. I
sang (solos) every six weeks,” he said.  Fowler took his singing talent to another level when he
recorded a gospel tape of nine songs. “I wanted to bless people who
had blessed me through the years,” he said. “I asked the Lord what
could I do to bless them. He gave me the opportunity to make that
tape.”
The tape was “about seven years in the making,” said
Fowler, who believes people have been blessed by the recordings. “I
don’t think a lot of people in Tabor City thought I had it in me. It
was God’s plan.”
Fowler graduated from Tabor City High School in 1978.
While in high school, Fowler’s classmates often would put him on
their backs and carry him around, to lunch and to classes. A Red
Devil football player, Allen Dewitt, “gave me his jersey when we
graduated,” Fowler fondly remembers.
Through the years, Fowler has worked in various jobs.
He worked four years at Pate’s Food Barn in Tabor City.
“I can do the job but I’m a little slow at it,” Fowler
said.
He’s umpired coaches’ pitch baseball games for the past
15 or 16 years. “I love it, watching children,” Fowler said.
Drivers on U.S. 701 just outside Tabor City heading
toward Loris often can see Fowler out mowing the grass in his
family’s large yard. He’s also helped his father farm. Fowler uses
a golf cart to assist him in getting around the family’s property.
One thing you won’t see Fowler in is a wheelchair.
Despite the well-intentioned suggestions of people, Fowler and his
mother felt he should stay out of a wheelchair.
“People told mama she ought to put me in a wheelchair,”
Fowler said. “That was a no-no. If I’d gone in a wheelchair,

that would have been going backward rather than forward. I need something
to motivate me. That won’t. It will handicap you.”
Fowler is able to move around as well as he does thanks
to a third surgery on his leg heel chord in 1980. That surgery
involved his left hip, as well as Fowler’s foot.
“That was miserable. That was the worst one,” Fowler
said. “I stayed in bed all the time (several months during recovery).”
Fowler had to learn to walk again following each of his
foot surgeries. He calls that experience “aggravating.” However,
the surgery 20 years ago has held up and allowed Fowler to walk more
easily.
Fowler recently has become a Market America
distributor. He helps sell products for the home-based business that
allows distributors to make extra money on the side. Among the many
items offered by Market America are vitamins, cosmetics, jewelry,
detergents and gourmet products.
“It’s been real good,” Fowler said. “It’s helped me a
lot. I really see the potential. I get to meet a lot of people. I
love people. I love meeting people. That’s a hobby of mine.”
When Fowler meets people, he stresses the positive side
of life. His personal testimony usually surfaces at some point.
“The people who don’t believe in prayer haven’t met me,”
Fowler said. “Without prayer and intercession, I wouldn’t be here.”
Fowler always has a positive message for others.
“God has a plan for you,” Fowler reiterated. “Whatever
you want, go get it. Go after it. I’m proof that God answers prayer.”

 

And today I'm still going with the Lord which gave me this website so I can spread His news for a lost and dying world.