If anyone had told me 20-years ago that one day I would weep irrepressibly over the death of a camel, I would have asked them what they had been drinking…or smoking.
But 20-years ago I hadn’t met Abraham.
Abraham was a camel who belonged to Lexington County Councilman Clifford Fisher and his wife, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher, and he was well known around the Midlands. Abraham showed up for every single charity, fundraiser, festival, or school event in Lexington and Richland counties he was invited to, and every Christmas, he was in one of the biggest Christmas plays in the area. This seven-foot camel has been called a “minister for Jesus” and an “ambassador for God,” although he never said a word.
The Fishers had been participating in a local annual Christmas play, Jesus is His Name, and Margaret said every year they had to rent a camel and that got to be expensive. Since the Fishers live on a farm she then had the idea of getting a camel themselves, but she said her husband was initially against it.
“I told him to pray about it, and he later said he did and God had said no.”
“I told him I had prayed about it, too, and God said yes,” Margaret quipped in interviews.
They found young Abraham in a North Carolina petting zoo and brought him home on October 7, 1996. Abraham died almost 30-years later on October 7, 2025 after decades of bringing smiles and happiness to thousands of people and is even credited with introducing many of them to Jesus.
It would be impossible to look into that camel’s eyes and not believe in something greater than ourselves. His was a very special soul, and when he gazed at you face-to-face…there was something very extraordinary in those big brown eyes. Call it what you will, and I call it love, everywhere he went, Abraham charmed and enchanted his audiences. His very favorite thing was Mountain Dew and to the delight of the crowds, if you held an open bottle out to him, he’d grab it, turn it up, and guzzle it down.
I first met Abraham when I was assigned to do a story on a horse that belonged to then Richland County Deputy Clifford Fisher. I needed photos for the story so I went out to the Fishers’ farm. Clifford gave me great directions, and I found the farm on my first try, which, if you know me, is pretty miraculous in itself.
There’s a little lane that leads back to the stables and corrals and as I was navigating my car over the bumps, I looked up and there was Abraham…a seven-foot camel staring in my direction.
I almost ran the car off the path. I literally had to stop and stare right back at him because a camel in Lexington County was just not something you see every day.
I saw Clifford then, signaling for me to drive closer to the barn. When I got out he was smiling at me.
“You’re not seeing things…that really IS a camel. His name is Abraham. Want to meet him?”
When someone asks you if you want to meet a camel, the only answer must be yes.
Clifford then handed me a bottle of Mountain Dew and told me to follow him.
“Thanks for the drink Clifford, but I’m good. I brought my own water.”
“It’s not for you…it’s for Abraham.”
For once in my life, I was stunned into silence.
Clifford made the introductions, and I would bet my last dollar that Abraham understood him. He turned his big beautiful eyes on me and nuzzled my hand holding the Mountain Dew.
“Take the top off and hold it out for him,” Clifford said.
When I did, Abraham gently pulled the bottle from my hands and turned it upside down and guzzled it to the last drop. He nuzzled me again so softly and gently, I felt like he was thanking me.
“He likes you,” Clifford said. “Would you like to ride him?”
I have done a lot of stunts in my days as a journalist, and I’ve had a lot of unusual interviews, but in all these years, no one has offered me a ride on a camel.
When someone does… again, the only correct answer is yes. Thankfully that day I was wearing pants!
“Sure, but how do I get on?”
“Abraham will help you,” Clifford assured me.
And so he did. Clifford brought him out of the corral, said something to him, and the camel just folded his long legs under himself and looked at me as if he was saying, “Come on girl…I don’t have all day.”
I got on his back and he stood up to his full height…all seven feet of him. He took me around what must have been his usual route. By this time, Clifford’s wife, Margaret, had arrived and the two of them were cheering me and Abraham on. When Abraham deemed the ride was long enough, he simply went to where Clifford and Margaret were standing and knelt down again for me to slide off.
I promised to come back, which I did, and each time I went out to the Fishers, I brought a Mountain Dew for Abraham. Clifford said that was the price of an interview and I was glad to pay it.
Abraham worked right up to his last days. When the Fishers got him to the vet, they were told it was an intestinal blockage and he needed surgery. Although hundreds and hundreds of us were praying for a full recovery, Abraham passed on, leaving hundreds and hundreds of broken hearts, including mine.
“He was definitely a gift from God and God used him every minute he was on this earth,” Margaret said in an interview after Abraham’s passing.
Someone dubbed Abraham a “Camel for Christ” and if you ever met him and looked into those big eyes of his, even the most avid atheist would likely come to believe that there is more to this world than what meets the eye. His passing leaves a huge hole in the Fishers’ hearts and we’re all going to miss him terribly but…I believe he’s ok now. I’m sure all of Heaven’s angels met Abraham at the Pearly Gates, and I’d bet at least one of them offered him a Mountain Dew.
I’m Just Saying…
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