Growing the Body of Christ One Wheelchair at a Time

By |Published On: July 27, 2021|Categories: Ministry, Wheels For The World|

Our Joni and Friends Tennessee team just got back from delivering wheelchairs and sharing the Gospel in Guatemala. 13-year-old Ella received a new, custom-fitted wheelchair during our Wheels for the World outreach, giving her and her mother new reasons to smile!

Ella is paralyzed from the waist down. She suffers from chronic pain and from constant bullying from the other children in her community. Before we visited her village, Ella felt she had no reason to smile.

Ella’s mother sells homemade pillowcases on the roadside. As a single mother without a support system, she was forced to bring Ella with her – carrying her on her back.

The physical and emotional weight of their dire circumstances became almost too much to bear.

As much as Ella’s mother loves her, there was only so much she could do to provide for her needs. Selling pillowcases on the roadside barely brings in enough money for food, never mind a properly fitted wheelchair.

What we take for granted as a necessity was out of the question for them.

And so each day looked like all the others before… discouraging and hopeless. It seemed that things would never improve for Ella or her mother. Would they ever know what the love of a father is supposed to look like? Would they ever come to experience the protection and provision of their heavenly Father? Their spiritual needs required attention, too. They needed Jesus. They needed a Bible!

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”

James 1:27

Ella and her mother needed to learn about God’s promises from his Word, showing them that hope is not found in temporary things but only in Jesus. And that the love of God our Father is faithful and true.

Ella’s bleak existence mirrors the same outlook experienced by thousands upon thousands of families caring for a child with disability. In every age group and every culture, they are desperate for real answers and everlasting hope. They need the Gospel—the Word of Jesus—and practical help, too!

And on the day of our Wheels for the World outreach, Ella and her dear mother received both! The new wheelchair we gave Ella has given her and her mother new hope for a brighter future. Their smiles now light up the room, and because Ella can now safely leave the house in her seat of dignity, she and her mother are excited to start going to church!

Ella and her mom weren’t the only ones who learned about the love of Jesus at that Wheels for the World outreach. Every wheelchair recipient – and their family – heard the Gospel, and 26 people accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior that day! There are now 26 new members in the body of Christ – 26 more hearts transformed by our Father’s never-ending love!

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

1 John 3:1

The seeds of God’s Word and truth were planted in the hearts of everyone in that tiny village that day, and the visible Gospel came to life right in front of their very eyes through the wheelchairs and Bibles they received!

When we deliver tangible help and share the salvation message with children and adults living with disability through God’s Word, it’s not just “Good News” – it’s the best news ever!

Would you let the Lord Jesus work through you to send Bibles and wheelchairs to lost and broken people worldwide? Will you send your generous gift today so that more and more widows and orphans will know what the love, protection and provision of our Abba Father looks and feels like? You can turn their weeping into joyful laughter that brings great praise to the Lord!

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Send your gift today and help more families hear the hope of the Gospel and receive a wheelchair!

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