Meeting the Needs of People with Disabilities in Developing Nations 

Today, I pray these words bring great joy into your home and into your heart, because no matter what 2020 has looked like, now it’s time to focus on the birth of Jesus! Joy to the World – the Lord has come! This is the song on our lips, and it can be the joyful song of praise from every child who receives a wheelchair and a Bible this Christmas!

There’s no better gift on this earth than Jesus’ love. And for a needy child with disabilities, no gift shows God’s love better than an expertly fitted wheelchair. But this year, due to the dire straits caused by COVID-19, disabled children and their families need MORE than a wheelchair.

This Christmas, they need the perfect gift and so much more…

I want to share a powerful story of how a little girl’s life was transformed – even in the midst of this global pandemic.

Two-year-old Valentina suffers every day with spina bifida, hydrocephalus, scoliosis, and multiple other disabilities. The extreme poverty and relentless demands of disability that she and her family face living in Peru have been magnified beyond belief during COVID-19.

Peru has one of the highest coronavirus death rates in the world, and the most marginalized – children impacted by disabilities – face the greatest threat.

Valentina’s father is a day laborer; he finds work on construction sites, but those jobs are few and far between now that COVID-19 has shut down their local economy. While her father looks for work day after day, Valentina’s mother, Sandra, tends to her daughter’s non-stop care – including constant trips to the hospital, changing Valentina’s catheter every four hours and caring for Valentina’s three siblings; one being her 10-month-old baby brother. Sandra gets no help whatsoever.

“I have knocked on many doors for a long time requesting a wheelchair for my daughter, and none of them opened,” Sandra cried. She has even been forced to use an old chair made of cloth at times – a chair that damaged Valentina’s fragile spine even more.

But disability is not the only hardship that Sandra, Valentina and their family must overcome. Getting enough to eat has become their primary need during the pandemic.

In Peru, “people fear hunger more than COVID-19.”

Sandra could hardly speak because she was crying so hard, but she choked out these heartbreaking words, “I stopped asking God for help.” Her children were being crushed under the strains of poverty, disability, and starvation. And Sandra stopped believing that God cared.

But Jesus heard her desperate cries, and he restored Sandra’s faith through our work at Joni and Friends! We sent a team into Valentina’s village and delivered a brand-new pediatric wheelchair to her home.

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Before that day, Valentina was shut off in the one bedroom her entire family of 6 share… she had no interaction whatsoever while her mother cooked, cleaned and cared for her baby brother. She remained isolated and alone, staring at the same four walls day after day.

But Valentina’s new, custom-fitted wheelchair allows her to leave that little bedroom – to be part of her family and be by her mother’s side all throughout the day. And now, it’s so much easier for Sandra to bring Valentina to the hospital!

“Thank you for giving this chair to my daughter!” Sandra declared, as her tears of pain and sorrow turned to tears of joy-filled hope. “I am very grateful!” And that new-found hope and joy came not only from Valentina’s new wheelchair, but from receiving the Gospel, and from receiving medical care and much needed food for the whole family.

But there are thousands more children like Valentina waiting… and literally starving. The need has never been greater than now! People with disabilities in developing nations have so little – they live without basic medical care of any kind, without mobility, and without a trace of help or hope in sight. They need someone to step in right now with the compassion of Jesus and hands-on help! 

Because the perfect gift – it’s MORE than a wheelchair!

That’s right! Families living with disability not only have no money for a wheelchair – because of this global pandemic, they have no money for food. But together we can change that. Together, we can meet their very real, practical needs and show them that God is real, and he really cares for them!

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.”

Proverbs 3:27

Valentina is now seated in her customized wheelchair, and her whole family is well fed. And now that Sandra’s hope has been restored, she is learning how to read the Bible we gave her!

But thousands of isolated children like Valentina still need help right now! Urgent pleas for help flood my desk from people in developing nations where illness and injury leave more individuals disabled every day. My heart breaks knowing that people are suffering with no end in sight. But Jesus has not forgotten their needs, and neither can we. Wheelchairs are outrageously expensive for these impoverished families, and now even getting enough food is rare. There is so much more to do, and you can help… 

Your gift of $220 to send a pediatric wheelchair, $345 to add medical care, food and hygiene supplies for a month, or $1,500 to support a family impacted by disability and poverty for an entire year, will transform lives now and for all of eternity! Your love and support will change everything for these families!

Thank you for sending the love of God this Christmas to these families who need Jesus so desperately. Throughout this season and always, may your own heart overflow with the joy of knowing Christ and reflecting on his steadfast faithfulness in your life! Remember his promise to you below when you send in your gift today… 

“Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay you for your deed!”

Proverbs 19:17

Give The Perfect Gift Today! 

$220 sends a brand-new pediatric wheelchair and Bible, $345 sends a wheelchair and Bible plus food and hygiene supplies for a month, and $1,500 helps impoverished, special needs families for an entire year! Thank you! And Merry Christmas!

1 Month of Support $125 Give a Wheelchair $220 1 Year of Support $1500