Welcoming More Families Into God’s Kingdom!

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”

Romans 10:13-15

Modesta and her 22-year-old daughter, Elva, spent the past two decades in the tiny back bedroom of a dilapidated building in Lima, Peru. “It’s been 22 years of struggling,” explained Modesta with a heavy heart. She considered giving up many times, but knew she had to keep fighting for her daughter. Modesta didn’t even know it yet, but she desperately needed to hear about the love of Jesus.

Modesta’s heart cry for her daughter echoes the same cries that come from thousands upon thousands of families worldwide who live with disability. In every age group and every culture, they are desperate for real answers to their suffering and an everlasting hope. They need to hear the Gospel and see it lived out, too!

Modesta gave birth to Elva while all the doctors in her community were on strike. Her labor was wrought with unimaginable complications and as a result, Elva was born with severe disabilities. 

“I didn’t think my girl would have this condition forever,” remembers Modesta, but healing Elva’s body was not part of God’s plan.

She is solely responsible for all of Elva’s financial and caregiving needs, yet Modesta cannot get a job and work away from home. She needs to be by Elva’s side 24 hours a day. This single mother and her severely disabled daughter are true widows and orphans of today’s society – rejected, isolated, and for all outward appearances, hopeless.

As Modesta carried the crushing weight of her 22-year-old daughter every time she needed to move her, her own heart felt crushed under the heavy stigma of having a disabled daughter in her culture. Modesta feels her child’s pain on top of her own heartbreak. Yet she is completely devoted to Elva – always protecting her, caring for her, and loving her with her powerful mother’s love.  

Modesta thought she was the only person on the planet who cared about her daughter, but when our Wheels for the World team came to their door with a wheelchair and God’s promises from his Word, Modesta learned that others care about Elva – and care about her, too! God made his love for Modesta and Elva real that day in visible and tangible ways!

Before receiving a wheelchair for Elva, there wasn’t much for Modesta to smile about. Why would she smile? For this abandoned mother and millions like her all over the world, life is filled with loneliness and day-to-day struggles that she is forced to face alone. Her long days are filled with heartache and hopelessness.

But while Elva received the gifts of dignity and mobility that day, Modesta received an even greater gift – a Bible and the gift of salvation!

The local pastor working with our Wheels for the World team shared the Gospel with Modesta while our volunteer mechanics perfectly fit Elva into her new wheelchair. Modesta watched as her daughter’s frail body was placed into her beautiful new wheelchair, and she was overcome by the love of Jesus. God sent the hands that served Elva with so much love that day, and he sent the feet that brought the Good News of Jesus to Modesta!

Make no mistake about it; God is doing miracles through Wheels for the World every day! Bibles, hands-on help, and the love of Jesus are being given to thousands of children and families living with disabilities who have yet to hear the greatest news of all – the Good News of the Gospel!

Our volunteer mechanics and physical therapists finished fitting Elva in her first wheelchair, but what is even more powerful, is that Modesta clearly sees the ‘visible’ Gospel with her eyes every time she looks at her daughter seated in dignity.

On that wonderful day, Modesta prayed and received Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior! She also prayed, “God, help me to understand that what I’m going through serves a purpose for my life.”

Now, 22 years after her daughter’s birth, Modesta realizes that healing her broken heart and saving her lost soul was God’s plan for her life all along. And God has a powerful purpose for your life, too!

Modesta heard the Good News of Christ’s great love and called on the name of the Lord.

Her future is now secured for all eternity, and her days – and sweet Elva’s days – are now full of God’s love. But there are so many more families suffering under the strain of disability and poverty – too many widows and orphans just waiting for someone to care about their desperate circumstances and shine God’s light into their darkness.

When you share the salvation message with children and adults living with disability, it’s not just “Good News” – it’s the best news they’ve ever heard! When you deliver tangible help through a wheelchair and a Bible, God’s love through you is the most powerful Gospel ever preached.

Would you let Jesus work through you today to reach lost and broken disabled people and their families with the power of his unfailing love? Your generous support will result in countless lives saved, hearts changed, physical needs met, and hope restored among people living with disability all around the world!

As we pray, serve, and give together on behalf of people who are struggling with disabilities – many of them hopeless widows and orphans – may the promise of Proverbs 11:25 be yours: “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed!” May Jesus pour out his blessing on you for your faithfulness to His kingdom work!