Can you imagine lying flat on your back for 22 whole years? Hear Joni tell a story about the Wheels for the World team giving a young man Otoniel in Guatemala a wheelchair and more importantly, the Gospel.
For me? To be able to sit up in a wheelchair is a wonderful gift!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and even though I am a quadriplegic, I wasn’t always able to sit in a wheelchair. There have been times when, due to surgeries or pressure sores, I’ve had to lay in bed – and there was one very long season I was flat on my back for a year. Can you believe that? A year! Actually, they turned me from side-to-side to relieve pressure points, but for twelve months, there I was laying in bed. And that is a long time to have to be lying down. That is a long time to not be able to see the world at a 90-degree angle. And it’s why when I sit up in my wheelchair every morning, I am so thankful to God to be able to face life head-on. My wheelchair makes such a big difference.
And perhaps this is why my heart goes out to so many young people with disabilities who must stay flat in bed. I’m thinking of Otoniel in Guatemala. This disabled man is 22 years old, and he’s spent his entire life lying down, alternating between being on his back or lying on the floor on his stomach. He’s non-verbal, paralyzed, and he cannot use his hands to hold anything. Otoniel has never been officially diagnosed although he appears to have severe cerebral palsy. The mindset in his village is that people like him aren’t worth the time or attention. And so, Otoniel and his parents live with the sting of rejection and discrimination.
But then, our Wheels for the World team came to town. At first, all his parents could think of were the words of doctors. They said that Otoniel was just too stiff, too paralyzed; he was too locked into his condition to be able to sit up. But they paid no mind to those hopeless words, and their excitement mounted as they brought Otoniel, lying flat on a stretcher, to our distribution. And when our Wheels for the World seating mechanics and physical therapists saw this young man, they felt hopeful. And after adjusting his stretcher a little bit at a time; after stretching his stiff limbs to see the limits in his range of motion; after a lot of assessments, we felt that Otoniel would be able to sit up in a specially-adjusted wheelchair. Our mechanics spent three hours custom fitting him to his very first wheelchair, and the moment they placed him on the seat, Otoniel started laughing, he was so excited.
And when I heard this young man’s story, my thoughts went back to the time that I was lifted into a wheelchair after spending a year in bed; and I remember the relief, oh what joy I felt! Yet down in Guatemala there was someone who had been lying flat for 22 years, not just one year. Believe me, in a small way I could appreciate that guy’s laughter and his joy and relief. And it was also at this Wheels for the World distribution that he and his parents were given the Gospel, a Bible, and were connected with a caring evangelical church not far from his village. Oh, friend, there are thousands of people like Otoniel who not only need a wheelchair, but salvation in Jesus. Well, in just two weeks our Wheels teams will be heading to the Dominican Republic, and then a short time after, to Guatemala again. So, please be praying for the success of the Gospel as we take the good news of Jesus and hundreds of wheelchairs to people just like Otoniel. And if you’d like to see him smiling big in his wheelchair? Then take a look at a couple of photos I’ve posted today on joniradio.org. Be praying for all our Wheels for the World outreaches this year that many might come to Christ. And God bless you for caring!
© Joni and Friends