Hear Joni tell a miraculous story about a man from a small Ugandan village. By showing Christ’s love and compassion, this man truly went from silence to laughter. Pray for the Joni and Friends Wheels for the World Teams today.
Learn more about Wheels for the World here!
SHAUNA: This is Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Today Joni introduces us to a modern-day Lazarus in Uganda.
JONI: When our Wheels for the World team returned from delivering wheelchairs and Bibles in Uganda, they told me the most amazing story. On the last day after distributing wheelchairs, our Wheels for the World team was in a small village called Nyarushanje. A Ugandan woman, Mrs. Dimbirwe brought in her husband Semu for a wheelchair. Some years ago, Semu had fallen from a tree, breaking his right leg and hip. And he incurred a severe brain injury. Well, Semu looked pretty poor – he did; his chin on his chest, sitting slumped on the dirt floor. He was silent, almost catatonic. It was like everyone around him did not exist. His wife dragged her husband in on a blanket, with a friend helping. They propped Semu against a wall, but he said nothing. Mrs. Dimbirwe explained that Semu was not able to talk. Ever since his stroke, his injury, he had not said a word. And this man looked so sad, so “not with it,” sitting there slumped with his chin on his chest. He sat there shrunken and frozen. No one talked to Semu; not even his wife. No one talked to him, and maybe that’s why he seemed so withdrawn.
But while Mrs. Dimbirwe was waiting for her husband’s wheelchair, one of our Wheels team members, Dana Croxton, began explaining to her how important it is to keep up communication with a brain-injured person. So, to demonstrate it, Dana approached Semu, and he squatted and tilted his chin, lifted his head. And Dana asked him to do things; simple things like squeeze his hand and resist a push. And then, God inspired Dana to speak directly to Semu, telling him that he was a man: “You’re like anybody else Semu. You’re my equal, you’re my brother. And God loves you and Jesus has died for you. And he values you Semu.”
Well, this went on for about two or three minutes, when suddenly, Semu started smiling. He looked up and he started laughing and he began speaking in a firm voice to Dana. And soon the two men were weeping and hugging as Semu squeezed Dana’s hands! And finally, just before the wheelchair fitting, Semu reached up and pulled Dana to him, to hug him hard and he said in perfect English, “You are my brother, my friend, and God loves me.” Everyone was stunned – everyone – especially Semu’s wife. They stood back, stumbling back amazed. They’ve never heard him speak.
You know, in the Gospel of John, there’s a remarkable moment when Jesus calls forth a dead man and says, “Come out!” And you know the story from there – Lazarus walked out of his grave to the utter amazement of everyone. Well, that day in the small village of Nyarushanje, a poor, disabled man shut up within himself; a man named Semu – he came forth. Maybe not from physical death to life as did Lazarus, but he was one called out of spiritual death to life in Jesus. All because a member of our Wheels for the World team took time to not only notice Semu but touch him. And reach him with kindness and compassion. Semu, come forth! And that man did. It’s a beautiful thing when a wheelchair provides that kind of opportunity and miracles like it happen all the time.
SHAUNA: And friend, if you’d like to be part of a team that gives dignity to people with disabilities, not to mention the gift of eternal life in Christ, then go to joniradio.org and get all our Wheels for the World details. And pray for our Wheels teams this week, would you? We’re serving in Uganda, Guatemala, and Chile; giving wheelchairs, the Bible, and the good news of our Savior. Good news that turns dead men into the living. And friend, remember that you can hear this program again at joniradio.org. And while you’re there, be sure to leave us your prayer request.
© Joni and Friends