Hey, this year marks Joni and Friends’ 30th Anniversary. Wow, never would I have dreamed decades ago that God would swing the doors of evangelism so wide open that we would be reaching so many hundreds of thousands of disabled people with Jesus Christ!
Plus, my life has been changed through this ministry over thirty years and to prove it, come with me into the mountains of northern China in the Shandong province and let me share with you the story of 12-year-old Liu Qiaoling – our very first wheelchair recipient in that nation of one billion people.
Qiaoling was small, frail, and she spent most of her days sitting on a linoleum slab by a window so she could gaze out onto the rutted dirt street that led to her village. She was on that linoleum because it was the easiest way to keep Qiaoling clean, what with her disability. But, hey, when Liu Qiaoling received her wheelchair and her Bible, her first words were, “Now I'll be able to go to school!” And she did!
Years later in 2006, a team from Joni and Friends once again walked through the open doors of Qiaoling’s home to bring another wheelchair – a replacement for the one that we gave her when she was little, she had outgrown it. And on that visit in 2006, a beaming, beautiful 20-year-old young woman, Qiaoling, she shared all that God had done through that one simple wheelchair and the precious Bible that we had also given her. She told us that, “The Bible given to us by Joni and Friends”, she said, “in 1998, that Bible made the biggest change in me and my family. In China disabled people are seen as ones with no reason to live. But the Bible tells me that I am made in God’s image and He loves me. My wheelchair has made it possible for me to share this truth with many people.”
Can you believe that? And now Qiaoling, 20-year-old Qiaoling and her father, they teach a Bible study in her village two nights a week. Their little house is packed with new believers and curious newcomers. All who attend share that one treasured Bible -- the Bible given by Joni and Friends!
That fact alone leaves me absolutely breathless and humbled and overwhelmed. Because what began as a simple delivery of one small wheelchair for a 12-year-old girl back in 1998 in a forgotten village in China has exploded into a Christ-centered, community-wide outreach to bring the Word of God to the hearts of thousands! But the story gets even better because since receiving that upgraded wheelchair, Liu Qiaoling has traveled to Beijing for Biblical training to equip her for further ministry. She wrote me and said, “Joni, my disability is an opportunity to draw more disabled people in China to Jesus. God has given me ‘legs’ – a wheelchair that sends me out to fulfill His plans.”
Well, I want you to be praying this week as we have another Wheels for the World team delivering 200 Bibles and wheelchairs in the Dominican Republic. And then next week, we head off to Ghana and then Cameroon in West Africa. All of this on our 30th anniversary. You’ve just got to see what’s going on, and you can do so by visiting me today at joniandfriendsradio.org where you can watch a brief video about how we are restoring lives as well as wheelchairs through our Wheels for the World outreach. It’s inspiring, it’s encouraging… and it’s so life changing. So would you please join in the fun and be a part of the celebration just by taking a look at this neat video showing how God is changing lives like Qiaoling’s one wheelchair at a time. And once again let me remind you of our website. Come by and visit us at anytime. It’s joniandfriendsradio.org, Of course you can always call and talk to one of team members by dialing 1-888-522-5664. God’s blessings on you until next time when we get together for Joni and Friends.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
© Joni and Friends