Joni: Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a special guest today. I met Becky Oprean many years ago when her family immigrated to America from Romania. Becky has spina bifida and her parents believed she could receive better medical help here than in their eastern European nation. Well, as soon as I met Becky, I was drawn to this kid – with her winsome smile, dark eyes, and happy spirit, I knew she was going places! She may use a wheelchair, but that doesn’t slow her down. Becky, welcome to the program!
BECKY: Thank you so much, Joni. It’s an honor to be here. You are my dear friend, my hero every since we met 15 years ago.
JONI: I tell you what, you humble me just with those words alone. First, you have been to Romania many times since those days we first met. What is it like to be a kid in Romania, a kid who has a significant disability?
BECKY: It’s very hard for a family that has a child with special needs to live there because there are no ramps, lots of stairs, and no wheelchair accessibility, and also it’s very sad—even in churches there is no way for a family that has special needs to get into a church. Even the people there cannot accept a family that has a child with special needs because they say that you are cursed by God, and so my heart and my prayer is that churches will embrace, love, accept, and have a compassionate heart for families that have children with special needs. Myself, I’m honored and blessed to have a great family that loves me and to be born here.
JONI: You were raised in a Christian family. You pretty much already touched on this but how has knowing Jesus really, really helped you overcome your own limitations because you are sitting in this wheelchair and smiling, but there was a time it must have been hard, right?
BECKY: It has been very hard many times. As I mentioned, I’m honored and blessed that God knew from eternity that I would be born in a Christian family that would love me and accept me even with a disability and would not trade me for anything in the world. At 14 I dedicated my life to the Lord and at 15 I wanted to be baptized in Romania by my grandfather who is a pastor in Cluj, Romania, and my decision to be baptized in Romania was I wanted to prove to the whole country and to everyone that I was not ashamed of my disability, or of how I looked being in a wheelchair, but most importantly that I have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
JONI: Oh, my goodness. I can’t say much more after that, I’m overwhelmed, I’m astounded. You know, Becky, what I love about you, is that even though you and your parents are living in America, you still have a heart for your home country, Romania. Tell us about your ministry, Becky’s Hope, and what you are doing to reach out to other special-needs families in your former country.
BECKY: Yes, I’ve been going to Romania since I was nine years old. Of course, with your ministry, Joni and Friends, to help distribute wheelchairs to families with special needs, and 11 years ago the Lord put in our heart to start our own non-profit, Becky’s Hope, for parents, about 80% single moms who have never had a day off in their life. We have retreats every summer and for them these retreats are a glimpse of heaven, so we have it every summer and for a couple of years we even had sibling’s camps – siblings meaning the healthy siblings of the families with special needs. Because not only the parents struggle to accept their child with special needs, even the healthy siblings cannot accept their brother or sister with special needs, so for them it was also a glimpse of heaven to come to these camps.
JONI: Well, I’m so glad that’s your heart burden to reach out to other special needs families. Friend, I hope you’ve been inspired by Becky Oprean today, and you just have to see this young woman and her stellar smile. Just go to my radio page today at joniandfriends.org where we posted a link to her website. Thanks for joining us, Becky, and God bless you in your work!
BECKY: Thank you so much, Joni.
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