AL: When I think of the ministry you and your team have of distributing Bibles and wheelchairs around the world to those in desperate need, I always think of that Scripture in James 2 where it says, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead… Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.”
JONI: Oh, boy, so I love that verse, Al! Because with our Wheels for the World outreach, if someone is without a wheelchair, dragging himself through the dirt, and if I say to him, “I wish you well,” but I do nothing about his physical needs, what good is that?
AL: Well, I know you have a team from Joni and Friends leaving for Ukraine Monday with 600 wheelchairs and Bibles…
JONI: And our team will really be doing something about the physical needs of those people in that part of the world!
AL: Plus giving a Bible to each family…
JONI: And it’s happening everywhere! I got an email from a lieutenant in the Air Force hospital in Balad, Iraq. Listen to this. He writes, “A 16-year-old boy came into our hospital. He had been injured by a roadside blast and was carried in, paralyzed from the waist down. The wheelchairs we received from you were perfect. He was very excited to be fitted for his. Most likely, this boy would not have a wheelchair otherwise. Your generosity made a huge difference in his life and he will be forever grateful.”
AL: … well, there you have it, changing lives one wheelchair at a time!
JONI: And it all goes back to that Scripture from the book of James you read a moment ago. When it comes to a disability, the needs around the world are huge… whether in Iraq or in the Ukraine where our team is going Monday with wheelchairs and Bibles. The needs are overwhelming… and God is so amazing that He showcases the power of His Gospel every time we back up our faith with actions… every time we give a wheelchair, or a walker, or crutches – when we tell disabled people about Jesus Christ. When someone like that 16-year-old paralytic in Iraq hears about Jesus, he knows God cares… he’s sitting in a wheelchair to prove it!
AL: And that’s all the more reason I’d like to ask our friends listening to be praying for those 600 disabled adults and children in Ukraine next week who will be receiving a wheelchair for the very first time…
JONI: And also hearing for the first time, the salvation message of Jesus Christ. So friends, like Al said, please be praying.
AL: And I’d add, look for a way in your own community to practice James 2… back up your Christian witness by lending a hand, serving a meal, running an errand…
JONI: Because faith with works tells the world Jesus cares.
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JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
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