Hear how inmates volunteer their time to refurbish and restore used, but serviceable wheelchairs. It’s all part of the Joni and Friends prison ministry – find out more at joniradio.org.
SHAUNA: Hi, This is Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. You know, Joni, I’m always amazed that we hear from so many prisoners here at Joni and Friends.
JONI: And don’t you love that, Shauna?
SHAUNA: Oh, I sure do.
JONI: Our ministry has good contact with prisoners. Now, although it’s true that Joni and Friends is focused on people who struggle with disabilities, here in the states and overseas, we also have a ministry, as it were to people who are incarcerated in prisons across the country. It happens through our Wheels for the World program. We collect wheelchairs and then we send them to more than a dozen correctional facilities across the U.S. where inmates volunteer their time to refurbish and restore these used, but serviceable wheelchairs. Our Wheels for the World restoration shops are well-respected in these prisons because they provide a works-education opportunity for qualified inmates. It’s an honor for a prisoner to be chosen to work in our Wheels for the World restoration shops. And as you might guess, many of these prisoners come to Christ. Or they are already believers, and they find an outlet for their Christian service as they provide like-new wheelchairs for disabled children and adults overseas.
And [like Shauna says] many of these inmates write me letters of gratitude. There are also inmates who write because, well, they’ve read the Joni book in prison. And although these men may have committed significant crimes in years past, I am not ashamed to call them my brothers in Christ who are precious to Jesus, people with whom I would be glad to fellowship. And my example is Jesus Christ himself who is described in Hebrews 2:11; described himself as not being ashamed at all to call us his brothers. And think of the crimes we’ve committed [anger, Jesus calls that murder; hogging the spotlight, that’s stealing; becoming addicted to a favorite TV show. Jesus calls that idolatry]. Yikes. So, we all have done some pretty shameful things.
I know a pastor who was driven from his church by an angry faction in his congregation. There was some controversy surrounding his resignation, but after a month or so, the facts became clear, and the pastor was exonerated. But by then, his reputation had been stained. People had their mindset, and so this pastor and his family moved on to another church across the country. But as shamefully as he had been treated, Jesus was not ashamed to call him brother. When people fail; when they know they are in the wrong and pay the consequences [like those prisoners I talked about]; or when they haven’t even done anything wrong, like that pastor. Let’s show by our words, and attitudes, and actions that we are not ashamed to call them our brothers and sisters in Christ.
That said, please join me in praying for the prisoners who help us restore the wheelchairs we collect. Our Wheels for the World shop supervisors at each prison care about the spiritual growth of their inmates who work on our chairs. So please ask God to keep preserving these men after they serve their time and go back into the mainstream of life. Pray that their faith will remain stable and strong. That they will become a part of a thriving church community. And that there will be Christians who, like Jesus, won’t be ashamed to call them brothers in Christ. Find out more about Wheels for the World and watch a brief video about our restoration program in prisons. You will be amazed to see this man at work!
SHAUNA: We’ve posted the video at joniradio.org. So yes, go there and while you’re there, pray for these inmates who work on our wheelchairs. Again, it’s joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends