Welcome to "Joni and Friends" and thanks for joining me today.
Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and I am always touched by the heartwarming stories that our Wheels for the World team members share when they come home from giving wheelchairs and Bibles to the most desperately needy people overseas. I’ve told you this before -- one billion people with disabilities are in the world and 80% of them live in developing countries. Countries like Thailand where Orapin, a young mother of a disabled little girl, has spent years looking for help.
Her 10-year-old daughter Deeair was born with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus. Local doctors and clinics up in the mountainous region of northern Thailand where they lived, those doctors offered no solution until this year. A tiny village hospital told this Orapin about our Wheels for the World outreach coming to town in the region to the west. “Go there,” they said. “They will show you love.” So Orapin packed up Deeair and traveled over four hours to reach our wheelchair distribution site in Thailand. Bumping along in that bus, holding her daughter on her lap, this young mother did not dare hope for too much. But because of the promise that she would find love from our group, Orapin traveled on through the night. And the next morning, very early they arrived, tired and weary.
Now, as a little wheelchair was customized for Deeair by our team of physical therapists, the Gospel of Jesus was shared with Orapin using a Thai Bible. It was the first time she had ever heard about a loving Heavenly Father. You see, in her culture, “fatherhood” is sometimes a very harsh concept because it’s not uncommon for disabled children to be abandoned by their fathers -- children like Deeair. In fact, that’s actually what happened: Orapin’s husband had left after Deeair was born. And in a poor country like Thailand, it is not easy for a single mother to raise a seriously disabled child.
That day at our outreach, Orapin listened to the Gospel message as Deeair was tenderly lifted into a beautiful little wheelchair. And when Orapin saw that suddenly, Jesus’ love became real. Those people back at the mountain clinic were right. Our team really did show the tangible, hands-on proof that there was a God who tenderly cares and provides for His very own. Orapin had tears in her eyes when she told our Wheels for the World physical therapist, she said, “The doctors were right. We have found love here because of this ministry.” And holding her new Bible, her voice filled with wonder, and she whispered ... “And in this Bible, these are the love letters from our new Father.” What a wonderful way to put it. This woman whose own father rejected them… this little disabled girl whose own father rejected her… that cycle had been broken. This tiny little family gained a whole new concept of fatherhood and Orapin recognized that the Bible was, as she put it, love letters from the Father.
Hey, I’d really love for you to see a photograph of little Deeair in her new wheelchair when you visit my radio page. A new year is coming up quickly, and I want you to join me in a fresh commitment to go deeper into the Word of God. And to help you do that, after we’re finished here, please go over to my radio page at joniandfriends.org and ask for our “Bible Overview.” This really lovely 12-page laminated foldout describes every book in the Bible, who wrote it and why, what the themes are and the key verses. And it is a great study aid to tuck in your Bible when you do your personal devotions. Because if the Bible is that precious to a poor woman in Thailand… it had better be precious to us.
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