Joni shares a meaningful story about a young girl named Jood from the West Bank. The Wheels for the World Team of Joni and Friends was able to gift her a custom-fit, new wheelchair. But, most of all, they were able to share the Gospel through Joni’s story in Arabic. Learn more about how to serve overseas at www.joniradio.org.
I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I’m sharing hope!
Every day I witness the hope of our Savior in the lives of the people we serve at Joni and Friends, like nine-year-old Jood from the city of Hebron in the West Bank. I’m sure you would agree that’s a part of the world that really needs hope right now, what with all the ongoing tensions still happening in the Holy Land. The missile strikes, terrorism, raids, hostages, the continuing conflict, but amidst all this terrible turmoil, life goes on for people in the West Bank. I’m thinking of nine-year-old Jood who has cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia. She’s the oldest of four girls and requires constant care from her mother who is her main caregiver.
Jood has problems with her posture and with keeping her balance. The only wheelchair she’s been able to use is [you know,] one of those standardized wheelchairs you see in airports—not ideal at all for a nine-year-old girl with CP and posture problems. Jood needed something specialized, something for a child her size, something that was simply unavailable to her parents. But then? Our Wheels for the World team came to the West Bank! And suddenly? Hope became a reality. Our Wheels team assessed little Jood and were able to custom-fit a new, little wheelchair that is just perfect for her—sitting up in her child-sized wheelchair? It gave her a whole new level of dignity and freedom to move about. And her specialized wheelchair lightens her mother’s load, as well. Now Jood’s mom can properly care for her and take her all throughout the city of Hebron. Best of all, our Wheels for the World team didn’t just give Jood a new wheelchair. We also gave her family my story in Arabic. That’s right. When Wheels for the World goes to the Middle East, we are able to shine a spotlight on the hope of the Gospel by sharing my story!
This is what it’s all about. Yes, families like Jood’s in places like the Middle East have so little. And they don’t hear about Jesus. They don’t know that the Bible contains the message of salvation. But if we don’t tell them, if we don’t tell the ones who are overlooked, oft forgotten, and neglected, how will they hear about a Savior? How will they come to know Jesus Christ? It’s why our Wheels for the World outreach at Joni and Friends is so critical. A family like Jood’s could easily be passed over, but Jesus says go out and find the disabled and bring them in so that my Father’s house might be full. And so, my book in Arabic tells the true story of how a disability can be used of God to introduce hurting people to Jesus Christ. By the way, this morning another Wheels for the World team just left for Bayamo, Cuba to deliver specialized wheelchairs to kids with disabilities, kids just like Jood. And we’ll also be giving Spanish Bibles and “mi historia in Español.” That means my story in Spanish. I love that! Because we want disabled children and their families in Cuba know that they need a Savior and his name is Jesus Cristo, right? Right.
One day you and I—and all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ—we will gain a glorious eternity. And I want the world’s people who struggle with disabilities to gain that eternity, as well. It’s why, all of us here at Joni and Friends are doing everything we can to help disabled people turn their painful plight into a hope-filled path through salvation in Jesus Christ. Hey, I’d love for you to know more about Wheels for the World. And you can do that by visiting joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends