Pray for the disabled of Costa Rica this week as the Joni and Friends Team is heading out there right now. Pray that they not only seat many people in perfectly fitted wheelchairs, but that their hearts will be open to Christ.
SHAUNA: Hi, I’m Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. And Joni, one of the things I just love about you is you love telling people about Jesus!
JONI: I sure do, Shauna! You know, especially if they have suffered an injury or illness. And frankly, it’s why I started Joni and Friends over 45 years ago. I wanted my own suffering to be a platform to share the gospel of Jesus with others who were hurting. I mean, the whole point behind Joni and Friends is to share the salvation message of Jesus Christ with adults and children who struggle with a disability, as with their families. Every new program must line up with our focus – it must be a way of reaching disabled people for Jesus. It’s why, over 30 years ago, we came up with the idea of Wheels for the World. We thought, “Hey, this could be a way to reach people for Jesus!”
You see, let me give you the backstory. In the 1990s I read an alarming statistic – that 18 million wheelchairs were desperately needed for the world’s disabled [oh, my goodness]. Okay, so the need for millions of wheelchairs might be alarming, but what’s more alarming is that 18 million of those represent people who probably don’t know Jesus Christ. And so, we came up with an idea. Why not make a dent in the need for 18 million wheelchairs by taking wheelchairs to the very people who need them? Stroke survivors living in the back bedrooms of Ghana or Kenya, or polio survivors in Uganda, or Zambia. Or women with multiple sclerosis crawling through the city streets in Chile, or Peru, Guatemala, or El Salvador. I kept thinking of young people with disabilities being carried on the backs of their mothers or grandmothers. And I mean 12 and 13-year-olds with cerebral palsy or Spina bifida. There they are; strapped onto their mothers’ backs in countries like Cuba, Mexico, and Argentina. These families can’t afford a wheelchair. In places like Serbia, India, or Thailand, a wheelchair there can cost a year’s wages. And in all these countries I’ve mentioned? Most children and adults with disabilities – they languish on the dirt floors of their kitchen. Or they lie all day on a mattress or lie next to a field where family members are working. But now, decades later, our Wheels for the World program is taking the gospel, and Bibles, and wheelchairs for those children and adults to those countries. We have served hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities and we’re not stopping. The gift of a wheelchair is a wonderful way to show families that struggle with disabilities – that wheelchair is a gift that shows that Jesus cares about their practical needs. And the gospel proves that Jesus cares about their spiritual needs, as well.
And I am especially excited today because a new Wheels for the World team is loaded up with Bibles and wheelchairs and we’re taking the gospel to people in a new country, Costa Rica. In outlying areas and in the sprawling city of San José, most disabled people live in poverty. And wheelchairs are critically needed. And so, as the team heads out today, would you please join me in praying that the good news of Jesus Christ will enjoy great success as each disabled child and adult is carefully fitted to their wheelchair, right Shauna?
SHAUNA: That’s right Joni. That’s how I’m praying. You know, and like you, I’ve been on a Wheels for the World trip. It is such a God-blessed way to give the gospel to the disabled who, otherwise, would never know about Jesus. And our Bible verse for Wheels for the World – well, it’s 1 Samuel 2:8. It says, “God raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among the princes of his people.” So, listening friend, pray for the disabled of Costa Rica this week as we lift the needy and seat them in a perfectly fitted wheelchair. And pray the hearts of Costa Ricans will be open to Christ.
© Joni and Friends