Tune in for this powerful installment of Joni’s “Heart of the Founder” series. Addressing the topic of mobility, Joni Eareckson Tada draws on deep personal experience, having lived with quadriplegia for more than five decades. Joni can attest to the freedom that mobility equipment can bring—not only for a disabled individual but also for their family members and community. Don’t miss this encouraging message about how a wheelchair and the love of Jesus can change lives, now and forever.
Tune in for this powerful installment of Joni’s “Heart of the Founder” series. Addressing the topic of mobility, Joni Eareckson Tada draws on deep personal experience, having lived with quadriplegia for more than five decades. While a phrase like “wheelchair-bound” suggests that a wheelchair is confining, Joni can attest to the freedom that mobility equipment can bring—not only for a disabled individual but also for their family members and community.
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More than one billion people in the world live with a disability. And the majority of people who need a wheelchair have to do without. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 80 million people need a wheelchair and only 5–35% have access to one.
That’s why, through Wheels for the World™, Joni and Friends changes lives by hand-delivering wheelchairs and Bibles to people with disabilities around the world.
Each year Joni and Friends collects thousands of used wheelchairs, which—instead of taking up space in landfills—get restored to like-new condition by inmates in prison-based restoration centers. This environmentally sustainable process offers inmates the opportunity to give back to society and the world and experience redemptive purpose in their own lives.
You can get involved!
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45
Crystal Keating:
This is the Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast and I’m your host Crystal Keating. Each week we’re bringing you encouraging conversations about finding hope through hardship and practical ways that you can include people living with disability in your church and community. As you listen, visit joniandfriends.org/podcast to access the resources we mention, or to send me a message with your thoughts.
Stephanie Daniels:
Hi. I'm Stephanie Daniels and I'm so glad you're here today. We have another episode in our Heart of the Founder series, which brings you insights on topics like disability and grief from our founder, Joni Eareckson Tada. Today, we'll bring you Joni's heart on mobility. Mobility is an important topic here at Joni and Friends.
Many of our colleagues, including Joni, rely on wheelchairs or other assistive devices to get around.
A wheelchair might look confining to some, but as Joni shares from her personal experience, a wheelchair means freedom for those who can't walk. When Joni was recovering from the diving accident that left her paralyzed, she spent an entire year lying down in bed. It was truly a gift for her to finally sit up again. We have the joy of sharing mobility at Joni and Friends as we distribute wheelchairs through our Wheels for the World program. A lovingly custom-fit wheelchair, given along with a Bible, serves as proof that God cares about the needs of those who are too often overlooked. Listen to Joni's heart on mobility and how a wheelchair can change a life.
Joni Eareckson Tada:
When I was young and immature, I didn't like to be around anyone in a wheelchair. People who used them made me feel awkward. Besides, what would I do if, if they asked me something? I didn't want to be placed in an embarrassing situation where, you know, I might come across looking foolish. And so I avoided people who were “confined” to a wheelchair.
But then, I broke my neck. And suddenly, there in the hospital, I was around all sorts of people in wheelchairs. I didn't think much about it because I was in bed for nearly a year while I went through various surgeries. But after a whole year of lying down, you know what? A wheelchair started to look pretty good.
It was no longer unappealing. And I really was grateful for the day when I was strong enough to sit up in a wheelchair. I could finally look at life face on at a 90-degree angle rather than from a flat, horizontal position in bed. Powering my own wheelchair down the hallway, I don't know, it just gave me this delicious sense of independence.
And then there was the day I wheeled myself to the Taco Bell across the street from the hospital, and I returned with tacos in my backpack from my roommates. And I felt the exhilaration of freedom. I mean, I could actually do stuff in my wheelchair. I could wheel myself somewhere, even if it were Taco Bell.
Now, yes, sure, I was still very depressed about my quadriplegia. But there were those occasional moments when my wheelchair was anything but confining. It really was the next best thing to having legs that walked. And I loved the sense of dignity and freedom that my wheelchair afforded me. I easily recall those days, especially when I have traveled overseas with Wheels for the World, as our teams provide a perfectly suited wheelchair for adults or children with disabilities.
I watched sad faces become so happy. And for many of these people, it is the first time they have been able to look at life face-on at a 90-degree angle. I recall a Romanian woman named Didina who was paralyzed in bed for 15 years due to a stroke. She lived in a small house with her aging mother, her only caregiver.
But when our Wheels for the World team members sat Didina up in her new wheelchair, an adult recliner that could accommodate her needs, this precious woman was actually speechless. When she was wheeled outside, she looked up and said, “Oh, thanks God for the blue sky.” Everyone in the village turned out to greet the neighbor that they had not seen in years.
And many committed to help Didina whenever she needed it. Ah, for this poor Romanian woman, that wheelchair was her next best thing to having legs that walked. And the gift of mobility from Wheels for the World provided for her a freedom that she never thought possible, gave her dignity and respect from neighbors who no longer felt nervous or awkward around her.
And it gave a chance for us to share the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone in the village who came out that day. You know, Proverbs 14, I think it's verse 30 or 31 says, “those who are kind to the needy honor God.” So thank you for your kindness toward people like Didina. It breaks my heart to think that so many have to live without the gift of mobility in back bedrooms.
Yet when we provide a wheelchair, it proves that God cares about the real needs of people who, for the most part, are overlooked, or neglected, or ignored. So, join me in cheering on our Wheels for the World teams as we provide thousands of wheelchairs and Bibles to those for whom a wheelchair, it really is the next best thing to having legs that walk.
Stephanie Daniels:
Friends, wasn't that so good? It's incredible to think that Didina spent 15 years without seeing the sky, just for a lack of a wheelchair. It's also moving to think about the profound impact of such a simple gift. And Didina’s reaction was so beautiful because she directed it to God. As soon as she left her home for the first time in over a decade, she thanked the Lord.
For all of us who have so much, including our mobility, how often have we uttered prayers of such depth in praise? How often are we grateful for the small blessings in our own lives? And how often do we take for granted the simple blessings of fresh air and a blue sky overhead. Or as in Joni's case, a quick trip to Taco Bell.
Like Joni shared, life is about perspective. Lying flat on her back for 12 months made Joni grateful to face life head-on at a 90-degree angle. And being confined indoors for 15 years made Didina grateful to finally greet life outside the walls of her home.
When it comes to faith, perspective is everything. As it says in Matthew, “Therefore I say to you do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink. Nor about your body or what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air for they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”
When we trust God with our daily cares, we can grab hold of the joy and the blessings that are within our reach, even if we're reaching from a wheelchair or a place of personal difficulty. When I think about the example Joni has set by being faithful and joyful while living with quadriplegia, I remember that the apostle Paul was in jail when he wrote his letter to the Philippians.
In chapter four, he says he's learned to be content whatever the circumstances. “I know what it is to be in need. And I know what it is to have plenty. I've learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
And this is my prayer for you today, my friends. May you all learn the secret of being content in any and every situation through Jesus Christ who gives you strength.
Crystal Keating:
Thank you for listening today. For more episodes, find us wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to subscribe. We'd also love it if you would tell a friend. And for more encouragement, follow Joni and Friends on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube, and visit our website at joniandfriends.org/podcast.