photo provided by Joni & Friends
Joni Eareckson Tada - Bringing Wheels to the World
by Kari Rodems
By reputation I knew her to be humble, intensely capable, upbeat and quite frankly beautiful; in person she is all that and more. Joni Eareckson Tada, founder of the international ministry Joni and Friends, has a list of accomplishments that exhausts me simply trying to recall them. She is a prolific author, cherished poet, gifted singer, brilliant artist, sought after speaker, inspired teacher and devoted wife, daughter, sister and friend to name a few. Two things not mentioned in the list are that since the summer of 1967 Joni has been a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the shoulders down as the result of a diving accident when she was just 17. She is also a breast cancer survivor, having recently completed her last round of chemotherapy after being diagnosed this past spring. The Joni and Friends International Disability Center’s headquarters relocated four years ago to their current Agoura Hills facility.
The building itself is not only architecturally stunning and ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) compliant, it was also paid in full by the generosity of donors. But what happens inside and through their network of satellite facilities, that support and mobilize staff and teams of volunteers throughout the country, is truly miraculous. The center serves as a hub to a number of charitable organizations that include Wheels for the World, Family Retreats, a television series, radio programs, Christian Institute on Disability, Cause 4 Life - Global Missions & Internships and also an International Outreach that focuses on heightening disability awareness and training worldwide.
The Wheels for the World ministry was born after a missionary friend of Joni’s recounted a story that pricked Joni’s heart. Learning that more than 650 million people globally are impacted with some disabling affliction and the fact that more than 18 million lives lack access to the simple yet profound freedom a wheelchair provides, Joni was moved to action. Her gift to think outside the box along with her hard-fought conviction of and reliance on her Christian faith allows her to see only “limitless possibilities.”
Therefore, Joni launched Wheels for the World in order to make a difference for those often shunned, shamed or neglected as a result of the disabling malady in many parts of the world. “He is able to do immeasurably more than I can begin to ask or imagine” said Joni, adding, “90 percent of the world live in far more challenging circumstances than I do every day, so I can’t waste time feeling sorry for myself when I have the opportunity to make a difference in their life.” Since 1994, Wheels for the World has helped bring wheelchairs to people in need in some of the most remote and destitute areas of the globe - many of whom travel for days, carrying adolescents on their back, or dragging a loved one on a blanket to a distribution site in hopes of obtaining a wheel chair. Joni lights up when she says, “We don’t just drop off wheelchairs, we work to transform hearts, minds and lives with not only the gift of mobility but the love of God, which is the reason for my hope and joy - by working alongside their local governments, churches and communities for as long as it takes to get the job done.”
One of the ways this happens is through stateside field teams. These teams adopt countries by making a long-term investments of their time, talent and treasure, as they labor together to see entire villages, able and disabled alike, restored with a new sense of purpose. Part of the restoration at times is re-educating or debunking age-old beliefs regarding disabilities. Joni explained, “We help them to understand the value of every life.” By educating people in the uniqueness and similarities in each human being, they have worked to end historically inhumane treatment of the disabled in many developing countries, however much work is yet to be done. “We are working to put to rest such things as the belief that a disability is the result of a punishment from the local witch doctor,” Joni says.
Wheels for the World has also partnered with 16 correctional facilities in 13 states. This allows inmates to restore and manufacture wheel chairs. And thanks to a sizable seed gift from the longtime supporters and owners of Regency Lighting, Joni and Friends has been able to create and manufacture customized child wheelchairs employing innovations in their design that maximize comfort and allow for simple adjustments to accommodate growing children. In the process, hardened criminals, many incarcerated for life, are now contributing to society in a way they had previously, perhaps, not thought possible. In fact, according to Joni, the handcrafted customized tray on the child’s model she proudly showed me, was redesigned by inmates and even has a Bible verse hand painted in one corner.
Once wheelchairs have been manufactured or restored to pristine condition, they are then shipped to destinations such as China, Cuba, Ghana, Thailand and India. Teams of volunteers, including disability specialists are then sent to strategic locations to fit each eager recipient and train them and their loved ones on the proper caring and maintenance of the chair. Joni pointed out “in some countries the cost of a wheelchair could equal a year’s wages, making it unlikely many people who desperately need one would ever actually get one if they were available at all.” When asked about the impact receiving a chair has on someone; she paused for a moment and said, “the impact is not one singular thing, for instance, in India those with disabilities are on the lowest rung of the caste system, when they are fitted for a wheel chair they are given the gift of mobility but are also treated with such dignity and respect, sometimes for the first time in their life.” This along with the fact that they are cared for by people who have traveled half way around the world to do this for a virtual stranger, not for a big paycheck, but from a desire to live out their own faith. “This impacts lives” says Joni.
One of Joni’s stories is of a 16 year old boy who had been shot by a gang. His mom made the long journey to a distribution site where he was fitted for a chair. When they returned home, the elders of their village had painstakingly smoothed out their mud floored home, leveled the pathway into the center of the village and to their church so the young man could once again be woven into the fabric of his community and feel a tremendous sense of support from all involved. Stories like that seem to be the rule rather than the exception around Joni and Friends.
When I asked what was next on the horizon for her, she smiled with a well-earned depth of character few can match and simply replied “I pray to stay strong and healthy, so I can continue to do what I do. To keep this cancer abated and keep my body strong - I am so incredibly blessed by God every single day that I get to labor alongside so many amazing people to His glory.” The 17 year old who once saw life as she knew it come to a screeching halt as she floated face down in a lake more than four decades ago, probably could not have dreamed of the life she would one day live. But this Joni can dream big, and there seems to be no thwarting her vision for the future - check out www.joniandfriends.org, where you can find opportunities to help locate broken or unused wheelchairs that can be donated to Wheel for the World, find out about internships or short term mission trips and a variety of other resources and ways to support Joni and Friends.
