The following story comes from a soldier in the United States Army, our Iraqi distribution partners:

Dear FWM, Greetings from Baghdad! I am a platoon leader for a light cavalry recon platoon based out of Fort Carson, Colorado. We recently visited a village about 30 km southeast of Baghdad and were approached by a young man who had been crippled since birth. His family had made him a little cart, but it still offered little mobility. When the poverty-stricken people approach us, they always ask for clean water and electricity, but he quickly asked for something that could allow him to get around better.

We noted the request and then later found one of your wheelchairs stuck away in a building on our base here in Baghdad. We quickly assembled it, loaded it on the back of our HMMWV, and delivered it to the young man. We never caught his full name, but we nicknamed him Rudy, after the football legend Rudy Rudiger. Anyway, we don't know where your wheelchair came from or who received it, but God somehow landed it right here. It is in great use now, and Rudy has his first wheelchair in 20 years. 

Thanks again, and God bless. Respectfully, 1LT, Armor, US Army  

This story comes from Bart and Linda who were in Cambodia late December:

We were escorted 1 ½ hours by police/military escort to a small village north of Phnom Penh. When the door to the van opened, there were over 200 people waiting for us.There were at least 50 in wheelchairs that had been assembled the night before and early this day. I will always remember the astonished looks on the faces of those sitting in these newly assembled chairs. Some had smiles that were from ear to ear. There was one gentleman who had placed both his home made artificial legs on the ground beside his chair. That is one of the great visions I will always keep with me.

Linda and I participated in a blessing by the village Monks, followed by speeches from the village Mayor, our Host, the Secretary/Minister of Health, then much to my surprise I was asked to speak. I tried to explain just how wonderful it was to be part of this new freedom that those people sitting the these new chairs now can achieve. Knowing that these gifts will be used to improve people’s quality of life for years to come was unbelievably gratifying. Most times when you donate money for a cause, you never see the money put to actual use. It was utterly satisfying to give something use useful to people who will actually benefit.

The emotional high Linda and I experienced the whole trip was incredible. Not only did we give mobility to 50 new needy people, we freed their family and friends of the burden of supplying mobility for them. This experience will always be a great part of our lives. We are true believers in this wonderful Mission and all the good it represents. We were told by our Cambodian hosts that they need at least 100,000 more chairs. Linda and I will do what we can to help them get those chairs. It is now, and will continue to be, a wonderful part of our life.

This story comes from our good friend Scaria in South India: 

We gave away a wheelchair today on 7th of January, National Polio Immunization Day. Saritha shared this story with me: "Today is national Polio immunization day. I will take my child to the nearest Polio vaccine booth. The ignorance or negligence of my parents made me a polio victim. That shall not happen to my child. Thanks to Free Wheelchair Mission for giving me this wheelchair."

Saritha (age 23) became a Polio victim at the age of 3. Her life was as miserable due to her disability. Added to that, her parents took no interest in her life. Saritha fell in love with her neighbor and at her own will they got married. Only arranged marriages are welcomed in Kerala society. So her plans, a marriage based on love, were totally unacceptable to both parents. Saritha and her husband were sent out of the family.

Saritha continued, "When my son Anil was born, I felt so sad. I could not take him him around in my hand. Taking children in the arms is the desire of any mother. My disability prevented me from that. It was my long dream. Now, the impossible is possible. Today your mission (Free Wheelchair Mission) made that dream a come true.

"When both families sent us out, we felt alone in this world. The wheelchair helps me to perform duties as a mother. Your mission helps the destitute like us. Tell the world that that we physically challenged need is not sympathy. We need support. Thank you Free Wheelchair Mission for that support! May God bless you all."

Dear friends, as a servant of Lord Jesus Christ through the Free Wheelchair, today I felt very happy. We helped a mother to care for her child.

The following story comes from Kim and Smoky, our friends in Coronado, CA. They visited our partners Steven and Grace in Chile over Christmas:

We arrived to the front of a simple home in a barrio in Santiago. There were four children playing outside of it. When they saw our wheelchair they knew it was for their dad. They smiled and led us toward the door. On the way they introduced themselves. They kept pointing to their sister Ana, a cute, thin seven-year old girl with a shaved head. They wanted us to know that she had cancer.

The children led us inside where their father was lying on a sofa. He was partially paralyzed. We told him that we had brought him a wheelchair to help him get around. When we asked him if we could lift him into it he said, “Oh no, my wife is the only one that can lift me.”

So, one of the children ran down the street to get his mom at a neighbor’s house. When she arrived, she squatted down, hoisted her husband up, and bent him with difficulty in order to get him into the chair. Immediately tears of joy and gratitude started flowing from his eyes. His children were hugging him and telling them how happy they were for him.

We asked him how he became ill. He replied, “I became sick a year ago when I found out that my daughter has cancer.” His daughter, Ana, is the one giving him a hug.

The following narrative comes from Giving it back To the Kids, our Distribution Partner in Viet Nam:

It is obvious from just looking at Nguyen Van Tien that he has endured more than most people ever will. He lost his leg and the hearing in his left ear, and uses a hearing aid for the right ear. Tien is very talkative, and clearly proud of his battle scars, listing them off easily.

"I entered the army in 1971 and was wounded four times. In 1972 when I rushed a hill the height of 601 meters in the northeast of Tay Ninh, a bomb exploded close to me, which took my hearing. "When he was serving in the hills of Trung Nghia in 1973, he was shot and subsequently lost use of his knee. That same year in the 8th station of Xa Mat - Tay Ninh, he suffered a serious head injury, which resulted in the removal of two pieces of cranial bone from his head. A few years later, he was wounded again, suffering a broken hand and the loss of his left leg.

Tien finds it very difficult to walk using his wooden crutches; many handicapped Vietnamese go through several pairs because bamboo or wood crutches simply aren't structurally strong enough to bear the repeated stress. Tien had gone through more than ten pairs before he managed to get a pair of metal crutches.

"The government promised they would donate a wheelchair to me, but when it arrived, it was already broken." It's clear that the disappointment of that first wheelchair has not entirely gone away, as Tien segued into a memory of his younger self, reminiscing:.

"When I first entered the army, I was the alpha dog, a "number one" kind of guy. I was a tall and big man, but afterwards I came home with just the one leg. I feel shamed that now I cause more trouble for my wife and my children because they have to carry me. See, there's a certain kind of man that goes into the army. Lots of young men were eager to lay down their lives for their country, and so we didn't care if we might be affected by Agent Orange. We didn't think it would matter because there was a good chance we would not live to have children. I regret being so careless, because it has affected my children. I love them, but I know their intelligence has been slowed by Agent Orange. There have been a number of things that I'm very sorry for or upset about."

"It's so heartening to receive a wheelchair because now I can carry my grandchild or just go around by myself. Daily tasks will be easier for me and my family now that we have a wheelchair. Normally I have stayed at home. I receive a small pension from the government, so I don't need to work. I am rich in time; I love to go out with my friends."

The following Acknowledgement comes from the staff at Free Wheelchair Mission:

The Pacific Shoreline Marathon / 2007 Walk, Run and Roll for Mobility weekend was an enormous triumph! The weekend’s expo, Saturday dinner and Sunday’s marathon sustained us to obtain a total that is very close to our goal of 11,261 wheelchairs for the campaign.

YOU did it! Words cannot express how blessed we are to have such magnificent, loyal, dedicated and passionate supporters, friends, runners, and volunteers for Free Wheelchair Mission.

I told this story at our dinner Saturday night before the Pacific Shoreline Run for Mobility marathon two weeks ago. It is a wonderful story, and I want to share it with those of you who could not attend. It comes from our partner Grace in Santiago:

Alyn is 32 years old and lives in Linres, Chile. She suffers from sever scoliosis and neurological problems that are causing her to lose her eyesight. After she received her wheelchair I greeted Alyn and told her that the wheelchair was a gift of love from God to her. She gave me a big smile with a look of such gratitude and said:

“Thank you so much! God Bless you. You have no idea how much this wheelchair and your words mean to me. I have been suffering from such a deep depression and have considered ending my live on several occasions. I won’t do it because it would cause my mother to suffer, and my family matters most to me, but I felt like I was in a prison, trapped between four walls where I can’t move or do anything. I want to get out and do things and to be useful.

Thank you everyone for the wheelchair. Now I can leave my prison. Not only have you given me a wheelchair but you’ve given me the hope I needed at a very difficult time in my life. God bless you all for the work that you do.”

This is a different sort of Friday Wheelchair Story. I want to announce
a very bold campaign, ask for your prayers and seek your support.

We are well known here in southern California but, except for a few other areas of our country, most people are not aware that 100 million physically disabled human beings need a wheelchair and live without one. They are unaware that for a large percentage of these millions who suffer constantly, we have a solution, a very affordable solution - only $44.40 can provide a wheelchair and change a life forever!

So one might ask- how does a relatively new organization get the attention of a nation? Here is our plan - Friends, supporters and anyone else who wants to participate can join Dr. Michael Bayer (our Medical Director) and me in a solidarity bicycle ride across the country. You may think “Big Deal”, as hundreds of people ride bicycles across the USA. Here is why we think this is special:

We have a story to tell, to anyone willing to listen.

Readers Digest will report our progress daily on their website and we get a portion of their website subscriptions.

We have an RV following us, a 40 foot billboard on wheels, decorated with our story and photos, compliments of Steve Bray who will ride the first 500 miles with us.

We will encourage people to become fundraisers and riders for this event through our website.

Our campaign is called “Ride for Mobility”. We will leave from Readers Digest headquarters in Pleasantville, NY, on April 20th and conclude in California at the end of June. 

We so need your help! In a few days our website will describe our route. You know people in the states we will pass through. Help us get this news to them.

We need you to pray for us, for our families, for all the people who we hope will be out on the road for us, and for all those millions that need a wheelchair. Help us answer their prayers for a better life. 

God bless,

Don Schoendorfer

Don and Mike are doing all the work, how can I support them?

MAKE A DONATION
Pledge so much per mile. (ex: 2-cents per mile X 3000 = $60)
Watch the thermometer fill as Don and Mike pedal.

BECOME A FUNDRAISER
Share this story with buddies and family.
Create YOUR VERY OWN FUNDRAISING PAGE and invite others to donate. It's FUN!

RIDE WITH DON & MIKE WHEN THEY COME TO YOUR STATE
Register to be a ride-along with Don & Mike.
Ride-Alongs commit to a fundraising minimum of $1000 and pay a $50 registration fee.

They will be starting their ride on April 20, 2007, at the Reader's Digest Headquarters in Pleasantville, NY, and finishing on June 16 in Orange County, CA.

Continue to visit our website for the latest information and details.

The following is from Anthony Godoy, who recently joined the surfer distribution in Costa Rica with film producer Robert August among others. Anthony is leading an effort to produce and pitch a series of short form video documentaries on the event which will be on our website when complete.

As a photographer, I often repeat in my head, “I’m not here. I’m not here. I’m not here” when facing something difficult. And suddenly, I’m not there. But I am there, right in the middle of it.

On February 24, I was in Costa Rica during Free Wheelchair Mission’s distribution of more than 500 wheelchairs to the disabled. We located a crippled child sitting flatly on a tile porch. I don’t know what it was about the look on his face that triggered it, but suddenly I wasn’t there.

A week later in Los Angeles I'm editing images and my wife notices one child, and asks, “I wonder what he was thinking?” I couldn’t possibly know what he was thinking. But I saw something in the picture that jarred a memory. When excited he’d plug his ears with his fingers. Perhaps he was thinking, “I’m not here. I’m not here. I’m not here.”

But now he has his chair, and everyone knows that Free Wheelchair Mission has been there.

[Sam August, Mary Osbourne, &
Dr Mike Bayer in a sea of wheelchairs.]

Here is a very warm story for you:

Greetings from Zanzibar. I have been in Zanzibar for days, arranging the distribution of your wheelchairs. Yesterday I have 2 hour discussion with Chief minister. The same today I met with all the top leaders of Zanzibar. They are very happy - you can’t believe, because most of mission agencies don’t go to Zanzibar, they stay up in Dar es Salaam especially, the Christian organizations. The president of Zanzibar also was informed about my visit.

We bring a different image to the government of Zanzibar about Christianity. Zanzibar is 99% Muslim. This is a biggest breakthrough in my Ministry I have ever experienced in my life time. I’m very happy about this.

While I was talking to the leaders of Zanzibar they asked me to apply for a Christian radio station to be installed in Zanzibar! There is no Christian Station in Zanzibar. Can you imagine? They said they want to learn more about Christianity and they promised to help me. This is the door we really can use. Also they said I can give some bibles and other Christian materials with the wheelchairs. 

I have a fever from all this news. Please kindly continue to pray for me.

The following story comes from Hebei Women’s Federation, our Chinese distribution partner:

“As the door opened, we faced a shocking sight. A man with a fist-sized tumor on the back of his head had crawled to the door to greet us. He was Xu Hai-Sheng, the man we had come to see. It was unbearably painful to see Xu kneeling before us in this condition. He had suffered for twenty-three years from a congenital disorder affecting the left side of his body. 

Both his knees were covered with thick calluses from years of crawling. His parents had sought treatment for him, but poverty forced them to abandon the effort. His immobility, along with the tumor, now isolated him from his community. We brought the Free Wheelchair Mission wheelchair inside and helped him into it.  Xu cherishes this wheelchair more than anything else, for with it he can now move freely and even accomplish simple tasks.

Most of all, the wheelchair brought him a sense of dignity and pride.”

You may recall me talking about my home town of Ashtabula, Ohio, a city of about 25,000 people right on Lake Erie. It thrived in the early 1900’s as a shipping port for iron ore and coal moving from mines in the US and Canada to Pittsburg for steel production. Other industries sprang up too. Most all of this is gone now, and like much of central USA, the economy there struggles. 

Ashtabula rested very quietly in my past after I went off to college, until 2 years ago when my 4th grade Sunday school teacher read about the Free Wheelchair Mission. My old Second Congregational Church launched an awesome campaign to raise funds for 10 containers of wheelchairs. Neither they, we, nor anyone I tell this story to can explain how a church with less than 100 members did this, succeeded in raising $230,000. But it wasn’t just one church, as they went to every other church they could find.

Well, the little town that could has done it again. They had a benefit concert for us last weekend. Ken Medema and Julie Barne performed, backed up by a choir of 50 voices from many different churches. In the end, they raised another $50,000 for us! People there are so proud, so proud of accomplishing these unbelievable tasks, so proud to be taking part in an effort to make this world a better place. You need to know also how proud I am of them, my home town!

In my heart I know they are just beginning. We will stop for rest as we ride our bicycles across the USA next month (Ride for Mobility) and I get to speak at their National Prayer Breakfast on May 4. The offering will be for more wheelchairs.