Jareth’s Wheelchair Showcases the Love of Jesus

By Joni Eareckson Tada|Published On: July 1, 2026|Categories: Joni's Posts, Wheels For The World|

A child smiles while sitting in his new wheelchair on a wooden porch, wearing a white shirt and green pants, with a black table attached to the wheelchair.

Recently, during one of Ken Tada’s fishing trips in Honduras, he met the father of an eight-year-old boy with special needs named Jareth. Laboring day and night to support his family living in the remote high jungle, Jareth’s father shared that they could scarcely afford food, let alone the wheelchair Jareth desperately needed.

When Ken came home and told me about Jareth’s plight, we knew God meant for us to act right away. So, Ken and I contributed to Joni and Friends to cover the expenses for a wheelchair for Jareth.

When our teammate Freddy and his wife, a physical therapist named Britny, traveled to the far reaches of Honduras to properly fit Jareth’s wheelchair and share the Gospel with his family, it was a perfect picture of our Luke 14 Biblical Commission:

“Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame… Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.”
Luke 14:21, 23

After driving across the border from El Salvador to Honduras, Freddy and Britny boarded a 15-passenger plane to reach the remote hills where Jareth’s family lives. When they landed, Jareth’s mother, Laura, was waiting with a smile. With no public transportation in their area, they took a taxi to their home. Along the way, and over a meal once they arrived, Laura shared the story of Jareth’s disability.

At age two, Jareth was diagnosed with microcephaly and cerebral palsy. “When I received my son’s diagnosis, I felt like I was going to die,” Laura said. Doctors told Jareth’s parents he would never walk and likely wouldn’t survive childhood. “I cried out to God and thought it was my fault,” she confessed. “That guilt stayed with me for a long time.”

A man sits on a wooden porch surrounded by trees while talking to another man holding a child.

Freddy and Britny spent many hours with Jareth’s family, custom-fitting Jareth’s wheelchair, and making sure he was secure and properly supported. As they worked, Jareth’s siblings stayed close by. His little brother especially loved observing every adjustment and holding parts and tools.

When they finally placed Jareth in his fully customized wheelchair, his smile lit up the room.

A child in a wheelchair sits while three adults adjust the wheelchair and talk with him.

For the first time in his life, Jareth sat upright, comfortable, and safe He even got to join his siblings in a game of hide-and-seek for the first time! As Laura said, “Before, he just watched from the sofa or my lap. Now he’s part of it!”

Laura also found new peace as Freddy and Britny shared with her about God’s sovereignty, releasing the false guilt she long held because of Jareth’s disability. Her heart has brightened and her faith has grown through the experience of Jesus’s great love for Jareth and her whole family.

Isn’t our God amazing? What beautiful plans He has, even for our deepest pain.

When I first broke my neck, I couldn’t begin to imagine the blessing He intended to pour out through my suffering. Little did I know that Jesus would use what started out as a tragedy to put Jareth in his new seat of dignity and bring his whole family into an understanding of God’s love!

A group poses with a boy who has received a new wheelchair.

And Jesus is just getting started… because disabled children and their families are still waiting. So today, roll up your sleeves to join Ken and me in delivering the critical help and Gospel message they need, won’t you?