Bringing The Hope Of Jesus Through Wheels For The World

By Joni and Friends|Published On: January 13, 2023|Categories: Wheels For The World|

Mateo smiling at the camera in his new wheelchair as his mom stands over him smiling.

“In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.”
Psalm 18:6

Angelica and her eight-year-old son live in Mexico. Mateo has cerebral palsy, cannot walk, and is non-verbal. As a single mom, Angelica does her best to meet all her son’s needs, but the daily struggles that come with Mateo’s disability weigh heavily on her.

Among Angelica’s stressors, mobility stood out as a daily, burdensome problem.

Because she couldn’t afford a wheelchair for Mateo, Angelica had to carry him in her arms, which led to chronic back pain.

Angelica arrived at our Wheels for the World™ outreach carrying Mateo as usual. She wondered if the day had finally come when Mateo would receive a wheelchair…

Mateo kept quiet when our Joni and Friends Bay Area physical therapists and mechanics chose a wheelchair for him and began making adjustments to ensure a good fit. But when he finally got to sit in his wheelchair, a smile lit up his face. He and Angelica listened closely to the saving message of Jesus, and they welcomed Christ into their hearts as Lord and Savior.

With tears streaming down her face Angelica said, “This wheelchair is going to change my son’s life and mine. I can now take him to physical therapy and school!”

The gifts of mobility and the Gospel made a permanent transformational difference for Angelica and Mateo.

Now every time she helps Mateo into his wheelchair, Angelica sees the embodied love of Christ.

Your gift to Joni and Friends Bay Area will provide hands-on help and the truth of the Gospel to families like Angelica and Mateo’s, from the Bay Area to countries around the world.

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the Gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the Gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.”
Colossians 1:3–6