An estimated 80 million people worldwide need a wheelchair but lack access, often leaving them confined to the ground or dependent on others. Two faith-based ministries, Free Wheelchair Mission and Joni and Friends, are working to meet both physical and spiritual needs by delivering wheelchairs and sharing the Gospel.
Free Wheelchair Mission, based in Southern California, has distributed more than 1.5 million durable chairs across 95 countries. Nuka Hart said, “We feel motivated by Jesus to do this work.” He added, “And in that wheelchair, we allow for that person, especially those that are believers and have been praying for one, to see in a tangible way that they are loved and not forgotten by Him.”
Joni and Friends restores donated wheelchairs through its Wheels for the World program, partnering with 12 prisons where inmates recondition chairs as part of faith-centered rehabilitation. President Shawn Thornton said, “A common thread of families is they’re told, ‘you’re not welcome here because you’re too disruptive.'” Both ministries seek to restore dignity, mobility and hope to people living with disabilities worldwide.
