Submitted
This past weekend several Prosper residents helped bring mobility to friends around the world.
Wheels for the World (WFTW) is one of the flagship programs run by Joni and Friends (www.joniandfriends.org), a Christian ministry that serves families affected by disabilities. WFTW provides a free wheelchair, along with the Gospel message, to children and adults affected by disability worldwide.
On Saturday morning, July 24, volunteers from Prosper, Frisco and Mansfield worked to load approximately 50 wheelchairs onto a truck to be delivered to Angola Prison in Louisiana, where they will be repaired and begin their journey somewhere around the world.
Numerous families in Prosper volunteer with Joni and Friends, either serving at their annual Family Retreat in Navasota or by collecting and storing donated wheelchairs for the Wheels for the World program. Prosper residents Kent and Donna Elliott, who own Prosper Mini Storage, graciously donated a storage unit for the chairs to be kept in. Mansfield residents Win Hatt and Don Bledsoe, as part of their church's active missions program (First United Methodist Church-Mansfield) rented a truck and drove to several storage units in Prosper and Dallas picking up wheelchairs and then traveled to Angola to deliver the chairs. The prayer of the men gathered Saturday morning was that the love of Jesus would be extended around the world, through the gift of mobility these chairs will bring.
The ministry begins with taking donated wheelchairs (many of which are broken or in disrepair) and delivering them to one of 16 prisons around the U.S. to be repaired and put into like-new condition. The chairs are then shipped to one of fifteen different countries. A team of Joni and Friends volunteers, comprised of physical therapists, mechanics and translators, team up with local churches in each country to distribute the chairs to people who desperately need the gift of mobility. Once the recipient(s) receives the wheelchair, the local church gives them a Bible in their own language and tells them the Good News about Jesus.
If anyone would like to donate a wheelchair (in any condition) to Wheels for the World or learn how you can volunteer, please call Bonnie Banker at the DFW office of Joni and Friends (972-941-4525).