vital link
The Newsletter for Through the Roof
Every Church
Needs One
Celebrating 10,000 Wheelchairs
Wheels for the World in Ghana
Stay in Touch
Sharing the
Stories of
Changed Lives
Holidays and
Retreats in
2018
Under darkened skies, and working through a
power cut, our Ghana team had the thrill of
fitting a young man with Wheels for the
World’s 10,000th wheelchair. The recipient,
Andrew, is 24 years old and has been disabled
since childhood, when he had convulsions
which left him unable to walk. He lives with
his mother, who was delighted that he would
no longer have to crawl over rough grass and
pot-holed roads.
He thanked God for
“this precious gift"
- a wheelchair which was rescued from
landfill, repaired at Parkhurst Prison
Workshop, and transported five thousand
miles to help restore Andrew’s dignity. What
an amazing practical demonstration of God’s
love.
Since the first Wheels for the World trip to
Albania in 1998, your support has brought
chairs to 10,000 people, mobility aids to
12,000 more, and changed the lives of over
20,000 families, plus extended communities
and churches, reaching 40,000 people with
the Gospel. Sometimes, the scale of the need
can be daunting, but we can point to 10,000
people who have found new freedom
through the work you’ve made possible –
10,000 reasons to keep pushing on for
another 10,000 chairs!
We’ve been working with Ellen Annan from
the Light Outreach Foundation in Tema since
No: No:
60 Summer
71 SPRING
2014
2018
2003, but this is the first distribution to the
Central Region of Ghana and the Ashanti
people around Kumasi. The team, led by Jill
Jenkinson, travelled to four centres over five
days, and it was obvious that the need is huge
as they distributed 128 wheelchairs, 4 buggies
and 166 mobility aids. There’s lots more to do
in future visits, but for each recipient and
family, it’s a life-changing gift.
That gift of a wheelchair will make a huge
difference to Obour. He fell off his bicycle
while cycling to work on the family farm 20
years ago and sustained spinal damage. He’s
been looked after by his brother and family
ever since. When asked what difference his
wheelchair would make he replied “I shall not
have to stay out in the rain and get wet as I
can push myself to shelter”. Apparently the
previous day he had been carried into the
compound to sit in a chair, but when the
sudden rainstorm started there was no one to
move him, so he got very wet. His brother
said that both of them had been given
freedom, as Obour would no longer need
carrying. His name means ‘stone’ but the
radiant smile that broke out as he pushed
himself for the first time was anything but
stony!
Although at the start of the distribution the
most needy were obvious by their absence,
by the end, many clients were being carried in
by family members, or crawling on the
ground as news spread. The Ghanaian team
were all overwhelmed initially at seeing those
www.throughtheroof.org