Burkina Faso
Niger
“I just wanted you to know that in early September 2013 the His Wheels International tricycle arrived in Niger. I have it stored in a room waiting the return of the physical therapist …who I think will be excited to see it….She will be back this coming weekend. Maybe we can assemble it together. I will keep you posted.”
What a fun email to get first thing in the morning. It’s a journey that began years ago with building a relationship with a missionary family from Niger who were in the Wheaton, IL area.
Then back in February 2013 His Wheels sent a trike to Florida with one of our volunteers. There it was loaded onto a container headed for Niger. Today Alice received the email from a SIM missionary in Niger.
Nigeria
October 2004 (Pre His Wheels International as an Organization)
In October 2004, Alice sensed God challenge her in a personal goal towards giving away 100 bicycles in her lifetime to give away her second $1,200 to buy bicycles in Nigeria through Tracy, a SIM missionary. “This time it happened at a church meeting in October 2004. While a missionary to Nigeria closed his presentation with prayer, I felt moved to give. After praying about it, I darted straight toward him and asked if bicycles would help his ministry. He said yes and asked, “Could I use half of your money to buy and distribute five hand-pedaled wheelchairs that are built locally in Jos, Nigeria?” The missionary went on to explain that those with polio or with other lower extremity disabilities use wooden blocks for hand shoes, dragging their legs behind them. A hand-pedaled wheelchair (often referred to as a trike), would offer them independence and dignity. Having experienced physical limitations myself, I longed to make life a little easier for others with disabilities.
My eyes were starting to open to the huge need that was out there….Before the month was over, I received pictures of the trike recipients. It was startling to see a picture of a schoolteacher dressed in a three-piece suit, walking with his hand blocks and dragging his legs behind him. It melted my heart to see the smile and the hope on each recipient’s face. An extra blessing was knowing these projects were supporting the national economy. Before I knew it, my bicycle dream was getting bigger than bicycles!
The first show-and-tell was with my small group Bible Study, which had been meeting weekly for the past five years at the Walkers’ home.
Robert Walker, then ninety-two, had been my friend and mentor for years. He encouraged me on a regular basis that despite my disability, “God still has a plan for your life, Alice.” Over the years Bob also reminded me, “Barbara and I pray daily for you.” Now God was using Bob to help me further embrace His call.
When Bob saw the pictures of the trikes, he said, “You must form an organization and incorporate the ideas God has given you. This vision is larger than your personal goal of giving away a hundred bicycles.”
What had Bob just said? Hadn’t I just stated that my personal dream was to give away a hundred bikes? Where had his wild idea come from? I didn’t think I’d ever had aspirations of becoming an executive director of an organization. Or had I?”*
*Excerpt from, Teisan, Alice Riding on Faith: Keeping Your Balance When the Wheels Fall OFF, (2012), 70-72.
Senegal
January 2008
HWI partnered with the Wheaton College (WC) Football coaches. Every year the WC football team goes on short-term mission trips to places where WC football alums are doing missions work.
One such team was going to Senegal So the team took a trike to Dakar Senegal as we explore possible opportunities there.
From Senegal some of the football team went on to visit Jeremy in another part of North Africa.
They delivered chassis jig fixture parts to Jeremy along with a paper schematic of where to place the fixture pieces as he welded them onto a metal frame. In addition they delivered a tube notcher.
About a month later Jeremy wrote, “My jig is up and running, and the tube notcher is saving me big time on blood pressure and time!…I want to have twenty trikes built by summer…This project is the best one I have ever worked on, and most of that is due to your wonderful support. It is a great pleasure partnering with HWI.”
June 2008
By 2008 four North African nationals and the humanitarian worker, Jeremy, distributed six of the 20 trikes they planned to build there. A church in Oklahoma partnered with them buying the six trikes. Jeremy reported that “All six recipients came dragging themselves through the filthy sand on their hands, but they left in a ‘flashy’ fast trike, The trikes provided dignity and hope in a unique way.”
Sierre Leone
Togo West Africa
July 2007
How do we find our partners?
“We are leaving for Togo West Africa. Last year you gave our boys two bicycle. Can we take them with us to Togo? We are packing our trailer and will leave for Pennsylvania today.” Russ, a Pediatrician, and missionary asked.
We at His Wheels were delighted to let the bicycles go. It was yet another part of God’s plan for HWI. This made our 7th country in which HWI bikes and trikes were being used.
The Lord laid on Alice’s heart to call Russ back and ask if he had room for a trike. He was delighted to take a trike.
Had it not been for temperatures above 90+F, which caused Alice to cancel her plans for a day of touring in Chicago with friends from Denmark, she would have missed the last minute opportunity to get bikes and a trike to Togo. Heat related symptoms forced Alice to remain at home and in bed for a good portion of the day.
A few hours later Russ came over and talked with Kevin, our mechanical engineer. As we discussed our dream of trikes being built by nationals the excitement was contagious. Russ’s face lit up as he thought about ways to empower nationals to build trikes as a micro enterprise business in Togo.
Russ left thrilled at the possibilities. My heart was touched. Momentarily Alice could see that it was no accident that another day found her at home, struggling with a long-term disability with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). If it weren’t for CFS Alice would have missed a potentially amazing opportunity, part in God’s plan for the people of Togo and for HWI to provide mobility.