His Wheels Featured on Special Chronicles Episode 46

Podman Daniel Smrokowski, founder of Special Chronicles did an audio podcast tour with Alice Teisan at His Wheels International’s headquarters. Daniel heard about HWI through his classmate at Roosevelt University, Aubrey Smith who was  HWI’s journalism intern in the Fall of 2012.

Chris Fabry Live

When this program was re-aired on January 2, 2012 Chris Fabry made the following comments to set up what he called ‘”a best-of programs from October 2010:

You are a difference maker, your heart, your soul, your life. You are making a difference to those around you even if you don’t sense it or understand it. . . . This program is going to make a difference in someone’s life as we start off the New Year. . . . It deals with a woman who loved something, who had that thing she loved taken away from her and then instead of giving up, she allowed God to give her a new vision of that thing.

One reason we wanted to air this in the first broadcast day of the New Year is because in the coming days and weeks, I want to look at people’s lives who’ve been given a dream and who have allowed God to mold that dream in and through them. Because I’m convinced we can either hold on to the vision, the dream we have generated inside of us—what we think that ought to be, what we think life ought to be—or we can allow God to shape that in us to do what He wants. That’s what the story of Alice Teisan is going to teach us today. That’s what I hope you hear coming through loud and clear.'”        (185-186)*

October 2010

Part 1:

01 Chris Fabry Live 01

Part 2:
02 Chris Fabry Live 02

Part 3:
03 Chris Fabry Live 03

Part 4:
04 Chris Fabry Live 04

January 2, 2012: 

Rebroadcast of the October 2010 program

2012-01-02_Chris_Fabry_Live_hour_02

*Excerpt from, Teisan, Alice Riding on Faith: Keeping Your Balance When the Wheels Fall OFF, (2012).

First Person Interview

“This Week’s Guest:
Alice Teisan

Posted on December 6, 2010

Alice Teisan is a great example of someone who was called by God in spite of her weakness.  Alice had a passion for bicycling and was about to leave on a 1000 mile trip when she suddenly became ill with something that felt like the flu, but was later diagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS).  But God had a design all along to use Alice to be the founder of His Wheels, International.

The mission of His Wheels is to provide pedal powered transportation, with dignity, through global partnerships, as a tool for expanding Christ’s Kingdom.  You can read all about it online at www.hiswheels.org

I met Alice a couple of months ago through a mutual friend and it was easy to find her, because our offices are only a couple of miles from each other.  So I went to His Wheels and talked to Alice right in the shop where they repair and build some incredible bikes and trikes for Kingdom purposes.

I think you’ll enjoy getting to know Alice on this week’s edition of First Person.”From First Person’s caption under Alice Teisan

02 His Wheels Intl. – Intro

01 His Wheels Intl. – Interview

Profile Story

Profile Story

By Aubrey Smith Feb. 16, 2012

Bikes of every size, shape and color sit inside a tiny warehouse in Glen Ellyn, Ill. They wait to be sold, shipped and used as transportation. Some will travel as far as North Africa. Others will fund national and global projects. But neither would be possible without the faith and determination of one woman: Alice Teisan.

Teisan is the founder of His Wheels International, a faith-based, not-for-profit organization that provides bicycles and tricycles to individuals affiliated across the globe with the aim of helping to spread the Gospel. The bikes are even used by some Christian missionaries to travel between in remote villages.
The organization was birthed out of her passion for cycling and will to help others.

Since its inception in May 2005, His Wheels International has provided bicycles and tricycles to individuals affiliated with over 85 countries, Teisan said, adding that its purpose is to mobilize God’s work worldwide. But as one donor puts it, His Wheels is equally a spiritual journey for Teisan.

“His Wheels isn’t about bikes or trikes or even necessarily about the people in need of bikes and trikes. I believe it’s about one woman’s journey with God and to God, and about all the people who are drawn into that same journey through her leadership,” said Jason Floyd, a patron from Houston, Texas who heard Teisan’s personal story over the radio and became involved.

Her peers have only kind things to say about her.

“Alice is friendly and down to earth. She’s a role model for living day by day,” said Tony Smith, 48, a volunteer at His Wheels.

Teisan’s passion for bicycling began when she was a child growing up in Detroit.

“By the age of 30, I had biked on four continents and through 30 states across the United States twice in high school,“ says Teisan, 49, who now lives in Wheaton, Ill.

In July 1992, Teisan says she came down suddenly with what would later be diagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome just 4 days short of beginning a cross-country bike trip.

“All of my self made pillars crumbled. I could no longer work. I could no longer do anything sport wise,” Teisan said.

Her life after diagnosis wasn’t exactly a coast downhill. In fact, Teisan was forced to stop practicing her diploma in nursing, bachelor’s degree in physical education and she quit working at Rush Hospital in Chicago.

“So for 11 years, from 1992-2003, my life was just basically trying to exist. I missed full seasons because of my health, because I couldn’t get outside,” said Teisan.

Eleven years after her diagnosis, in what she refers to as one of the lowest points in her life, Teisan was investigated by a disability insurance company who deemed her unqualified for coverage, forcing her to live off of $450 a month. Weeks later, in what she now sees as a twist of fate, Teisan met John and Carolyn Lutembeka, a couple who served as Tanzanian missionaries and who ultimately would help change her life.

“I felt the Lord say, ‘Have them over.’ and I thought, ‘God, I don’t have anything to offer this couple, I mean why would you ask me in the height of this mess, in the height of a nightmare,’” said Teisan.

As the weeks passed, Teisan said her urge to call the Tanzanian missionaries grew until she finally asked them over for dinner, just days before they were set to leave the United States.

According to Teisan, the couple told her of a need for transportation among missionaries in Africa, since distances between each village require a six-hour walk. She said God challenged her to give three times more than what she was making to them, reassuring her that He would provide for her.

HWI has since pedaled along at a steady pace, in sync with Teisan’s health. She has learned to accept everyday hurdles and is happy with the life she says God has given her.

“No doubt the happiest I seem to see Alice is when she sees a video of someone on the other side of the world who’s life has been changed by the ability to get up off the ground out of the dirt, and get around on a bike,” said Kevin Nikolich, HWI trike “designer” and engineer.

Teisan says God has blessed her with the ability to combine her passion with goodwill every day.

“The one thing chronic fatigue could never steal from me is my dreams,” she said. “My goal was to give away 100 bikes in my lifetime.”

And she has exceeded, leaving that goal behind in a trail of dust.

Biography on Author: Aubrey Smith, a journalism student at Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL, did this profile story as part of a class assignment.

This is the Day with Nancy Turner, September 22, 2010

01 His Wheels Intl. 22 Sep 2010

Teisan talks about her interests since youth, testament of faith, illness, and the beginnings of His Wheels International.

In 2003, she was invited to meet a scholar at Wheaton College, who was interested in giving bicycles to people that are undeserved as far as transport is concerned. That led to the start His Wheels International in 2005. Since then His Wheels has sent out 1300 bikes on 6 different continents, with hopes to expand in the future.

WJCH – For Your Information with Virginia Beehn, Dec 1, 2007

In her third interview with Virginia Beehn, Alice Teisan informs listeners of how HWI has moved its focus from bikes to trikes. With the help of Kevin Nikolich, the HWI team has been able to develop three hand pedaled tricycle models to aid those who are physically disabled from the waist down. Teisan talks about Global and International trikes, as well as National bike projects.

Listen to find out how His Wheels Int. has grown since Alice’s first appearance on the program in 2005.

His Wheels Intl. 01 Dec 2007