This story comes from Bill Rice. He just returned from distributing our wheelchairs in Accra, Ghana.

" There was not going to be enough wheelchairs. One of the volunteers came up to me and asked me to follow him. He took me up to a young girl who was laying on a thin blanket on concrete in some shade. She just looked sad and resigned to her fate of lying on the cement. Her eyes looked hopeless and just stared into nothing. In broken English, her father told me he was worried that his daughter would not get on the list for a wheelchair.
I intervened, and we got a wheelchair. Her father picked her daughter up and placed her in the chair. I knelt next to the girl in the chair and tried to get her to talk or say something. It looked like she was trying to smile. I asked her to tell me her name. In a whisper I could barely hear her say "Eunice". I asked her to smile and again it was a small, almost sad smile. Then Alan the sound man for the film crew came over and said he would take our picture. Alan has a big heart and people can tell he cares. So I am knelling next to Eunice trying to get her to smile, Alan is waving the camera and asking her to smile and finally a big smile that seemed to take away her hopelessness.

That smile made the entire trip worthwhile for me. 36 hours of planes and airports, hours on bumpy roads in cars with no air conditioning, oppressive heat and humidity, an upset stomach…none of that mattered any more. About a half hour later I was going back to my hotel when I heard some shouting. I looked over and 50 yards away I saw Eunice in her chair and her father, mother and sisters shouting and waving good bye to me and saying thank you. That is a site and memory that will always be with me. I knew God had touched my life as much as he had touched Eunice’s, and I didn’t even notice the thunderstorm and pouring rain as I walked away."

Let us know if you want us to add your friends to our Friday Wheelchair Story distribution.