December 2002

Seasons Greetings from the Free Wheelchair Mission!

As the last days of 2002 dash away, I want to place one last request for your support (last one - I promise!)

This has been a fantastic year! I could go on for hours telling you about the lives you have changed. But we are all busy, getting ready for the holidays, so I will tell just one story.

We just returned from Zhengzhou, the capital of the Henan Province in China. Earlier this year we shipped the Henan Christian Council a full container of 550 wheelchairs. We wanted to meet the church leaders in Henan and help them start the distribution of wheelchairs. This visit was all about building trust and the beginning of a long time relationship.

Here is Lin. She has a form of chorea disease. It affects her speech and motor skills, and she cannot walk. When I held out my hand, she grasped it as if it was giving her balance. She held it tightly, and she would not let go. She twisted her head left and right as she made one sound at a time. She was trying to tell me something, using all her might to force out each word. Her grip got tighter. I saw tears forming under her eyes. I looked up at Carrie, my translator, and she too was crying. Carrie told me that Lin was trying to thank us for the wheelchair.

As I think back of Lin now, I am reminded of a prayer of St. Teresa:

Christ has no body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
Compassion on this world
Yours are the feet with which He walks
To do good
Yours are the hands with which He blesses
All the world

Yours are the hands
Your are the feet
Yours are the eyes
You are the Body

Christ has no Body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
Compassion on the world
Christ has no Body now on earth but yours

I don't know about you, but for me, that hand shake with Lin was worth a year of hard work. I wish you were all there to share that feeling. It was great way to verify that we are on the right path.

Next year we plan to grow by 500%. Government and church officials in Zhengzhou told me they need 20,000 wheelchairs in their city alone! The Democratic Republic of the Congo wants 3200 wheelchairs. Our friends in Chennai, India and Luanda, Angola each need another container.

Many of you have contributed to our mission already this year. I know a lot of decisions for giving are made these next few days. I want you to take pride in our accomplishments, your accomplishments, but I also want you to take this opportunity to share your fortune with these physically disabled people who now live on the ground. Like Lin, millions are now looking to us for help, and we will reach them, you and me.

Thank you in advance for whatever you can give.

God bless,

Don Schoendorfer
President - Free Wheelchair Mission
1842 Whitestone Terrace
Santa Ana, CA 92705
www.freewheelchairmission.org