Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:06 Welcome to That Makes Total Sense, a podcast dedicated to exploring God's generosity and justice. I'm Alexis ett, a Christian aiming to ask good questions and encouraging you to do the same. Every one of us is wired by God to live out generosity and justice. But the how sometimes eludes that makes total sense is a way for us to get together, posture ourselves as learners, and challenge one another, to practice generosity and justice in a tangible way every day.
Speaker 2 00:00:42 Hey everybody. After just a few minor technical difficulties, I am so pleased to be sitting here with Don Show Doper. He is the founder of an organization that I had never heard of before I grabbed his book, but I'm so thrilled that it's in my life now. It's called Free Wheelchair Mission, and, uh, Don is gonna talk about that as well as the book that he has just written called Miracle Wheels, The story of a Mission to Bring Mobility to the World. Hey Don, thanks for joining me today.
Speaker 3 00:01:19 Thank you. Wow, this is a real honor for me too.
Speaker 2 00:01:23 Oh, well, I, I let you know that I was flying back and forth to the Midwest this week, and this was just the absolute perfect airplane read. I love a person's story like memoirs are my Jam. But I also in this book, got to experience not only your story, but your story interaction, interacting with other people's stories, and this what we love to explore on the podcast here at God's Generosity and Justice. So thank you, first of all for being so generous with your story. These things that I can imagine are just so close to your heart. Thank you for sharing them with us through the book and through your work at the organization.
Speaker 3 00:02:09 Okay,
Speaker 2 00:02:12 So first of all, can you just give us a, before we get into how re Wheelchair Mission came about, can you give us like the elevator speech essentially of what your organization is and does in the world?
Speaker 3 00:02:29 Well, we address this issue that according to W H O World Health Organization, there's 75 million people waiting for a wheelchairs. And the way I look at it, they're crawling if they have strength in their arms. Uh, if they don't, somebody's carrying them. And if they're too heavy or too frail, they're languishing in the back room and they're living until they die. And, uh, 75 million, that's, uh, and then that's a lot. And, uh, cuz we don't see people like that in, in crawling or being carried, you know, or visiting and languishing in the back room. So a big surprise there. And then, um, you know, of why is it so expensive to get a wheelchair? Um, well, there's a lot of reasons why it's expensive, especially in a, in a blessed country like we have here, that where would, there are resources to buy expensive things, especially if it's for somebody's better wellbeing medically speaking.
Speaker 3 00:03:30 And, and that's, but because we set this price being so high, all of a sudden, there's no way these 75 million people are gonna buy one. And no knowing anybody's going to even be able to pay for one because they're just so expensive. So my, uh, background is a near engineer and not being burdened with a lot of experience, um, decided we, what's, what's list the chair with wheels, I mean, the name has the ingredients. Let's just go get a chair and some wheels and get a wheelchair and get people. So with basic needs for mobility up off the ground. And that's what we've done at Free Wheelchair Mission.
Speaker 2 00:04:06 This is fantastic. I wish that people could see the cover of this book. I will link it in the show notes so that people can, can get a glimpse of it before they order it. Um, we'll get into that in just a minute, but literally, the prototype was a white lawn chair every, everyone in America knows that exact chair, they've sat in that chair and it was the white lawn chair with bicycle wheels.
Speaker 3 00:04:31 Yeah, that was it. Mountain Bug Tires, because I, I didn't know much about the developing world, uh, lifestyle, uh, uh, culture terrain, but I, I figured there's gotta be a lot of loose soil there, dirt, sand, mud. And, um, so, you know, you go after that with a mountain bike tire and just nice and wide and, and, uh, and so that's what we picked. It's like an offroad weak wheelchair in a sense. Um, yeah,
Speaker 2 00:04:58 It's fan, it's, it's totally fantastic. But before we started recording, I shared with you that I have had some people close to me in my life who have utilized wheelchairs for their primary source of mobility. So when I was a, a college student, I worked for a family and helped, uh, as a, they called it a debilitation aid at that point, 20 years ago, I don't know what they call it now, but helped with just everyday activities for their teenage daughter who had cerebral palsy. She, um, got that at birth, which is relatively, you know, it's, it's, it's somewhat common to have experience of birth, an injury at birth. And so she, uh, used an electric wheelchair, and then I had an aunt who experienced a brain injury in her early forties, and she used a wheelchair for the rest of her life. But even so, it really took reading your book for me to kind of use my imagination for what a lack of mobility would look like and does look like in developing countries. And so I'm saying that to say I'm probably not the only one. But also for you, this wasn't something that you, that was at the top of your mind, you know, growing up. Either you had to have an experience in a developing country with, you know, recognizing, seeing someone who, who had a lack of mobility for, to get your, to get your wheels turning, so to speak. So can you tell us about that experience that you had in Morocco years before you started this mission?
Speaker 3 00:06:40 Yes. It was in, back in 1979, freshly out of my educational experience in universities and, and my, my wife as well. And we're starting our careers and, you know, building a house and starting to think about a family, not building a house, buying a house, but, um, and, um, we went to Morocco and it was probably a mistake because we didn't have any money. And, uh, it's a beautiful country and the people are beautiful, but from an outsider perspective, it was just so new to us. And being Islamic as well. And, and, uh, the within few hours of landing, um, and then going to a city and then going into the Medina, which is the old part of the, of the city, Uh, you know, now we're talking abouts not 1,280 kind of, uh, architecture and a dirt road. And there's, uh, barrels, towing wagons made out of wood and, and, um, people are just going every different direction.
Speaker 3 00:07:39 And, um, but all of a sudden between the legs of a group of people's on this narrow road, this woman starts to crawl across the road. And, uh, she's using her, I'd say over and over if you're using her fingernails for traction, because her, her legs were being, they're just useless being towed behind her. And she's, uh, and use and her elbows, and she's just moving, you know, And I wouldn't say step by step is almost like reach by reach and her clothes are filthy and they're, they're torn and she's, she's a bit bloody and, uh, you know, and, and she's just looking at the ground in front of her and it's like, Wow. Never seen anything like that. Never even imagined something like that. And then she disappears, uh, down an alley. And, you know, she's going relatively slowly, but mainly she's, I think she's probably thinking, Don't, please don't step on me.
Speaker 3 00:08:36 Please don't step on me. Uh, and, and you know, I I, I look at Lori, my wife, and she looks back and says, Well, you know, we're Americans. We gotta be able to take care of this. Let's go find a place to buy a wheelchair and get this poor woman of, you know, some, some peace and quiet. And she's gone. And this was a, and again, a 1200 era type of a location we were in. And the, the, the, all the stores, they sold stuff that people would buy, uh, the spices and clothing and uh, and, and we just walked away. Uh, and um, that was an experience that would come back to me. The memory would come back from time to time, something would remind me of, of that woman. But, um, uh, and then, you know, I spent 20 years trying to de develop that career, um, develop the, the home, develop the family, and uh, uh, and it wasn't until, uh, teenage daughter came down with a bulimia eating disorder that, um, we weren't strong Christians.
Speaker 3 00:09:41 We was brought up a Christian. My wife was brought up in a Catholic church, and, uh, I always gave God credit for starting the universe because actually no one else can explain it. It has to be something he did because it was just, doesn't make any sense if it could have happened by itself. But I didn't think he had any, uh, time or I wouldn't say interest. It's not that he wouldn't be interest, but this is big. This universe is big and, you know, and, uh, and so, um, uh, we just had to surrender to him. No, nonetheless, because there was no cure for someone with a severe eating disorder. Uh, and that brought us to our knees, brought us back to church, and, um, and I, after a couple years of being a pedestrian in the pew, I decided to get off the curb and get back out in the road and tried mentoring and tutoring people and figure would my education, I I could probably really help 'em with their math and science and, and, uh, I wasn't getting very good at all.
Speaker 3 00:10:43 So especially with, uh, trying to mentor people because they're in Santa A there's some rough, just rough neighborhoods in Santa A and they're people that are mentoring or, you know, on parole and in and out of their home and sleeping in cars and sometimes in jail. And, uh, and it was almost like, um, one morning, one, one middle of the night, I, I heard this voice. I mean, this isn't, this didn't really happen, but if I can sum it up this way, cause it was, this is a little period of maybe a year. You don Yes.
Speaker 3 00:11:17 Um, you know who I'm talk, you know, who's talking to you now? Yeah, yeah. I do it. Uh, and well, why are you wasting your time <laugh> and it, why don't you use the gifts I gave you to do something for the kingdom? And he elaborated on the fact that the gifts that I was trying to use, I mean the, the with the talents I didn't have that I was trying to use were were not appropriate for me. And he knew, you know, and, and then he hung up in the sense <laugh>. So that really, you know, okay, you got it. You know, I'm an engineer. Why can't I do something with my engineering skills to help people? Why don't, how about that person that I saw in Morocco, Why can't I help that person in Morocco? And so then you do the research and, and I find out about this 150 or 75 million people, and that's low estimate.
Speaker 3 00:12:12 That's what the, the World Health Organization comes up with. But it's a low estimate. And, uh, and then I did some research on who all these organizations, and there were about 20 of 'em worldwide that were spent maybe even a couple decades trying to help. It's, it's, it's hard not to do something when you see people like that. Uh, and they were trying to refurbish use wheelchairs, uh, cause every, in this country, every five years, if you have insurance, you'll probably get another wheelchair every five years. And you don't wanna give it up because, you know, it's an expensive wheelchair, but nobody really wants to use wheelchairs. So it sits in the attic or the basement or the garage. And then, so these groups, um, will get them and refurbished them. Uh, and then there's a few, couple groups who are actually buying very, like, kind of low end basic wheelchairs.
Speaker 3 00:12:58 But again, they're all designed for people with needs in this country. Uh, and uh, and that was impressive because, um, that's a lot of work what they were trying to do. But I added up what each group had done. And, uh, in 1999 and for the world, they had given out a hundred thousand wheelchairs to a hundred million, well, 75 million people. And, and they worked hard at their heart and soul. Some of 'em, Christian, a lot of 'em just humanitarian people that really just wanted to help. But it said, you know, what was, well, it's a chair with wheels. Why do we have to make it any more complicated than that? We need, we, we need durable, we need it functional, we need it safe, we need it inexpensive. And all that means it's gotta be, uh, one design. You know, you don't have all the variations, so you've got so many different variations of wheelchairs.
Speaker 3 00:13:48 It's, it's, uh, so started out with, uh, lawn chair with bicycle wheels. Both toys were US and Home Depot, and we didn't have to drive very far. And, uh, started to do the reverse engineering and figured that if that bicycle cost $60, they probably made these wheels for $3. And that force was coming from China. And the, the white resin lawn chairs were on sale for four hours in the fall. So I, I got two chairs, I mean, uh, two wheels and one chair for $10 and okay, couple casters and some steel to connect it all together and made a prototype and didn't know what to do with it. Um, because I didn't know who to show and who to talk to. I, this was all new. And finally, I, um, I, I got an appointment at a mission director for the church we were going to, and still go to Mariner Church and Irvine.
Speaker 3 00:14:41 And he had just gotten off a plane from, um, Democratic Republic of the Congo. And he was jet lagged, tired. But like, he heard my idea. I said, you know, just two days ago I saw people crawling on the crown in, in a Democratic Republican at a Congo. Uh, and, and, uh, and he was right on, Let's, let's do, let's, let's help, let's figure out what, what the risks are. What's the big bottle next? Let's, let's, let's move on this. And, and there was, uh, the, the church just got behind it. Um, and so I went and made a hundred of them <laugh> because I'm, I, my career was doing clinical trials for companies and, um, nonmedical products. And I knew how to prove safety and efficacy, which is the jargon to use when you're in this industry. And so I figured I, I couldn't afford to do much more on my own, but on this hundred.
Speaker 3 00:15:32 And, uh, I'd get 'em out and I'd come back, uh, 10 a year later and see if the wheels are still turning. And I'd write a paper safety and efficacy of an inexpensive, uh, um, durable functional wheelchair for the developing world. That way, you know, is the title. And that's what engineers do as well. We're really good at writing papers and then letting someone else go from there. Um, and, um, so the first one we gave away, I mean, I hope I'm going down the right path for your conversation. You're great, Don. You're great. Thank you. Uh, so I suddenly, I, I, uh, in church, I get an elbow in the ribs from my wife who was reading the bulletin and not paying attention to this, to the scripture. And, uh, she's reading that they, they had an opportunity for medic for volunteers to go on a medical mission to India.
Speaker 3 00:16:24 And it was, uh, they want doctors and nurses. And I said, You know, Laurie, this is no time to have a discussion about this, but I'm not a doctor, I'm not a nurse. Uh, well how is this gonna work? He says, Well, you know, but we got these hundred wheelchairs in the garage and I'd love to get my car back in. So <laugh>, let's do something. Uh, cuz I was basically stagnant. And so I, I showed up at the meeting and, you know, everybody was, uh, really very talented, uh, uh, medical sta in, in Orange County, you know, the surgeons and nurses and, and, and then there's this guy who's an engineer and he, he can't do anything medically. He's not, he's not, doesn't have a medical background. He can't practice medicine, but, and he wants to bring hundred wheelchairs with him to India. And it was just, it was, they told me they wanted, they, they're just, after I left, they could, I don't know if they prayed that I would go away, but they all wanted me to just go away <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:17:21 And I wasn't planning on going away cuz I, I just had to get this out. And so it, it, it was hard because it didn't look, didn't look to them like a wheelchair. And most people say, Well that's just, that's just a lawn chair with some big wheels on it. He called out a wheelchair. I said, Yeah, I do, because I, you know, I kept thinking a woman, she had strong arms, she was crawling, she'd be able to propel that chair, uh, and just get her off the ground. She wouldn't have to worry about people stepping on her. So, um, and it, it, it kept on getting more and more difficult. I couldn't ship a hundred to, to India. There was no way. They had all kinds of problems with import exemptions and things. And I wound up taking four on a, on a, playing with me with the four passengers who, um, who were in this medical mission trip at the end of it.
Speaker 3 00:18:09 Uh, and when I got to India, same thing. They didn't look like a chair to them. And it's, I don't know, in the mission world, you, you, you never get enough sleep, you never have enough stuff. You never, you never, It's just never, never is this a whole world of never. Um, and, and the last thing you want is another projects, uh, but in Indy you can't walk in a city. You can't walk more than a hundred feet without seeing somebody on, on the, on the ground. Um, and so, um, said that really want, like, what's wrong with these people? And then I realized, what, there's nothing wrong with them, They're just overworked people and they're doing their best to practice medicine. And so, um, we go out on a, um, a mission that then the next day was a Sunday. Uh, I called the card table clinic cuz I basically, I did, I did the card tables.
Speaker 3 00:18:59 That was what the engineer could do. I was, I moved boxes and set up card tables and we waited for the first, uh, patients to come and is hundred degrees and probably pretty close to a hundred percent humidity and just very uncomfortable. But that's just, that's just, um, India for you. Um, and I see a couple people coming down this dirt road and they're taking turns carrying something. And as they get closer, I realize they're carrying a, a boy. And, and he's squirming and he's flailing his arms and around and he's, his head's going back and forth and he's drooling, he grinding his teeth and later heard that was cerebral palsy. Uh, and it's because of, of home childbirth, which is common in the world. If there was a hospital, you probably, you may not have the money, um, and is only a few dollars to have a baby born and back then, but who's got a few dollars.
Speaker 3 00:19:55 So then your neighbor's got kids. So, I mean, there must be a way to do this at home. And you know, since you made a no, you understand just a slight interruption of the oxygen in the blood flowing to the, the brain of the newborn and that affects their motor skills. And he had a pretty bad case in it for sure. And he was a handful for them if they didn't have any other children. And, uh, so I, I got, uh, I had a wheelchair. It was on top of the bus, uh, big white bus. We used to get to this, uh, suburb. And I dragged it down and nobody, I didn't have a translator because there was no need for, I wasn't gonna be able to do anything anyway, so I, I was just over in the corner in the shade and I got the wheelchair down and I put it in front of them and I was sort of coached at, it's a man's world out there in the developing world.
Speaker 3 00:20:48 And it most likely, if anybody was gonna take the only chair you had, it would be the father or the grandfather, but it wouldn't be the mom or it wouldn't be a kid. Uh, and so, uh, I put it in front and stood back and smiled and it would my clipboard, you know, because I'm gonna take data right from my paper. And, and uh, there, uh, she put her, her son in chair and he's, his hands are going left and right and his legs are going and he's sliding out and she putting it up, pulling him back into the chair. But he, uh, it um, he, he wasn't being carried by a sweaty body and he started to cool off and he started to calm down a little bit. And then, and then she's rocking the chair back and forth like it's a rocker a little bit on the rear wheels.
Speaker 3 00:21:34 And then she's doing figure eights and then she goes over this curb and I'm figuring I probably lose it at this point cuz if you don't go over lining up, you know, wheels with the curb, you can twist it and turn it upside down. But she probably had a lot of experience with the wheelbarrow cuz she worked in a rice pad. Uh, and so she knew how to get this stuff over curbs and things. And, and, uh, and all of a sudden my peers, um, uh, from Indiana, from the United States, they look over and there's this, I had the first patient already in a, in a, a solution to a big problem without saying a word. And so they then I, now that they were challenged, and so they're being kind about it, but they do, some of the Indian guys, a doctor said, Well, what if it doesn't fit through the door and somebody they'll have to leave it outside.
Speaker 3 00:22:24 Somebody will use it for a wheelbarrow and it'll be gone. And, um, and so let's, let's ask the people to stay and we'll, uh, we'll drive them home and we'll just make sure it's gonna be work in their village where they live. And so they did, and we drove them home and, um, it was quite a site to see this big white bus coming down the driveway. And there's there about 30 families living in homemade shacks. And, and they all worked at a rice fields, rice patties. And they, and they tell us now there was three miles that's they carried their son. And they tell us, uh, if we both worked, we could make, uh, $2 a day. But since one of us has to stay home, we make a dollar. And that's what covers the room and board. So there's their, and that's zero, get to their, their home.
Speaker 3 00:23:10 And it's, the doorway was wide enough and we got the wheelchair into the door, and I get inside and it's got a room for a hammock, that's their bed room. And it's also everything else. There's just one room and there's a little pen on the ground, maybe, uh, four foot by four foot on the dirt. And that's their son's bedroom. And they had a blanket for him. But you know, he, it wasn't a clean blanket, but it was a little padding. And they had one set of clothes to wash and one set of clothes to wear. And, and that was their earthly, total earthly possessions. Uh, and so we're, uh, I'm just trying to get information, data, you know, my clipboard and, and, uh, but there's occasional tear coming out of my eyes too, because I'm seeing how this family is just so excited. And, but, but they did know what was gonna happen.
Speaker 3 00:24:05 Cause you don't give things away like this to people in developing world. They're not used to it. And then all of a sudden, you know, the la the neighbors come in and, and there there are other, uh, people using, um, branches of trees for crutches. Polio is, uh, you know, it's pretty much gone, but there's still people that have it that had it before the vaccines came out. Um, and so, uh, and all of a sudden interesting, the man who was our guide and our translator, his name was Moses. And, uh, Moses came out to me and said, Don, we just have to leave right away. And I said, Why? And he said, Well, cause I, I neglected to get the permission from the elder of the village to come in here and you and this, and I've, I've embarrassed him. And, and, uh, he just showed up and he's, he, he, he's really mad.
Speaker 3 00:24:55 He's, you could tell you he was really angry. And, and I said, Yeah. And I didn't know what was going. This is a Hindu village, you know, and the elder is the, he's the judge. The, uh, he's the authority. He's, he's the man who is the mayor. And so, okay, uh, but before we go, I did my job. You can do your job now Moses. And he said, What's my job? And I said, Why? I brought the wheelchair. I'm the engineer. That was my good, this is what I can do. But you, I know you have a Bible in your pocket. Tell him why we're here. Say something to this crowd because there's 20 people in this crowded room now. And, and so he opens the Bible and he clears this road. And I could tell he's a little nervous because he wasn't used to just walking into a village and in a Hindu village and talking about Christianity.
Speaker 3 00:25:46 Uh, but they all listened to him. Uh, and, and I didn't think that was anything unusual because that's what you would do in any culture. But, um, he told me later that it's very uncommon to, they know you're reading from not their book, but your book. And they have lots of suspicions about Christianity. And, and, and usually they either mock you or they walk away, he says, But they just, they just, this, this wheelchair thing was just, they needed an explanation. And then we get in, uh, in the, we like, um, you know, by this time the, my, my notes are a blur of tears. Uh, and, and everybody's just, uh, we don't know how, nobody knew how to process this information. So we get in the bus and, uh, the bus driver's angry cuz now he's late for his appointments. And, uh, we're late, but we didn't care.
Speaker 3 00:26:38 But, uh, we started to drive down this dirt road and, and a Luger started running after us yelling, waving their hands. And you know, of course all the, all the Americans here, we think, well, we're gonna get kidnapped for sure here, and they're gonna hold this host and who knows what's gonna happen. And all the imaginations are just going like that. And the, the, the bus, the men in the actually got in front of the, the, the bus and put their hands right on the windshield, You're gonna either run me over or you're gonna stop. And, and somehow they got this command from somebody to stop that bus. And we turned around and here's a mom walking out with two glasses of water. And she had the, she realized we're leaving and we're not taking a wheelchair with her, with us. And we told her it was a gift, but she that, what does that really mean?
Speaker 3 00:27:29 And then she needed to give us something in exchange that was just her culture, or maybe it's her religion. And, um, you know, and it was like, Oh, I can't believe this. And then, um, have three other, I brought four wheelchairs there. I have four, three other stories that are just as powerful as that one cuz God knew he needed to not just influence me, but he needed to influence the people that were there about how powerful this gift of a wheelchair could be. So a couple days later, this, the very skeptical mission group in Inai, India was driving me around Chenai to show me all the disabled people that they want to give wheelchairs to. And they said, We'd like to be, we'd like to be your distribution partner. And I said, What on earth would I ever need a distribution partner for? I got 96 wheelchairs back.
Speaker 3 00:28:22 All I wanna do is get 'em out and I'm gonna bait that paper. I'm gonna go back to my life, you know, as an engineer, biomedical engineer. And, and, and you know, like two years later I realized how important it was to have a distribution park cuz they're the ones that actually do all the work and giving out these wheelchairs. And they're motivated because they saw how they could share the gospel and they could walk in to a village and be greeted because they have a, a wheelchair for the person who's probably suffering the most in that whole village. Uh,
Speaker 2 00:28:58 Don, I, I wanna thank you for sharing that. I wanna pause, and this is, um, we don't have to go entirely there, but, but one thing that keeps striking me in your story is this, this idea that God kind of going back even to, to, to the beginning when you started to tell that, that God asked you to use your gifts, the things that you were good at. I I think many Christians have had experiences. I I, I could share my story of that and myself and, and my husband of, we have to be vocational missionaries, right? We have to go somewhere and do something and live and change all of these things. And we weren't able to do that. And for a long time I felt like I had failed, like we, you know, had failed. And we had a similar story of my husband is a scientist and uh, he has an engineering background, but he, he works in sciences, uh, that's what his, his, uh, graduate degrees are.
Speaker 2 00:30:14 And before he went back for his doctorate, we really felt like the Lord was, was kind of communicating to us, Hey, you're a really gifted scientist. What if you did that for me? <laugh>, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So kind of a similar situation where you're trying to do all of these things and this, you're, you're kind of fumbling over yourself because this isn't necessarily what you're particularly gifted in. And when I read in your, in your story, and you've, and you've alluded to this biomedical engineer, I mean, Don, you have <laugh>, you have to creep from mit. It's like, this is, you know, you, you have, you have done what God has asked you to do using your gifts and partnered this dis distribution partner is a good example, but partnered with a lot of people who could help you do the things that you were gifted to do.
Speaker 2 00:31:18 People who have partnered with you in your beginning, your nonprofit, people who have partnered with you in shipping, people have partnered with you and all of these things, doing what they're gifted in to see this vision of yours come out and help. Now over a million people receive this gift. So, I mean, how can you, can you just give us a little, a little bit of your story in, in, in that respect, but also encouraging us, you know, when we look around and say, I'm not a pastor, I'm not a missionary in your case, like, I'm not a doctor, but I'm here. How can I partner with the Lord to do these things and utilize my unique gifts in this role to meet a need?
Speaker 3 00:32:09 Well, yeah, it is, it is. And some people don't know what they're good at yet. And some people may never know what they're good at. Great
Speaker 3 00:32:16 <laugh> cause and they're maybe for a whole lot of reasons they haven't been around people who could see that for them. I mean, parents can usually tell what your sons and daughters you're good at. What that doesn't mean they can get 'em to go in that direction. Um, you know, I was, um, I was good at doing the engineering and I, I was good at studying and learning and all that, but, uh, and I was, you know, I was okay, but it was go, but all of a sudden you, how can, you can expand that in a way that might be more useful. I was, I was making one company beneficial over the, the, uh, the, uh, over another company, uh, because this pumping that I was working for had a product. It was a little better than their product. And then, you know, and then that would just go back and forth and back and forth.
Speaker 3 00:33:03 And gradually we're, we come up with a society that has very sophisticated medical technology, uh, but it's not really focused on other than people where we can make money somehow on it. And I, I was in that world and I was very happy in, in being in that world. But, um, and then, you know, along your, along your life, you see things, it's like a, it is like connecting the dots. You see this, your memories, you got memories. Oh, you've tried to, if you can put 'em on a piece of paper, they're gonna be dots everywhere. And you try to figure out, there's a connection here. God is showing me these things, these things that I didn't expect to see, whether it's in a movie or whether it's a conversation or, you know, somebody crawling across a dirt road in a developing country, or, you know, a dream.
Speaker 3 00:33:50 Sometimes it could be dream. I mean, God talks to you, talks to me, talks to us, and, and it's happens. It's not at coincidence is what I used to call it a coincidence. And you kind of connect the dots and then suddenly you can tie, you know, is there something here? Is he telling me to go in this? Is he asking me to go in this direction because, um, I can't explain why I got to this point. And then, and then you of course, then you're faced with a risk of do I go in that path or do I, um, do I, do I have enough confidence in in what I've put together on this pa page full of spots and I'm connecting these dots in this way? Do I have enough confidence to go forward? And then, you know, you'll find out eventually, uh, whether it's gonna be a good path or not.
Speaker 3 00:34:40 Because I, you know, I've, we all have tried many things that didn't work out very well at all, you know, and sometimes we've lost a lot of money. Sometimes we've just lost a lot of time. But it, it there, you know, if he, I think if God feels that you're on the right path, he's gonna help you make the next step. Yeah. If you surrender, if he, you know, okay, God, just, um, tell me what you want me to do today. Uh, yeah. And, and yeah. And, uh, it's, it's not easy. Uh, but if you go to a developing country, which is where I was kind of focused on, it's not hard to find things that people need. We usually give them what we don't need anymore. We give away our own clothes, We give away our old stuff, you know, and it gets shipped to them. And, and, um, um, but to, you know, if you were to spend, uh, I think any, uh, I, I could go spend a month in a slum and I'd probably find ideas that would be very useful for them. And it may require scientific knowledge to, to develop that sort of thing for them. And maybe it may be pushing the state of the art of computer technology to give them something that they could really use, uh, as opposed to something we think that, that they should have. And because we have it.
Speaker 2 00:35:59 Right. And thank you, Don, I love how this, you know, looking at your website for the free wheelchair mission on the, on the front page, we would have no idea that this wheelchair that you're distributing right now had its beginnings with a white resin lawn chair and bicycle wheels. And I think, if I'm remembering correctly from the book, this may be a spoiler alert, that paper never got written.
Speaker 3 00:36:35 Oh, I'm waiting to do that.
Speaker 2 00:36:39 But that's, you know, you, but you went into it kind of knowing what you knew, Right? This is what I know how to do. This is, this is, this is how I can serve. But I mean, the way that, the way that your story read, at least the way that, the way that I read it, it was like, but kind of the more that you got into it, God brought more people into your life. There were more, uh, connections like you just mentioned, and you kept going in a direction that you didn't foresee at the beginning. And now maybe can you tell us a little bit about this wheelchair is a maybe third generation, if I'm remembering correctly. And you've come so far in, this organization has come so far from four wheelchairs, you know, to, to 96 in your, in your garage, but four wheelchairs, you know, on a plane to now over 1.3 million wheelchairs having been like widely distributed in, uh, all over the world, which is, it's mind boggling. It's mind boggling that a prototype like that could have gotten to this, this place. So maybe if you could give us just a couple of highlights, you know, things that were really pivotal in moving this idea from, from single prototype giveaways to what your organization is doing now.
Speaker 3 00:38:19 Well, one of the things was, I was, I was focused on evidence. I was focused on gathering evidence and writing a paper that would, you know, would have signed review, be reviewed by my peers, You know, all that stuff that you do. And, and, uh, I realized after that first, uh, wheelchair, um, yeah, the evidence is very important and it makes our culture stronger because we can prove things that are better than other things. And, but in this case, there was new and there was no need for evidence. You could see it and you could see it in, you could just see how these people's lives would change. Now it would double their income and, uh, uh, and just that one chair. And, uh, well of course you have to give it to 'em cause they don't have any money. Uh, but it, it was really the, uh, um, people just wanted to hear the story of the first chair.
Speaker 3 00:39:11 Just like I just told you the story of the first chair and I, and you're not saying, Well, how, how you're not asking me questions? Well, how long does it last? And, you know, can you do this? And you do that because it's so, it's, it's such a huge thing that's missing that you can just, we can, And, and we're trying very hard to come up with data and cuz you know, there are places we wanna try to get money from, from foundations who require that sort of data. And it's quite a challenge, uh, to do that. But we're, we're actually spending a lot of time trying to do that. But, um, you know, we came out with this, the Gen one wheelchair, that's the one with the white res and lawn chair. And it was in the adult chair. And, and, and that's how I looked at this problem.
Speaker 3 00:39:55 Uh, I didn't realize, well, you know, like Don, I mean, there's kids that are gonna have these needs too. Well, but it doesn't fit a chair for, it's not a good size for a child. It's, you need, they need support. And, uh, and I just, you know, you remember your mother saying, Sit up straight. You know, if you don't sit up straight, your, your your, you're gonna grow up crooked or, you know, however, and, and, and, you know, mothers are right? And, and so you do have to give a child in a proper, um, fitting chair to, and an adult too. Same thing. Uh, and you know, we've got one chance to help that person and they'll probably never be seen by another person with a wheelchair again. I mean, some are, of course people are living in cities and stuff, but, you know, we've got one chance to make their life, uh, as enjoyable as and uh, as as possible.
Speaker 3 00:40:49 And so we, everything's in a box and um, but we realize we've gotta make a chair that's a lot more adjustable and people have legs there. One, one is eight inches longer than the other one. So you have to have a foot rest. They can compensate for that sort of thing. And they have long legs and short legs and they need support for their backs if their, if their disability extends past their hips. And you've gotta, you gotta have them in so they can have a proper backrest. And so we, uh, and but we can't, It's gonna cost more to do that. Cause you want one, a basic we and chair is, you know, $4 or now they're probably eight or 12. But, you know, so we, we, and we learned how to work with factories in China and we, we asked them to be creative in our, um, behalf.
Speaker 3 00:41:38 And, and that was quite an accomplishment because China can make anything you give them to make, but they're the people there were not used to being asked to be creative. They're used to just giving drug, Give us the drawings and we'll make it for you or give us a sample and we'll just duplicate it. But the, uh, and together we film up with the gen two, which was, uh, slightly more expensive. Um, but it was, it had all these adjustable features and then, uh, that was, uh, second generation and it was a very strong frame. But, uh, you go to a person's home and you know, granted again, well, 98% of our wheelchairs are given up by distribution partners. We, we rarely get a chance to go in field and actually help them. We do it more, but it's just so expensive. And that was probably one of the smarter things we did because all the things you have to know to work in a, in a different country, in a different society is, is something you could, if you're not right, you're just gonna make it worse.
Speaker 3 00:42:43 And, and also let's let them give away. Let's find Christian mission organizations like the ones in China to give away these, I mean India, that's my clock, uh, to give away these chairs. And so, uh, um, well, so when we do go out, we'd say, Well, where do you want us to do assemble this chair? Cause this comes in a box and you have to put it together and then just say, why? Cause well your doorway's too narrow. You're not gonna get it through the door so we can put it inside, which was always the right answer for them or outside. And, but then you've given them, you know, now you've given them the freedom of mobility within their home, but they gotta get outside. So we came up with a gen three, which is a chair that folds up. They've been around for hundreds of years, uh, and they cost a little bit more and they're a little heavier.
Speaker 3 00:43:31 But then, uh, that's our third design. We tried to put all the adjustable features of the Gen two into the gen three, but make it a fold up chair. So, and that's the third generation. And we're, you know, working hard on an now a fourth generation, uh, because we know we have to keep on improving and, you know, and, um, the demand is certainly out there. So, um, and we make 'em lighter. Can we use aluminum? Can we make 'em more adjustable even than we have, uh, if, uh, because at least a lot, a big percentage of the, uh, of the people that in with disabilities in the developing world have more complex disabilities like cerebral quality. Like that boy that I mentioned first boy that we gave a tractor, he needed something that would keep his arms in his legs and and contained. Um, and that's a very difficult, um, step to make because your distribution partners had to be occupational therapists, physical therapists. And there're not that many out there in the developing world. So, you know, we've, we've worked really hard to come up with training so we can train and after a week these, the people that we've trained know more about disability than probably most of the people in the country. Cuz there's never been any reason to have this training cuz they didn't have anything to give 'em what to give to wheelchairs to. Uh, but it's, it's, that's kind of the, the track we're going on, um, is to continue to evolve better products.
Speaker 2 00:45:02 So Don um, people have heard this and heard how you have used your gift in talents, gifts, and talents, and people have partnered with you and, and joined with you kind of on a large scale. But how can someone just like me, like a regular old person who doesn't have any of that understanding or knowledge that, that you have about biomedical engineering? How can we get involved with free wheelchair mission? Like how much would it cost someone who wanted to give a financial gift to, to, to send a wheelchair to someone? Do you have Oh yeah. Something worked out like that?
Speaker 3 00:45:47 Yeah, definitely have that
Speaker 2 00:45:48 Look like to partner with
Speaker 3 00:45:49 You guys and then, you know, that's how, that's what, you know, someone has to pay for the wheelchairs. A 1.3 million wheelchair, someone paid for every one of 'em. And, um, we now we, we can, uh, have a wheelchair manufactured, um, shipped, shipped by Ocean Container, um, brought to a, a port in one of our many developing countries that we serve, 94 of 'em so far. And, um, and then they, uh, our partner will accept that container and they'll, they'll offload it from the container ship. They'll, they'll, they'll arrange for all this that happen if they, someone has to pay that too. They arrange all that and then they'll store to wheelchairs and then they'll find people who need the chairs and know what they would've already ordered, what size they wanted. And they will assemble the chair and then they'll take it to the people, uh, either in groups of, you know, one at a time or hundreds at a time and have a distribution. Uh, and they'll do all that for $96.
Speaker 2 00:46:51 Wow.
Speaker 3 00:46:52 It's Trent, they'll had, that'll included the adjustment of the chair training, how to maintain the chair, training of the family, how to use the chair, uh, for the person who, how to get in and get out of the chair. You know, how to transfer. They call, how to go downstairs upstairs, down ramps up ramps. And we can do all that for $96.
Speaker 2 00:47:13 Wow, that's incredible.
Speaker 3 00:47:18 Yes. Yeah. The shipping alone, would it cost $250 for me to ship a wheelchair to the East coast from here? And that, and that, that includes shipping from China or India. I mean, so it's, it's uh, and, and it's like you were saying, there's so many people that, oh, I have talent in the shipping industry. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I have talent in the manufacturing industry, you know, I know, I know how to do training programs. I know how to create training programs and I've never done one for somebody who can't speak English before, but I, I know we can do it with our hands and make a video out of it. And, um, they all kind of fall in place. You know, these are all a whole bunch of coincidences, right. From God <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:48:06 Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:48:07 But the, the way to help us though, we've got, uh, two, um, things to get over 75 million. I can't believe it. That's not even acceptable. I don't even wanna think about it either. It's too big of a problem, think about it. Or it's just, doesn't make any sense. How could there be two 75 million people, you know, in the conditions that I describe? And then we can have a solution for $96. I mean, we militarys are 500, 600, 6,000, $60,000. Oh yeah. Uh, so how can you do that? Uh, and well we, we've, if you don't need to make money, if in fact if you really don't wanna make money, you can do things, um, much less expensively.
Speaker 2 00:48:50 Yeah. Don, I wanna ask one last, one last question of you. Um, and just, and just take whatever time you want. This is, it's kind of a heavy one, but this was one of the most striking topics in, in the, in the book for me. And that was that we've talked about the, you know, some of the physical, uh, barriers that people with disabilities experiencing lack of mobility have in developing countries. We've talked about, uh, some of the financial difficulties that that brings. Um, we've talked even about some of the, perhaps some of the, the social and the, and the spiritual, you know, uh, boundaries that can be there even when, even when giving these gifts and, and people receiving these gifts.
Speaker 2 00:49:46 But we haven't really touched on this stigma that can exist in the lives of people with disabilities in not, I I would say not only in developing countries, but in lots of places around the world, lots of cultures around the world, lots of religious experiences around the world where if someone has a disability, they are seen and a certain light and that light can be devastating. Um, and it is a little bit heavy. I was wondering if you could just share a little bit about that and some of the things that you observed and learned in your experiences so far.
Speaker 3 00:50:35 Yeah, and that was a, that was a surprise to me. Um, cause I wasn't brought up that way. We were, you know, in America we were kind of brought up, you know, trying to be as open minded to whatever situation a person is, is living in. And um, and if there was something, it wasn't a physical thing, you could just sort of say, Oh, well that'll work their way through this. And, but if it's something that's a disability, you, you know, you feel sorry, you feel empathy. But that doesn't go any further than that. But, uh, in developing world and, uh, this, uh, the world over, uh, it, all the countries that I've been in and everybody I've ever talked to are in the missionary field. They say, uh, things like the disability. Um, the easiest way to explain it is the same way they've explained it back in the Bible.
Speaker 3 00:51:27 You know, the, the, the disciples asked Jesus about this blind man. And, and, uh, was his, was a he who there, his parents who sined and, and, and Jesus replied neither of those. It was sort of, we could show our glory to God and helping, you know, Oh, he didn't quite say that. I mean, we, this is how we are, we're here to help people like that. Uh, it's, uh, and so, uh, but uh, what I've heard and seen is that it's a curse. It's a curse. Uh, and it, it, it, it can get so bad that a husband is justified to leave the family because he knows there's nobody in his family who, um, can't walk. And so obviously it came from her or his wife and maybe she had an affair or maybe something, but he, he's free to leave and he does so often.
Speaker 3 00:52:23 And now all of a sudden she's left with a family and there may be, um, one, a son or a daughter who's got a disability. And, uh, and, and they're shame cuz that's everyone else. They accept his theory or they, they don't, it's not, you don't even have to talk about it. It doesn't have to be a rumor to spread. You can just see somebody with a disability. It's, it's, it's a curse. Um, even in Latin America where, you know, it's Catholicism was so, and in Africa where Catholicism was so, was so powerful in, in, in, in teaching people about Christ. And yeah, I, I, you know, I get it, but I, I think still think it's a curse. Uh, and so, um, they're faced with a spiritual disability as well as a physical disability. And, uh, and, uh, the family is, uh, is torn between, do I keep this a secret?
Speaker 3 00:53:19 Uh, uh, uh, do, it might be just better if I didn't talk about grandpa because he's out in the shed and we're keeping him alive. But, you know, if we don't have him come out into the daylight, then nobody will wonder about what has happened in our family to have causes in the first place. In, in, uh, our, our distribution part in Uganda, uh, I've actually been in, in, in some of the homes. So the people that have a disabled child or a relative of some sort, it could even be a neighbor. Uh, there's a stool in the corner. It might be the only place other than the ground to sit, but the stools for the devil. And they put food out for the devil, uh, because they know he's there, because otherwise they wouldn't have this child with a disability.
Speaker 3 00:54:12 And this probably the, the, the worst story I've ever heard was when, uh, this family, um, the neighbors found out that this, um, um, they had a child who, uh, had, um, polio and, and they knew then that the family loved the child. So they figured they should step up and take care of the situation. And they called the shaman, the local witch doctor. And, and they brought the shaman to the person's house. And, uh, where the boy was and the shaman, uh, he, he, he has his ancient bag of medical bag of, you know, tools and, and he decides that if he gouged the eye out of the child, he that would, that would force the demonn to leave. And that's what he did. And, and it's, it, it can get that bad. Um, and so, uh, we work with Christian mission organizations. Um, there's plenty countries that are, have, won't allow Christian missionaries to do their, to say their words, to preach to gospel.
Speaker 3 00:55:21 There's some, quite a few that don't. Uh, and it's not allowed. In fact, you can get in big trouble if you caught doing it. Um, but whenever we give out a chair and our partner says, Can, can you give a message? And we don't, we're not gonna tell you what kind of message you need to give, uh, because it all all depends on how you want to present it and how far you can go, because there's probably gonna be people working for the government out there listening to what you say. And so you don't, we don't want you to jeopardize your missionary work at our request because we, you're there doing God's work, whether you know it or not. Uh, but, uh, but if you can tell people that this is a gift from God and, and it may be confusing to introduce the concept of Jesus to a fam to of society that doesn't even know about God yet.
Speaker 3 00:56:13 Uh, but uh, tell him it's a gift from God. And when he's in that chair or her, they're in God's hands and he loves you and he doesn't see you as a disabled person because everything he's created is in his eyes, is perfect cuz that's what God is perfect. And, uh, people, I've seen people react to this message and what I, and, and there's their spellbound, cause they never heard this before from somebody with authority, which is a distribution partner because these, you know, these people have authority and sometimes I get a chance to tell that story or our, our staff or our board members or our volunteers who go out with these trips some and they get to tell this story and they can see you. You really challenge somebody cuz they've never heard this before in her whole life maybe. And uh, and it's like, wow, is that true?
Speaker 3 00:57:10 Could that be possibly true? Okay, now you got this bright bright blue chair and you're in a village of maybe 300 people, or maybe it's a city, but everywhere you go, they, they never saw you before. Mean they knew you were where you, they sort of knew the house you came from, but they never saw you before. Cuz you're being hidden. And, uh, where'd you get that chair? It's very conspicuous. And they'll say, Well, these guys came and gave it to me. He said, Well, did they tell you anything? Goes? Yeah, I don't really understand it, but they said, this tear came from God and he loves me and, and he doesn't see me as being disabled and I'm not cursed. And it's like, Oh, well, you know, the, how are the neighbors gonna accept this? How are the, you know, the city gonna accept this, this? Well, that's what he said. You know, it's, it's like the people that Jesus helped in the Bible and, Well, I don't know who he was. He just said that my sins are forgiven. <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:58:21 Don, thank you so much. I am, I'm just thrilled. I'm thrilled to, to hear these stories. I was, I was thrilled to, to read this book with so many of these stories and more, um, inside. And I'm honored that you would come on and talk about the work of Free Wheelchair Mission. This is a, a beautiful, beautiful organization and I can just only imagine the effects, the eternal effects that, um, that you and the, and the people who work within your organization are having, uh, in the world. So I wanna thank you again for coming on. And I wanna say the name of this book again, It is Miracle Wheels, The Story of a Mission to Bring Mobility to the World. Um, Don show Andor for founder of Three Wheelchair Mission. I'll put the links for the book and the website, uh, on the show notes. Thank you so much, John.
Speaker 3 00:59:24 Oh, thank you. It is really, uh, an honor to talk to you, uh, and I hope, um, through this, your words and, um, people will hear it and they'll may discover what their gifts are and they may get on a path and it, it, it isn't necessarily to help free wheelchair mission. It's just to do God's work.
Speaker 2 00:59:47 Amen.
Speaker 1 00:59:48 The links for all the resources mentioned in today's episode can be found in the show notes, music and podcast production by Seth Boetti. Be sure to give us a review on iTunes and subscribe at your favorite podcast listening app. You can also visit us Sense.
