The Greatest is Love!!! Dude!

Push International is a non-profit humanitarian organization that uses mobility aids to minister to the disabled poor of the world and many others along the way. Please allow me to explain.
I will start with the problem that I see around the world. There are tens of millions of people with various handicaps who cannot afford the basic equipment to obtain the mobility needed to participate as active members of their communities. The causes of these handicaps are varied: disease, war, land mines, accidents, etc. In many cases they are members of loving families, but families who are simply too poor to afford needed equipment. In most developing countries, a simple wheelchair can cost as much as three years salary.
In many cultures it is a disgrace to give birth to a disabled child. The blame usually falls on the mother and in some cases the father will leave because of it. The community may look down upon a family for having a disabled child, as if God has cursed them. Because of this cultural attitude and the physical and emotional struggles of a disability, many children live their entire life in a single room. They never leave the house and are never seen in public. Because of the lack of education about disabilities, many have horrible bed sores and are found sitting in their own urine.
Here in the United States we estimate that over 100,000 wheelchairs are thrown into landfills or forgotten about in storage every year. Many individuals do not know what to do with their old wheelchair. They can’t sell them because 99% of Americans in need of a wheelchairs will be given one through government programs. If they did find a buyer, they would be risking a potential law suit if an accident was caused by the used wheelchair.
Push International is combating this problem with a Christ centered solution. Our goal is to provide mobility and facilitate sustainable development in the disabled communities we work in. We collect used mobility aids such as wheelchairs, crutches, walkers and other medical equipment from around the United States, and give it to underprivileged people with disabilities in countries around the world. We freely give away these wheelchairs without regards to race, color, creed, religion, or nationality. Push International focuses not only the aspect of physical mobility but also skills of independence, self confidence, sustainability, integration, education, and meaningful employment within the local community. We strive to Push the social boundaries surrounding disability abroad and Push people with disabilities to realize their full potential. Our focus is on giving the wheelchairs away to the individual. We are not as concerned with how many wheelchairs we give, but rather "Did we do the best we could do with each individual that we worked with”.
Our Community Center in Mexico currently houses a disabled rehab center for children with disabilities, a wheelchair repair shop that is staffed by people with disabilities, a wheelchair storage unit and an accessible dormitory for people with disabilities in different areas of the country to come, stay and learn about disability issues as well as house teams from the United States who come to help with wheelchair distributions and other activities. Push International is always working to educate and integrate people with disabilities into their communities. The Mexico project is just one example of a sustainable facility run by people with disabilities for people with disabilities.
My focus as a Christ follower is to use this as a tool to share the love of Christ. Let me walk you through the impact that one wheelchair has for the Kingdom of Heaven. The cycle begins with the person that donates the wheelchair. A volunteer picks up the donations and has the opportunity to share with the donor the reason why he volunteers to do this, sharing the Gospel. That is one person with the opportunity to share the message and one person with the opportunity to hear the message. Then it is shipped back to Rock Valley, Iowa were we use a refurbishing plant run through the prison system. Prisoners serving out 20 year sentences now have the opportunity to give something back to society they stole from. Now the chair is shipped to the third world country where an average church going person on their first mission trip has the opportunity to act out his or her faith and seat someone in the chair. The first time is a life changing experience for all of us. Again the opportunity to share why we do what we do is there. Now the chair is in the hands of a disabled person that, for the first time in their life, has mobility. Their physical life is changed and they now have not only heard about the love of God but have experienced it firsthand. The chain does not end there! The recipient’s family who cared for them also see the love of God worked out. The community that this person lives in will also see the love of God because this newly mobilized person will be scooting around town. And finally the church that we are working through in that area will be strengthened and those in pursuit of a relationship with God will be drawn to the churches that we work through because of our witness. I hope and believe that this cycle holds true with every wheelchair that we collect and may God get the Glory. It’s such an amazing