At age fifty-eight, Omar*, a Syrian father, was left disabled, without a job, and in despair. Due to a foot disease, which led to severe tissue decay in his leg, doctors were forced to amputate it. But the infection kept spreading and soon his other leg had to be removed. When Omar found himself disabled, he fell into deep depression. Because he could no longer work, Omar’s wife started cleaning houses to provide an income for the family.
When Omar received a wheelchair from CAM contacts, he cried and exclaimed, “I was living in darkness. I thought many times about ending my life. I questioned God and asked, ‘Why did You do this to me? Why did You make me a disabled and broken man in front of my wife and my daughters?’”
The gift of a wheelchair gave Omar hope. He began going outside and rented a small kiosk where he sells chocolate and biscuits to supplement his wife’s income. “When you gave me this wheelchair, I felt strength again,” Omar told CAM contacts. “I felt that I could do something to change my situation and provide for my family. I can work and talk to people. I began to think that life is possible again. God is good!”
Agnes, a 92-year-old widow in Kenya, lives alone. One night in November, she woke up to find she couldn’t get out of bed. The doctors told Agnes she had suffered a stroke that permanently paralyzed her left side. Now her daughters shoulder the heavy responsibility of not only caring for their families, but also for their paralyzed mother. When a CAM staff member provided a wheelchair for Agnes, she was overjoyed! This was her first day out of bed since her stroke. “I am thankful to God for sending a wheelchair so I can go outside and watch the world at work again,” she said gratefully. “May God bless you, and make you able to continue helping others.”
Omar and Agnes represent thousands of handicapped people who dream of moving around on their own. Without supplies like wheelchairs, this dream rarely becomes reality. Many have no choice but to lie in bed for hours. Some move around by crawling on their hands and knees, at times wearing flip flops on their hands to protect them from the rough ground. Others depend solely on family members to carry them wherever they need to go. A CAM staff member in Kenya says, “When people see the wheelchairs CAM has brought to them, their faces light up with joy.”
A wheelchair is often life-changing for a disabled child or adult. “The wheelchair gives freedom from confinement and isolation. It gives the ability to leave the house, see the sun, and breath clean air,” says a CAM contact in Syria. Wheelchairs allow people to better perform daily tasks and interact with others around them, easing their caretakers’ heavy loads.
Throughout 2026, we would like to send wheelchairs to Syria, Yemen, Liberia, Romania, and Israel. If you want to help show God’s heart of compassion for the disabled by providing wheelchairs, your support will be a blessing.