1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,000 Read more stories on spirit-led living when you subscribe to Charisma Magazine. 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Go to MyCharismaShop.com and enter in the promo code CPN to receive 10% off the price 3 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:18,800 of the subscription. 4 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:23,640 This is John Matarazzo for Charisma News, and today I have a very special guest with me 5 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:28,640 to talk about the mobility issue of so many people around the world. 6 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:34,000 I have been a missionary to 15 different countries, and I've seen people in all different walks 7 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:38,240 of life that have had various needs. 8 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:43,120 One of those biggest needs is the need to be able to use their legs and to be able to 9 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:44,120 get around. 10 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:51,080 Well, my guest today has had a stroke of genius, a God-inspired genius, to be able to help 11 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:56,320 people in a way that most people think there's no way that they could be able to afford or 12 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,320 be able to help people with these mobility issues. 13 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:06,520 He's the author of this new book called Miracle Wheels, and we're going to be talking with 14 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:12,520 Dr. Don Schoendorfer, and it is a pleasure to have you here today, sir. 15 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:13,800 Oh, thank you, John. 16 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,040 It's a beautiful Friday morning. 17 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,040 I'd love to be on your show. 18 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:19,220 Thank you, thank you. 19 00:01:19,220 --> 00:01:28,800 You're the founder and CEO of the Free Wheelchair Mission, and I've heard about this for a while, 20 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:35,120 I've seen a few actually out on the mission field in different times, and it's just amazing 21 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:41,000 to see how you were able to take this idea that God gave you and put it into something 22 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:46,160 that's very practical for so many people, and you can really change their lives. 23 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:51,640 Would you just mind just telling people how God spoke to you about this and what happened 24 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:56,520 in your life that you wanted to put your experience into the kingdom? 25 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:04,120 Well, I started off in graduate school deciding to become a biomedical engineer and wanting 26 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:12,800 to do things for medical purposes, for hospitals, for doctors, and helping people, but from 27 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:19,320 a very technical and commercial way, working for companies, doing that, was very happy, 28 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,000 very successful doing that work. 29 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:31,120 Very early in my career, my wife and I went on a vacation to Morocco, 1979, in a very 30 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:37,740 crowded, very old part of a city, very crowded dirt road, almost like an alley, but it was 31 00:02:37,740 --> 00:02:43,800 lined on either side by vendors and people walking through, and we're just in awe with 32 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:49,040 all the colors and the smells and the sounds and everything, but between people's legs 33 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:58,560 crawls this woman using her fingernails for traction, dragging her limp legs behind her. 34 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:04,280 They were no asset to her at all, and she was bleeding, she was filthy, her clothes 35 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:14,200 were shredded, and she wasn't looking at anything but her fingers and taking these six-inch 36 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:20,680 long sort of strokes at the ground and hoping nobody would step on her. 37 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:25,320 That was shocking, but then we noticed how people were just stepping over her like she 38 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:34,200 was something bad and not wanting to do anything about her, about her condition, which was 39 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:36,800 bad too. 40 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:43,680 We're new to life in the developing world, and it was later explained that that's just 41 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,640 life, you just deal with it. 42 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,840 All she wanted to do is get across that little alley without being stepped on, and then she 43 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:51,840 disappeared. 44 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:59,800 The whole thing took about 45 seconds, and it just stopped our hearts. 45 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:00,800 What do we do? 46 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:01,800 How do we fix this? 47 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:03,760 Let's go find a wheelchair. 48 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,200 It's impossible. 49 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:10,800 All our traditional American ways of trying to fix the problem were not possible, and 50 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,600 we just walked away. 51 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:20,920 Went back home and carried on for 20 years on my career, developing my career. 52 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:23,440 That image never left me though. 53 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,360 Whenever you experience some things like that, they just really stick with you. 54 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,840 Those are like heart imprint moments. 55 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:33,560 I've seen some of those people too on the mission field. 56 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:37,080 I know what it's like to see somebody and just feel compassion. 57 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,320 I'm like, I don't know what I can do. 58 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:40,480 There's nothing that I can do. 59 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,800 I don't have the money to just buy them what they need to get around. 60 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,640 I don't even know how to get a wheelchair for somebody. 61 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:53,040 I've helped carry people to places they've needed to go, but that's not a long-term solution. 62 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:56,960 That's just helping people in the short term with that need. 63 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:06,080 With your biomedical engineer background, what inspired you to start making these unique 64 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:07,440 wheelchairs? 65 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:16,680 Well, as we advance in our careers and family and home and all that, we had three teenage 66 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:21,080 daughters and they brought us to our knees. 67 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,560 My wife was brought up a Catholic. 68 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:29,160 I was brought up in a congregational church. 69 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:36,960 Always gave God credit for creating the universe, but I didn't think he had time even to deal 70 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:41,160 with an individual's life like mine. 71 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:47,960 But then surrendering to him and then realizing that there are great benefits from surrendering 72 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:52,480 and we didn't have to deal with a lot of the issues we couldn't solve anyway. 73 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,720 I brought us back to church. 74 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:59,200 I started off thinking I could do more than just go on Sunday. 75 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:00,560 I could be a volunteer. 76 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:01,560 I could mentor. 77 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:04,400 I could tutor. 78 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:08,760 I was enjoying it and I think the students were, but I wasn't really being very successful 79 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,160 at either one. 80 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:15,320 I did that for a few years. 81 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,160 I like to compress the story into a phone call that I got from God. 82 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,360 Now, I really didn't have this happen. 83 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,240 But it's an easy way to tell the story. 84 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:27,680 So this is how my story goes. 85 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:29,080 The phone rings in the middle of the night. 86 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:36,760 I answer it and the voice is, Don, I assume you know who this is. 87 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:37,760 I said, yes. 88 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:41,080 God, I think this is you talking. 89 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:45,320 He said, I want to just talk to you about how you're spending your time. 90 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:52,680 You thought you could help me by tutoring and mentoring high school students from Central 91 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,880 America, but you're not any good at it. 92 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:56,880 You know that. 93 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:57,960 I know that. 94 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:03,040 And I don't know why you just don't use the tools that I gave you to help my kingdom. 95 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,040 And then he hung up. 96 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,840 Well, again, it didn't happen like that. 97 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:11,680 But it did over about a six-month period. 98 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:16,880 I understood all the essence of that phone call had it happened. 99 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:18,800 And he was dead right. 100 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:20,800 I was not using my tools. 101 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:27,200 So then this image that was now 20 years old about this woman crossing a dirt road with 102 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:31,320 her fingernails, gee, what does she need? 103 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,320 She needed a chair with wheels on it. 104 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,960 And the name the wheelchair has the ingredients. 105 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:37,960 And so I went. 106 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:38,960 That's true. 107 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:39,960 A wheel and a chair. 108 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:40,960 OK. 109 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:41,960 So I went to Toys R Us. 110 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:48,960 And I saw bicycles for sale from China for $60. 111 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:55,200 And I knew enough about engineering and manufacturing to figure that those wheels probably cost $3 112 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:56,640 each to make in China. 113 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:03,200 And they're made by the millions and the millions because bicycles are so popular even now. 114 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,480 And then next to Toys R Us is Home Depot. 115 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:08,640 And they had white resin lawn chairs on sale. 116 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,680 And it was fall. 117 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,400 And so I got a whole lot of those for $4. 118 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:15,400 So I had $4. 119 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,360 I figured I had $10, two wheels and a chair. 120 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:24,200 So get a couple casters, get some steel, connect them. 121 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:25,200 And OK. 122 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:26,200 And now I had a prototype. 123 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:27,920 And I knew the value of a prototype. 124 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:32,920 If as an engineer, if you don't have something that people can get their hands on, it's really 125 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:35,860 hard to convince them of anything. 126 00:08:35,860 --> 00:08:43,240 So I took this prototype to my church, Mariner's Church in Southern California. 127 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:47,680 I had a meeting with the mission pastor and mission director. 128 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:50,560 And he was kind of late for the meeting. 129 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:53,160 He was tired. 130 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:58,840 He had just got back from a mission trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 131 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,960 And I pushed a wheelchair out and showed it to him. 132 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,040 He said, no, Don, I can't believe this, what you're showing me now. 133 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:09,800 Because just two days ago, I saw people crawling on the ground in the Democratic Republic of 134 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:11,920 the Congo. 135 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:13,920 And I see that. 136 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:15,680 And this is so simple. 137 00:09:15,680 --> 00:09:17,000 It's so basic. 138 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,360 It's almost a primitive version of a wheelchair. 139 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:22,080 But it'll serve the purpose. 140 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:23,760 So let's go to the next step. 141 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:29,080 And so he could have completely killed the idea right there. 142 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:30,080 But he didn't. 143 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,160 He expanded on it. 144 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:38,120 And so I went and made 100 of them and wanted to do a clinical trial, because that's what 145 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:43,000 I did for a living, getting things through the FDA. 146 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:47,800 And then I had a chance not to bring 100 of them to India, but just four. 147 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:52,480 And I literally saw a family's life, this very first wheelchair. 148 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:54,720 Just incredible story. 149 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:57,040 And here I am trying to get data. 150 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:00,320 And I'm overwhelmed by the compassion of what was happening. 151 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:08,320 I literally saw these families' life change from the moment they put their son in the 152 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:10,960 wheelchair. 153 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:13,240 And they could both work now. 154 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:15,480 They did one of them had to stay home. 155 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:19,560 They were living in a situation where it was a break even for them. 156 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:24,160 They were just making enough money to put a roof over their head. 157 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:27,680 Very poor. 158 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:33,480 And so this is all happening in a suburb of India. 159 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:37,160 On a Sunday afternoon, we drive through their village. 160 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:38,760 We give them the wheelchair. 161 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:41,640 The crowd gathers around. 162 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:50,040 And under the circumstances, the man who was our guide didn't ask for permission from the 163 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:51,680 elder to enter the village. 164 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:57,440 And the elder came in the middle of this, now 30 or 40 people watching what was going 165 00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:58,440 on. 166 00:10:58,440 --> 00:10:59,440 And he was embarrassed. 167 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:01,120 And he was mad. 168 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:07,760 And so the elder, I mean, our guide whose name was Moses said, Don, we have to leave 169 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:08,760 right now. 170 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,760 I did a really bad thing, a discourteous thing to the elder. 171 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:12,760 And he doesn't look very happy. 172 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:13,760 And I agreed. 173 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:16,960 He didn't look happy either. 174 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:23,320 But I said, OK, Moses, that was my guide's name. 175 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:24,320 I did my job. 176 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:25,320 It's your turn. 177 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:26,320 And he said, what do you mean? 178 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:29,000 And I said, well, I brought the wheelchair. 179 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:30,960 I opened the doors for you. 180 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:34,000 I noticed you've got a Bible in your pocket. 181 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,040 Tell them why we're here. 182 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:41,440 And he opened the Bible and read to them in this Hindu village. 183 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:49,280 And they all listened to him because they thought they're getting an explanation from 184 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,360 the words of Jesus why he was getting this wheelchair. 185 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,480 This boy, this young boy was getting this wheelchair. 186 00:11:55,480 --> 00:12:04,600 And as we tried to leave as quickly as we can, not to refer to the elder, we got in 187 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,760 a bus, started to try to drive down the road. 188 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,400 The bus driver was in a hurry to get home. 189 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:11,400 The elders ran. 190 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:13,120 I mean, the villagers ran after us. 191 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:14,120 Oh, no. 192 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:16,520 I need to stop the bus pounding on the side of the bus. 193 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:20,120 And finally, they got in front of the bus, put their hands on the windshield. 194 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:22,680 That driver was going to have to run over them. 195 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:23,680 Oh, no. 196 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:25,440 If they didn't stop the bus. 197 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,240 And we're all thinking this was in 2001. 198 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,080 We're all thinking we're going to be kidnapped now. 199 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:31,080 We're going to be held. 200 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:32,080 Right. 201 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,440 Those pretty dicey situations. 202 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:35,440 Yes. 203 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:36,440 They could be. 204 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:41,440 I mean, our imaginations are pretty creative, too. 205 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:47,520 But we turn around and here comes the mom carrying two glasses of water. 206 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:51,760 And she felt she had, at that point when we left, we were leaving without the wheelchair. 207 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:56,280 She understood, even though we told her, she really understood that she gets to keep the 208 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:57,880 wheelchair. 209 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:01,320 And she felt she had to give us something because she realized what it had done for 210 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:06,120 her life and the life of her family. 211 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:12,360 And that was the only thing she could afford to give was water. 212 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:13,360 Wow. 213 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:14,360 Wow. 214 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:19,200 So you're able to help people that have just this extreme need. 215 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:26,880 And I mean, whenever somebody's, they're crippled, if they have a family, not only are they taken 216 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:31,540 out of the picture, but somebody else has to then give a good portion of their life 217 00:13:31,540 --> 00:13:33,520 to take care of that person. 218 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:37,760 And so you're really having two people that are handicapped in a way. 219 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:44,640 And so by you providing these free wheelchairs, you're literally giving mobility back to the 220 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:51,040 person that actually has the physical handicap, but I guess the family handicap is also being 221 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:52,560 set free as well. 222 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:57,820 And as you said, then somebody, they could both start working or they have other opportunities 223 00:13:57,820 --> 00:14:00,940 at that point. 224 00:14:00,940 --> 00:14:02,840 Those stories are just incredible. 225 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,920 And I know that you have so many more of those, and I'd love to incorporate a few more of 226 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:08,500 those in our conversation here. 227 00:14:08,500 --> 00:14:13,800 But I just want to make mention, before we started this interview, I just looked up, 228 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:19,920 I just Googled, what does it cost to buy a wheelchair? 229 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:26,140 And it's a couple hundred dollars to several thousand dollars, depending on all the bells 230 00:14:26,140 --> 00:14:28,480 and whistles that you might add to it. 231 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:35,080 But you're telling me and all of our listeners here that for $96, not only can you provide 232 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,880 a wheelchair, but you can get it to the person in another part of the world? 233 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:40,920 Yeah, that's true. 234 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:47,240 We have made in China, because that's the only way we can get these things at this expense, 235 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:49,680 at this local expense. 236 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:56,640 And in India, and they're shipped by ocean container, 550 wheelchairs in a container 237 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:00,960 to one of our 94 countries that we've served. 238 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:04,760 And we deliver them to a distribution partner. 239 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:08,320 And they're the ones that figure out how to give them away in their country. 240 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:13,680 Every country has different rules and customs and laws. 241 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:21,640 And then we've trained them in person and in my virtual training methods. 242 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:22,640 They store the wheelchairs. 243 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:27,680 I mean, they unload the container, they store the wheelchairs, they find the people who 244 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:29,020 need the wheelchairs. 245 00:15:29,020 --> 00:15:30,240 We have different sizes. 246 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:35,520 They've matched up the size to the wheelchair we offer to the size they need. 247 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:38,240 And we train them how to assemble the chair. 248 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:39,800 And then we train them how to adjust the chair. 249 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:45,080 So when they give away a wheelchair, it's not just dropped off at the door. 250 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:46,660 It's custom fit. 251 00:15:46,660 --> 00:15:52,600 And then the family's trained on how to use the chair and how to maintain the chair. 252 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,280 And we do all that for $96. 253 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:56,400 That's incredible. 254 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,520 That is such a blessing that you're able to do that. 255 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:05,600 Dr. Don, how many people have been able to be, how many lives have been able to be changed 256 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:08,960 because of these free wheelchairs? 257 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:13,960 Well these last 21 years, we've given over 1.3 million wheelchairs. 258 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:14,960 Wow. 259 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:21,680 And then so the need is still so great, but what you're doing is immense. 260 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:28,160 That's something that, did you have any idea that whenever you started this, that we would 261 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:35,040 be in the year 2022 talking about over a million people's lives being changed because of this? 262 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:36,040 No. 263 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:40,640 I fought the battle of doing this. 264 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:41,840 I wanted to prove a point. 265 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:46,560 I wanted to write a paper about this inexpensive, durable, functional wheelchair. 266 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:55,040 But then I was going to just write a paper and move on with my other, my day job. 267 00:16:55,040 --> 00:17:02,200 But I kept on hearing from God, stay with this, do this. 268 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:08,760 And I was fighting it to the point when I got back from this trip to India in 2001, 269 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,360 while I was gone, the company I was working for went bankrupt. 270 00:17:12,360 --> 00:17:13,360 I didn't have a job. 271 00:17:13,360 --> 00:17:14,440 Oh, goodness. 272 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:15,920 I thought that was a coincidence. 273 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:22,680 But when I talked to people who are more spiritually astute than I am, they said, this is how God 274 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,480 is working. 275 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,120 My wife said, I'm going to go back to work. 276 00:17:28,120 --> 00:17:30,920 I've been a stay at home mom for 15 years. 277 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,280 I've put the food on the table. 278 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:36,160 Now it's my turn to go back to work, she said. 279 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:37,560 And you can do this. 280 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:40,280 You can dedicate your time to this. 281 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:42,000 So I'm hearing it from God. 282 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,360 I'm hearing it from my wife. 283 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:44,360 But what am I? 284 00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:45,360 I got this education. 285 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:47,840 I got a PhD in mechanical engineering. 286 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:58,880 I've got 25 years of committed career on leading things, complicated things in biology and 287 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:00,560 medicine. 288 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:05,920 And I'm going to start a nonprofit, which I know nothing about. 289 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:13,320 And both my wife, Lori, and the Lord convinced me that that's what was to do. 290 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:18,080 So once I realized that, I said, OK, I'm going to surrender again, Lord. 291 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:22,080 I'm going to take orders from you. 292 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:28,360 And so to me, it's not a surprise that I know what his capacity is. 293 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:33,440 The way I like to look at it is one wheelchair at a time, just changing one life. 294 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:36,600 I mean, 75 million people need a wheelchair. 295 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:43,440 But if you can just change one, what a magnificent thing that is. 296 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:47,920 So every one we give away is to them, they consider it a miracle. 297 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,840 That's the name of the book, Miracle Weeds. 298 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:51,840 Yeah. 299 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:57,360 And let's talk about your book a little bit, just because I think it's really important. 300 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:03,480 Your book, Miracle Wheels, the story of a mission to bring mobility to the world. 301 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:07,520 If you go to MiracleWheels.org, you can get your copy of this. 302 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:12,840 And 100% of the proceeds support the work of the free wheelchair mission. 303 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:18,280 So that's like if it takes $96, I recommend getting five books. 304 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,740 That way you're covering the cost of a wheelchair. 305 00:19:21,740 --> 00:19:27,080 And you can then also read the book, but give four away to friends and family to help pass 306 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:29,400 on the vision and the heart for this. 307 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:35,400 Dr. Don, what are some stories that you share in this book that people can look forward 308 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:37,320 to reading more in detail? 309 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:41,640 Well, there's one good one. 310 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,040 We call it 52. 311 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:51,840 We didn't get the name of the person, but we do remember he said he was 52 years old. 312 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:59,800 And we were just finishing a distribution in India and going back and packing everything 313 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:03,760 into trucks and ready to leave, go on to another distribution. 314 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:10,240 And there's this man in one of our early design wheelchairs, we call the Gen 1, with the white 315 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:12,080 resin lawn chair. 316 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:15,440 And he's doing three things over and over again. 317 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:23,460 He's throwing his hands up into the sky, looking up and just praising the heavens. 318 00:20:23,460 --> 00:20:28,040 He's wiping his tears from his face because he's crying profusely. 319 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:34,560 And he's holding his chest with his heart, his chest because he was afraid his heart 320 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:37,520 was, I think he felt his heart was going to burst. 321 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:39,360 He was just so excited about this wheelchair. 322 00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:42,880 And he was doing this over and over and over again, over and over and over again. 323 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,160 And so he, sir, what is happening? 324 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:46,160 What's going on? 325 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:47,160 What are you thinking about? 326 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,680 And he said, I'm 52 years old. 327 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:53,840 About 10 years ago, I was at a train station. 328 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,320 They came and robbed me and they threw me in front of a train and the train came up 329 00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,480 my legs. 330 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:04,360 But this is the first day in my whole life that anybody has ever done anything kind to 331 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:06,360 me. 332 00:21:06,360 --> 00:21:10,920 That makes an impact in your life, hearing a story like that, and that God used you to 333 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:13,640 show the love of Christ to somebody. 334 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:18,960 Well, we find people going, you know, getting, getting a job, getting a career, raising a 335 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:24,040 family, doing things that they've maybe they've been dreaming about, but maybe they've never 336 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:28,000 dreamt about it because they never thought they've been living in the shadows in the 337 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,600 back room for three decades. 338 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:36,080 We found people like this who haven't seen the light of day for three decades and their 339 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:40,120 families are their wheelchairs or families are keeping them alive. 340 00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:41,320 Sometimes it's the neighbors. 341 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:45,960 Sometimes they're abandoned on the street and a neighbor or somebody will pick them 342 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:51,680 up and, you know, and help them live, continue their life. 343 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:52,680 Sometimes they can crawl. 344 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,560 It's sad to see. 345 00:21:55,560 --> 00:22:00,520 Sometimes if they're not too heavy, they can be carried wherever they need to go. 346 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:04,920 And sometimes if they're too heavy and maybe too frail, they live in the back room until 347 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:05,920 they die. 348 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:12,120 And the family doesn't necessarily even know anything about medicine or disability or any 349 00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:13,120 of those things. 350 00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:19,260 They just, they just know we got to do our best to keep whoever it is alive as long as 351 00:22:19,260 --> 00:22:20,560 we can. 352 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:21,680 Wow. 353 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:24,440 So what inspired you to write this book now? 354 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:28,640 I mean, you've been doing this for 21 years. 355 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:32,360 What's the message of this book that's, that's important for today? 356 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:40,720 Well, we try to tell the story as accurately and as sincerely as we can. 357 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:46,920 Try to, there's five or six really good stories about what it's like to live in the developing 358 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,800 world without a wheelchair. 359 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:52,240 This is not the developed world. 360 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:53,240 This is a distinction. 361 00:22:53,240 --> 00:23:00,400 It's not United States or Northern Europe or Australia, developing countries where, 362 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:08,560 you know, people, there's, it's, it's, there's not even sometimes enough food to go around 363 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:13,040 and there's no way anybody is going to even imagine a wheelchair. 364 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,400 They don't even have them for sale. 365 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,320 They're not available. 366 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,520 Any money you'd have would not even be commerce. 367 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:26,160 It may just be the food you're growing in your back, you know, to keep alive. 368 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:29,400 There's no way anybody could afford a wheelchair. 369 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:36,160 And then all of, and then the book, try to describe that change. 370 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,400 It happens in just a matter of seconds. 371 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:43,000 You walk in, they see your feet. 372 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:44,440 You get the chair. 373 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:48,720 So you think it's pretty well adjusted for their body's shape and size. 374 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:51,920 And then you pick them up and you put them in the chair and then you have to make some 375 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:52,920 final adjustments. 376 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,700 But when you try to move away, they're holding you. 377 00:23:56,700 --> 00:24:01,160 For one, they, you know, you had to hold them and they hold you so you can put them in a 378 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:07,480 chair, but they're not wanting to let go because they're crying and they don't want, especially 379 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:13,440 if there's a man, they don't want anybody to see how, how, how this gift has affected 380 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:14,440 them. 381 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:16,880 And you look around in the family, they're all, everyone's crying, but they're all happy 382 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:23,320 crying and then it, and then you, you pull back from, and this person doesn't even look 383 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:24,320 the same. 384 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:29,800 They had this different, you know, human eye to eye contact, whereas before they're looking 385 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:34,680 up at you when you walk in and suddenly you're on their level. 386 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:35,800 He's on your level. 387 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:37,200 She's on your level. 388 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:42,720 And it's almost like it's a different person. 389 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:43,960 And they're starting to dream. 390 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:48,160 All of a sudden their mind, their minds are racing. 391 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:49,160 What am I going to do? 392 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:50,160 What can I do now? 393 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,600 What can I, what would it be like? 394 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:56,040 And then you say, would you like to go see the sunset? 395 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:57,040 What? 396 00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:04,200 We could, I could go see a sunset or I could go see my, my grandson play soccer. 397 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:06,480 I hear he's really good. 398 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:07,480 How about the fresh air? 399 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:09,800 Would you like to get outside and get some fresh air? 400 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:10,800 Wow. 401 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:15,680 Well, yeah, it's, you know, all these things you give up when you can't move. 402 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:16,680 Wow. 403 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:20,000 You know, these, these stories that you're sharing and the examples that you're sharing 404 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,720 are very, they're very touching. 405 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:30,000 And because people that aren't mobile are often not seen, they're often forgotten about. 406 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:33,920 And God is, God is the God of the forgotten. 407 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:38,280 He is the ones, He is the one that's going to go after the, He's going to leave the 99 408 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:42,360 to go after the one and He's going to pursue them and He's going to bring them, whether 409 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:45,700 they've run away themselves or they've just fallen down and they've broken, they've broken 410 00:25:45,700 --> 00:25:47,840 a bone or something like that. 411 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:48,840 He's the good shepherd. 412 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:55,400 He's going to go after them and God is using Dr. Don Schoendorfer to provide mobility for 413 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:59,960 people to see the hands and feet of Jesus, the love of Jesus. 414 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:05,800 And you know, on your, on your website, Dr. Don, you have these first generation version 415 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:11,160 of the wheelchair, which is just what you described earlier about with the white resin 416 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,200 chair and the bicycle tires. 417 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:19,160 And it's really, it seems like something that could easily be used. 418 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:25,920 And then you've got the generation two, which you rolled out in 2009. 419 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,160 It definitely looks like a step up. 420 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:35,320 And then you have the generation three that came out in 2013, which has even more customizable 421 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:36,320 parts to it. 422 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,980 And it looks like it would help a lot of people. 423 00:26:39,980 --> 00:26:43,280 What is the next step for the free wheelchair mission? 424 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:49,720 Well, we're working of course on, we don't kind of call it generation four, but there's 425 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,520 a, there's things we've learned. 426 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:56,100 And we've learned by working with people in developing countries who manufactured these 427 00:26:56,100 --> 00:26:59,680 chairs for us in China and India. 428 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:05,040 And we've learned how to take these skills they have rather than to come to them with 429 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:10,920 a brand new design that we are, you know, in our, our brilliance would have thought 430 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:17,600 up in our, this, we, we designed a wheelchair about what they can make. 431 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:23,240 And we try and then we try to bring them into the design into the creative part of it by 432 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,320 asking them, Oh, how would you make this break work better? 433 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:27,320 How would you do this? 434 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:29,800 What kind of bearings do you think we should use? 435 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,060 And, and we want to make a chair that's going to be lighter. 436 00:27:33,060 --> 00:27:37,040 We want to make it a chair that's even more adjustable. 437 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:43,000 You know, humanity, many people in the world are getting larger as, as time goes on because 438 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,680 there's diets that are a little bit richer in calories. 439 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:52,440 And then we want to reach down into this, the other end where a chair for a lighter, 440 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:54,800 a smaller person. 441 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:58,680 You know, in the beginning, I, I realized that families, mothers and fathers wanted 442 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,280 to carry their children if they couldn't walk. 443 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:06,720 That was, that was, they liked being their child's legs, but they get to a certain point 444 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:09,080 when they're too heavy. 445 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:16,120 And, and, and we went and, but we want to bring that ability to wheel a child into the, 446 00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:22,640 into the, into the younger ages because sometimes, you know, these schools are miles away and 447 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:24,400 then, you know, you've got the choice. 448 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:29,880 Do I, do I carry my child to school or do is, is this, is this their graduation now 449 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,440 from not ever going to school again? 450 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:38,280 Because I can, I can't spend four hours and walking five miles to carry my kid to school 451 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:40,000 back and forth. 452 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:46,460 So, and so that we're trying to reach in a little bit deeper into the types of wheelchairs 453 00:28:46,460 --> 00:28:50,600 that now we know so much about because we've given so many away. 454 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:51,600 Yeah. 455 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:54,980 So because you've given so many away, you've seen them in different and different applications 456 00:28:54,980 --> 00:28:57,980 in different terrains and different areas of the world. 457 00:28:57,980 --> 00:29:04,920 And you've seen people with different needs, different applications of those needs as well. 458 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:11,640 You're able to tweak and adjust and continue on innovating and providing a better service 459 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:13,120 to these people. 460 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:18,040 Dr. Don, it's been a pleasure to talk to you today and I just want to encourage people 461 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:24,560 to check out his website, miraclewheels.org to get your copy of Miracle Wheels, the story 462 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:32,240 of a mission to bring mobility to the world, as well as his website, freewheelchairmission.org. 463 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:37,580 And both of those, I believe they'll lead to each other, but you can see videos and 464 00:29:37,580 --> 00:29:42,840 testimonies and examples of the work that they're doing. 465 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:49,540 And Dr. Don, thank you so much for coming on and joining me for the Charisma News podcast. 466 00:29:49,540 --> 00:29:52,400 It's an encouragement and it's a blessing. 467 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:53,400 Thank you, John. 468 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:59,260 It's a blessing for us to get the word out about this, about we can make the world a 469 00:29:59,260 --> 00:30:03,840 better place and help build God's kingdom in the same time. 470 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:04,840 Amen. 471 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:05,840 Amen. 472 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:08,440 This has been John Matarazzo for the Charisma News podcast. 473 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:24,080 God bless you.