Blogs
Inspiration, news, ideas, and stories from around Through the Roof.
The sunflower lanyard scheme. And what churches should know about it.
Tim Wood, CEO of Through the Roof, the church disability charity, reveals why sunflower lanyards are key to supporting individuals with hidden disabilities. My son loves his sunflower lanyard! He loves wearing it to school, the shops, around the house, and church on Sundays. But we had to draw the line at him wearing it in bed.
International Roofbreakers in Kerala, India, 2024
Our first International Roofbreaker mission trip to Kerala, India, in January 2024 had a profound impact. It touched the lives of at least 135 disabled people and family members. The trip also addressed the hearts and minds of over 200 local Christian leaders, teachers and students, giving them a more Biblical view of disability inclusion. We were told that very...
Wheels in Kimilili and Eldoret, Kenya 2023: blog
Through the Roof is blessed to have two Wheels for the World missions to Kenya in 2023. On the second trip, volunteers visit Kimilili then Eldoret to distribute wheelchairs and mobility aids to disabled people, as well as Bibles, to bring them physical and spiritual freedom. Sophie Luckett, a UK team member, writes about the experience of the mission...
Disability Diaries - Part 2: Bursting the Balloon of Fear
To celebrate Disability Awareness Sunday, we're sharing Disability Diaries – stories of disabled people’s lives transformed by church disability inclusion. Deena meets K When I became a Roofbreaker disability champion with Through the Roof, our church put up some publicity posters and several disabled people (not previously connected to our church) approached us for support. Roofbreakers has helped me meet...
Wheels for the World in Elburgon, Kenya 2023: Blog 4
For our last blog post from this trip, Andy Tyas shares his memories of the end of our 2023 Wheels for the World trip to Elburgon, Kenya, to distribute wheelchairs that bring freedom to disabled people. This Christian mission is taking place with our local partner in Elburgon, Pastor Davis from Hope of Glory Church. Here's is the final...
Wheels for the World in Elburgon, Kenya 2023: Blog 3
Shaun Burrows, our International Missions Manager, is taking on the role of blogger on our Wheels for the World trip to Elburgon, Kenya to distribute wheelchairs to disabled people. This Christian mission is taking place with our local partner in Elburgon, Pastor Davis from Hope of Glory Church. Shaun will be sending back reports when he can -- here's...
Wheels for the World in Elburgon, Kenya 2023: Blog 2
Shaun Burrows, our International Missions Manager, is taking on the role of blogger on our Wheels for the World trip to Elburgon, Kenya to distribute wheelchairs to disabled people. This Christian mission is taking place with our local partner in Elburgon, Pastor Davis from Hope of Glory Church. Shaun will be sending back reports regularly -- here's his second...
Wheels for the World in Elburgon, Kenya 2023: Blog 1
Shaun Burrows, our International Missions Manager, is taking on the role of blogger on our Wheels for the World trip to Kenya, to distribute wheelchairs to disabled people in Elburgon. This Christian mission is taking place with our local partner in Elburgon, Pastor Davis from Hope of Glory Church. Shaun will be sending back reports when time allows --...
Blog 2: Wheels in Kumi, Uganda 2022
We've got a great team working hard in Kumi Uganda from the 10th to 20th Feb. We'll bring you their life-changing stories and pictures just as often as the internet connection allows. Here's Sam's report from day 2 -- pictures to follow soon. Day 2 began appearing more organised than the Saturday, with a more reasonable number of clients...
Blog 1: Wheels in Kumi, Uganda 2022
We've got a great team working hard in Kumi Uganda from the 10th to 20th Feb. We'll bring you their life-changing stories and pictures just as often as the internet connection allows. Here's Sam's report from day 1. There was great excitement for Day One of the distribution. The team began really early to get things set up ready...
Week 7 Part B: Wheels for the World in Uganda 2021 - Supported Distribution
Supported Distribution to the Bidi Bidi Refugee Camp, N.W. Uganda Wheels Blog Week 7 Part B (19th March 2021) On Friday afternoon we finally finished the first Wheels Supported Distribution in Bidi Bidi with our partners Hope Health Action (HHA). Each session last week had members of the TTR...
Week 7: Wheels for the World in Uganda 2021 - Supported Distribution
Supported Distribution to the Bidi Bid Refugee Camp, N.W. Uganda Wheels Blog Week 7 (15th to 18th March 2021) You may have noticed a difference in the timescale for this week’s distribution. This is because we have decided to extend the distribution by three days (ending Friday 19th)...
God Sings Over You! (Ros' Blog)
Out for my early morning walk yesterday, I observed a very amusing sight. It was funny because it had a happy ending, but it included a heart-stopping moment. I was walking through the woods and there were 2 male blackbirds on the path in front of me. They stayed there until I got quite close and then, in a...
Week 6: Wheels for the World in Uganda 2021 - Supported Distribution
Supported Distribution to the Bidi Bid Refugee Camp, N.W. Uganda Wheels Blog Week 6 (8th and 9th March 2021) It’s been another busy week for the TTR team assisting Hope Health Action (HHA) out in Bidi Bidi, Uganda. Each day the HHA team load up their pick-up...
Week 5: Wheels for the World in Uganda 2021 - Supported Distribution
Supported Distribution to the Bidi Bid Refugee Camp, N.W. Uganda Wheels Blog Week 5 (1st and 2nd March 2021) Well, we have now completed Week 5 of this rather unusual and novel distribution and have only two more weeks left. The Hope Health Action (HHA) team have once again been doing a fabulous job ‘on the ground’ and have distributed 83...
Week 4: Wheels for the World in Uganda 2021 - Supported Distribution
Supported Distribution to the Bidi Bid Refugee Camp, N.W. Uganda Wheels Blog Week 4 (22nd and 23rd February 2021) We are now half way through our distribution timetable supporting Hope Health Action as they distribute wheelchairs and other walking aids in the Bidi Bidi Refugee Camp in N.W. Uganda. It has been a rewarding task for our team of therapists and...
Week 3: Wheels for the World in Uganda 2021 - Supported Distribution
Supported Distribution to the Bidi Bid Refugee Camp, N.W. Uganda Wheels Blog Week 3 (15th and 16th February 2021) We are well into the Supported Distribution process now. The UK team members make a video call to our HHA colleagues in Bidi Bidi at the start of each distribution session at around 07:00 and 11:00 each Monday and Tuesday morning and...
Week 2: Wheels for the World in Uganda 2021 - Supported Distribution
Supported Distribution to the Bidi Bid Refugee Camp, N.W. Uganda Wheels Blog Week 2 (8th and 9th February 2021) Following on from the successful start of the distribution last week the HHA team Clement, Agnes and Moses were...
Week 1: Uganda 2021 - Supported Distribution
Supported Distribution to the Bidi Bid Refugee Camp, N.W. Uganda Wheels Blog Week 1 (1st and 2nd February 2021) Through the Roof’s first supported distribution of 135 wheelchairs and other walking aids began this week. This was, like all normal distributions, planned carefully with a team of therapists and techies, providing support to a partner organisation--in this case, Hope Health Action, based in the...
Caroline’s testimony of provision in lockdown: God is good! (Ros' Blog)
Caroline Emberson is one of our Roofbreakers. In this blog, she tells us how God has provided for her family’s needs during the months of the pandemic. I have multiple sclerosis and use the wheelchair as a crutch when I am out and about. In all of this I have learned again that actually, God...
Help in Lockdown (Ros' Blog)
I’m sure it’s true to say that nobody wanted to start the New Year with another total lockdown, even though most people can see the need for it and the sense of it. Those who are in the clinically extremely vulnerable category have been shielding pretty much since March anyway, and for them, the end of this crisis must...
We Wish You A Blessed (If Different!) Christmas (Ros' Blog)
Through the Roof has just held its first online retreat. Its theme was Finding God in Lockdown. We looked at the life of Samuel Rutherford in the seventeenth century who was banished from his parish and placed under house arrest at a time of persecution. We considered how we could follow his journey of initial depression, fear and sleeplessness...
Home Is Where The Heart Is (Ros' Blog)
Currently, I’m living in a sort of limbo. Having got married at the end of September, we’re spending most of our time in my husband’s house, but going back to mine some days, especially at weekends to share Sunday lunch with my eldest daughter who lives nearby. Eventually we will settle permanently in the house that was my husband’s and is now ours.
Beauty from Chaos (Ros' Blog)
I’m writing this four days before my wedding. I’ve been going round my house getting everything ready for my new husband to move in after we’re married, as we’re going to be living here temporarily. I’ve lived here on my own for most of the last nine years, and everything in the house has been decorated to my liking. I’ve been trying to look at it...
Writing Disability (Ros' Blog)
This week’s blog is a guest post by Fiona Veitch Smith. Fiona is a Christian novelist who writes fiction for the general market. She writes of how her third book in the Poppy Denby Investigates series (murder mysteries set in the 1920s) received a review criticising her for including ‘too many disabled characters’. The reviewer prefaced the jibe with ‘now it’s not as...
Questions of Healing (Ros' Blog)
When I speak at churches on behalf of Through the Roof, and when I staff our exhibition stand at events, people sometimes come up to me and ask questions. And the two questions I am most frequently asked are, “What about disability and healing?” and, “Will I/my child/disabled people be healed in heaven?” These are asked not only about people whose impairments are physical, but also those which are cognitive...
“We May Not Think As Quickly, But We Feel As Deeply” (Ros' Blog)
Two recent encounters give a painfully poignant insight into the reality of lockdown for people with significant learning disabilities. In the first, a young woman is visited by her mother for the first time in 15 weeks since the beginning of lockdown. The meeting takes place at a distance of 2 metres in the garden of the care home where the young woman...
Relating From The Heart (Ros' Blog)
I recently had the privilege of joining a zoom conversation between a young woman and her father who are not currently able to meet up because of lockdown rules. There might seem to be nothing unusual about such a conversation, but what struck me was that this interaction was between a non-verbal woman with a very profound...
Re-imagining Church: Garden or Window Box? (Ros' Blog)
Today's blog post was originally featured on Ros' personal blog -- you can find the post by following this link. There is an ongoing debate about the closure of church buildings during the pandemic. On one side are people who are concerned above all for public health...
My Disability Was No Limit For God (Ros' Blog)
This week we have a guest blog from Julia Mitchell. Julia is a longstanding supporter of Through the Roof who was born with cerebral palsy, which caused her to have difficulty in various aspects of life including speaking and walking. During the final year of her Open University degree she lost her sight and also became a...
Guided by the Shepherd’s Rod (Ros' Blog)
I am unashamedly a word nerd. The only subjects I was any good at when I was at school were the ones that involved the meanings of words – English language and literature and foreign languages. I am fascinated by the meanings, the spellings, the origins and derivation of words, and by the connections between words in...
The Government Is On Whose Shoulder? (Ros' Blog)
It’s a time of political turmoil. Refugees are on the move. People are divided in their views on whether the current government is working for the good of the nation – many believe it’s just in hock to a foreign leader and doing his bidding. One thing everyone agrees on though, the people at the top just...
A Time of Shielding - Discovering What Disabled People Have Always Known (Ros' Blog)
In a recent online video, Fiona Gosden, our Deputy Church Inclusion Coordinator, invites us to listen to the powerful voice of vulnerable people which so many of us have drowned out by the noise of our activity. Fiona tells us we are all discovering something that disabled people like her have always known. Fiona explains...
Peace in a Time of Pandemic (Ros' Blog)
I used to think leaving my tiny premature baby in SCBU each evening not knowing whether she would make it through the night was as traumatic as it gets, and maybe it was. She’s now 36 and resident in a care home and I’m not currently allowed to take her out or even visit her. Seeing her on...
Margaret Anne Bale -- Ros' Blog
Margaret Anne Bale 16th October 1959 – 18th February 2020 This month there can only be one topic for our regular blog, and that is a tribute to our much loved and sadly missed colleague, Margaret Bale. Margaret retired in September after seventeen years of working for Through the Roof, in...
Reaching The Places Other Christians Can’t Reach (Ros' Blog)
At our Disability Inclusion In Our Churches event in Ashtead last weekend, we heard Jo Hooper tell her story of how God broke into her life through tragic circumstances to restore joy and hope to her. The power of Jo’s testimony was a reminder of how God uses disabled people to reach into areas and situations that...
Hands That Flung Phones Into Space… (Ros' Blog)
A colleague once told me a story which had quite an impact on me, and I have never forgotten it. While he was a student, one of his fellow students was “dumped” by his girlfriend by text message. The young man was devastated both by the ending of the relationship, and by her method of informing him. So he...
Tanzania 2019: Friday 25th October
From the 20th to the 29th October, two teams -- one from Churches Inc, and one from Wheels for the World -- will be hard at work in Tanzania. We'll be bringing you all the stories and details of what they're up, the people they're meeting, and the lives they're changing just as often as the internet connection allows....
Tanzania 2019: Thursday 24th October
From the 20th to the 29th October, two teams -- one from Churches Inc, and one from Wheels for the World -- will be hard at work in Tanzania. We'll be bringing you all the stories and details of what they're up, the people they're meeting, and the lives they're changing just as often as the internet connection allows....
Tanzania 2019: Wednesday 23rd October
From the 20th to the 29th October, two teams -- one from Churches Inc, and one from Wheels for the World -- will be hard at work in Tanzania. We'll be bringing you all the stories and details of what they're up, the people they're meeting, and the lives they're changing just as often as the internet connection allows....
Tanzania 2019: Tuesday 22nd October
From the 20th to the 29th October, two teams -- one from Churches Inc, and one from Wheels for the World -- will be hard at work in Tanzania. We'll be bringing you all the stories and details of what they're up, the people they're meeting, and the lives they're changing just as often as the internet connection allows....
Tanzania 2019: Monday 21st October
From the 20th to the 29th October, two teams -- one from Churches Inc, and one from Wheels for the World -- will be hard at work in Tanzania. We'll be bringing you all the stories and details of what they're up, the people they're meeting, and the lives they're changing just as often as the internet connection allows....
Tanzania 2019 Preparations-- Churches Inc and Wheels for the World
From the 20th to the 29th October, two teams -- one from Churches Inc, and one from Wheels for the World -- will be hard at work in Tanzania. We'll be bringing you all the stories and details of what they're up, the people they're meeting, and the lives they're changing just as often as the internet connection allows....
Tanzania 2019 - Churches Inc and Wheels for the World
From the 20th to the 29th October, two teams -- one from Churches Inc, and one from Wheels for the World -- will be hard at work in Tanzania. We'll be bringing you all the stories and details of what they're up, the people they're meeting, and the lives they're changing just as often as the internet connection allows....
A Glimpse Into The Life Of A Roofbreaker (Ros' Blog)
This week we have a guest blog post from Heidi Buckell, whose story shows that churches don’t have to make huge adjustments to make a huge difference to the lives of their disabled members – all it takes is a heart of love and a determination to ensure that everyone is welcomed and enabled to play their part.
From Wounds to Living Water (Ros' Blog)
One of my particular pleasures in life is my fortnightly visit to my aunt, my mother’s sister. Aged ninety-four, she is the only surviving one of four siblings, and she lives in a residential care home on the south coast. And because her room, to which she is largely confined these days, is rather plain, I love to take...
You’re a Good, Good Father, It’s Who You Are (Ros' Blog)
I’ve just come back from a week at CreationFest, where I was manning (or womanning!) the stand for Through the Roof. It was a great week of making connections and getting our message out there. I especially enjoyed joining Count Everyone In for their morning sessions of inclusive and accessible worship and Bible teaching, and came away knowing the...
Churches Inc in Ukraine 2019 -- Day 5
The Through the Roof Churches Inc team are hard at work in Ternopil, Ukraine until the 13th August. Please keep praying for the team, as they bring a message of encouragement and inclusion to the area. We'll bring you updates on their work as often as we can. Thank you for all your support! Day 5 -- Sun 11th Today,...
Churches Inc in Ukraine 2019 -- Day 4
The Through the Roof Churches Inc team are hard at work in Ternopil, Ukraine until the 13th August. Please keep praying for the team, as they bring a message of encouragement and inclusion to the area. We'll bring you updates on their work as often as we can. Thank you for all your support! Day 4 -- Sat 10th Today we...
Churches Inc in Ukraine 2019 -- Day 3
The Through the Roof Churches Inc team are hard at work in Ternopil, Ukraine until the 13th August. Please keep praying for the team, as they bring a message of encouragement and inclusion to the area. We'll bring you updates on their work as often as we can. Thank you for all your support! Day 3 -- Fri 9th Today was...
Churches Inc in Ukraine 2019 -- Day 2
The Through the Roof Churches Inc team are hard at work in Ternopil, Ukraine until the 13th August. Please keep praying for the team, as they bring a message of encouragement and inclusion to the area. We'll bring you updates on their work as often as we can. Thank you for all your support! Day 2 -- Thurs 8th Today we...
Churches Inc in Ukraine 2019 -- Day 1
The Through the Roof Churches Inc team have arrived in Ternopil, Ukraine, following a smooth journey and will be working there until the 13th August. Please keep praying for the team, as they bring a message of encouragement and inclusion to the area. We'll bring you updates on their work as often as we can. Thank you for all...
See What God Has Built (Ros' Blog)
Just recently I’ve been having some interesting conversations with a friend who is a Jehovah’s Witness. I’ve got to know him through a local voluntary organisation. He told me he had some questions that had been puzzling him. In particular, he said, for a lot of people, having a severely disabled child would be a challenge to their faith...
He Knows Your Name (Ros' Blog)
I’ve just come back from a week at Center Parcs on a Through the Roof holiday, where we looked at some of the New Testament characters who were noticed by Jesus when other people didn’t notice them. None of us on the holiday are well known. Some have learning disabilities and live in care communities or supported living. And...
Wheelsblog -- Uganda 2019, Day 8
Thursday 13 June Well, our distribution is over and after an early night in the accommodation in Yumbe, we left at 06.00 in the dark, with rain falling making the roads very slippery, to head for the national park at Murchison Falls. At 09:30 we stopped and picked up breakfast in Arua before continuing the journey on a tarmac road...
Wheelsblog -- Uganda 2019, Day 7
The Wheels for the World team are in Moyo, Uganda from the 5th to the 15th June. We'll be bringing you their stories and news as often as the internet connection allows. Here's the seventh report, as the team unloads the container, and travels to Bidi Bidi camp to distribute wheelchairs and change many lives! Please keep praying for...
Blind Hymn Writer Lights the Way (Ros' Blog)
Throughout my life there have been some hymns that have made a profound impression on me, and some hymn writers whose stories have touched and inspired me. And in researching these hymn writers, I have found that a number of them are disabled, and have left a wonderful legacy in the words they have written – people like Frances...
Churches Inc in Kosovo -- Day 6
The Churches Inc team are hard at work in Kosovo from the 29th April to the 6th May, bringing a message of inclusion for disabled people, and working with the church and there to help communities welcome, encourage, and support disabled people. Please pray for them on their trip - we'll bring you blog posts from them as often...
Churches Inc in Kosovo - Day 5
The Churches Inc team are hard at work in Kosovo from the 29th April to the 6th May, bringing a message of inclusion for disabled people, and working with the church and leaders there to help communities welcome, encourage, and support disabled people. Please pray for them on their trip - we'll bring you blog posts from them as...
Churches Inc in Kosovo--Day 4
The Churches Inc team are hard at work in Kosovo from the 29th April to the 6th May, bringing a message of inclusion for disabled people, and working with the church and leaders there to help communities welcome, encourage, and support disabled people. Please pray for them on their trip - we'll bring you blog posts from them as...
Churches Inc in Kosovo: Day Two
The Churches Inc team are hard at work in Kosovo from the 29th April to the 6th May, bringing a message of inclusion for disabled people, and working with the church and leaders there to help communities welcome, encourage, and support disabled people. Please pray for them on their trip - we'll bring you blog posts from them as...
Honour Restored by Jesus (Ros' Blog)
I’ve seen quite a few posts on social media recently written by people who feel stigmatised for their disability. It sometimes goes beyond being marginalised and overlooked in society, which in itself is bad enough. People feel targeted for disapproval, or seen as worthless if they are not able to make a net financial contribution to the country. ...
Wheels in Nigeria 2018: Day 7 & 8
A Wheels team of ten people are hard at work in Nigeria this week - they'll be there from the 14th to the 24th November, and we'll bring you stories from their trip as often as the internet connection allows. Please keep praying for them as they work! Day 7 Today the team were transported 1 and a...
Wheels in Nigeria 2018: Day 5
A Wheels team of ten people are hard at work in Nigeria this week - they'll be there from the 14th to the 24th November, and we'll bring you stories from their trip as often as the internet connection allows. Please keep praying for them as they work! Today was our second day in Festac, Lagos. The team had...
Wheels in Nigeria 2018: Day 3
A Wheels team of ten people are hard at work in Nigeria this week - they'll be there from the 14th to the 24th November, and we'll bring you stories from their trip as often as the internet connection allows. Please keep praying for them as they work! Today, the team divided into two, with one group taking a...
Discovering the Pastoral Heart of Christ (Ros' Blog)
When I was two years old, my parents left the south coast because of my father’s job and we moved as a family to Worcester Park. We remained there until I was six years old, and were members of Worcester Park Baptist Church. Our family had several more moves until I got married almost 40 years ago and moved...
Churches Inc in Sierra Leone - Day 5
Through the Roof has a Churches Inc team in Sierra Leone for the next ten days. They'll be bringing a message of inclusion for disabled people, and working with the church and leaders there to help communities welcome, encourage, and support disabled people. Please pray for them on their trip - we'll bring you blog posts from them as...
Churches Inc in Sierra Leone - Day 4
Through the Roof has a Churches Inc team in Sierra Leone for the next ten days. They'll be bringing a message of inclusion for disabled people, and working with the church and leaders there to help communities welcome, encourage, and support disabled people. Please pray for them on their trip - we'll bring you blog posts from them as...
Cats: Cute Creatures or Spiritual Parables? (Ros' Blog)
Whenever I go away, I employ someone to go in every day, feed and take care of my daughter’s cat, Fledge, who will be moving in with her and my son-in-law just as soon as they move out of rented accommodation and into their own home. In between the daily visits I think she gets pretty lonely, and she...
Churches Inc in Sierra Leone 2018 - Day 3
Through the Roof has a Churches Inc team in Sierra Leone for the next ten days. They'll be bringing a message of inclusion for disabled people, and working with the church and leaders there to help communities welcome, encourage, and support disabled people. Please pray for them on their trip - we'll bring you blog posts from them as...
Wheelsblog - Kenya 2018 - Back Home, Final Thoughts
The Wheels for the World team are now back home after ten days bringing wheelchairs to disabled people around the area, and changing lives with the gift of mobility. In this final blog, team member Jill sums up what the trip has meant to the whole team, and the amazing changes and God-prompted moments they've seen. Thank you for...
Wheelsblog Kenya 2018 - Day 9 (Final Day)
The Wheels for the World team are returning from Kenya after ten days bringing wheelchairs to disabled people around the area, and changing lives with the gift of mobility. In this blog, team member Jill sums up the final day of distribution, and looks at all the in-country work that goes into these trips. Thank you for your support...
Wheelsblog - Kenya 2018: Day 8
The Wheels for the World team are working around Elburgon, Kenya from the 5th to 15th September, bringing wheelchairs to disabled people around the area, and changing lives with the gift of mobility. In this blog, team member Jill, talks about some of the children at the distribution - it takes a great deal of ingenuity and team work...
Wheelsblog - Kenya 2018: Day 7
The Wheels for the World team are working around Elburgon, Kenya from the 5th to 15th September, bringing wheelchairs to disabled people around the area, and changing lives with the gift of mobility. We'll be putting up their blog posts just as often as the internet connection lets them send them. In this blog, team member Jill, recounts a...
Stories from Kenya: Wheelsblog Kenya 2018 - Day 6
The Wheels for the World team are working around Elburgon, Kenya from the 5th to 15th September, bringing wheelchairs to disabled people around the area, and changing lives with the gift of mobility. We'll be putting up their blog posts just as often as the internet connection lets them send them - here's just one story of many from...
Wheelsblog: Kenya 2018, Day 5
The Wheels for the World team are working around Elburgon, Kenya from the 5th to 15th September, bringing wheelchairs to disabled people around the area, and changing lives with the gift of mobility. We'll be putting up their blog posts just as often as the internet connection lets them send them - here's a day 5's report from team...
Wheelsblog Kenya 2018 - Days 1 to 3
The Wheels for the World team are working around Elburgon, Kenya from the 5th to 15th September, bringing wheelchairs to disabled people around the area, and changing lives with the gift of mobility. We'll be putting up their blog posts just as often as the internet connection lets them send them - here's a condensed report from team member...
Day 4 - Wheelsblog, Kenya 2018
The Wheels for the World team are working around Elburgon, Kenya from the 5th to 15th September, bringing wheelchairs to disabled people around the area, and changing lives with the gift of mobility. We'll be putting up their blog posts just as often as the internet connection lets them send them - here's team member Jill's report from Day...
Wheelsblog Kenya - Day 1
The Wheels Kenya team have sent through plenty of photos from their first day's distribution - we'll be bringing you more photos and stories over the rest of the trip. The team will be fitting chairs and mobility aids, and changing lives, through to the 15th September. Please do pray for them!
Safe Landings! - Wheelsblog - Kenya 2018
We're excited to let you all know that the Kenya Wheels for the World team have arrived safely, and the container has been released and unloaded. Join us over the next week for lots more news about the lives your support is changing. Please do pray for the team as they settle in and get started assessing and fitting...
Lessons from a Dolphin - Ros' Blog
One thing we often hear about from disabled people is the isolation they feel. Many disabled Christians are unable to get to church, either for lack of an accessible church locally, or lack of transport to get there. Isolation is never good; we were created by the community of the Godhead for community with Him and each other. ...
Wheelsblog - Kenya, Elburgon - 5th to 15th September
Wheels for the World will be fitting and distributing wheelchairs in Elburgon, Kenya from the 5th to 15th September 2018. In this video (produced by Sychem), Lucie, a therapist on the trip, tells us all about how she came to be involved, why the work is important to her, and how she's...
Hope for a Tree, Hope for Me (Ros' Blog)
While away on holiday, I spotted this tree in the garden of the cottage where we were staying. It was little more than a stump, about four feet high, and had obviously been cut right down at some point in its past. But despite the insult to its entire system, this tree was putting out foliage in...
Living Water in a Time of Drought (Ros' Blog)
Driving around my locality recently I’ve noticed an unusual phenomenon. In the middle of July some of the trees are looking really autumnal, with leaves crinkling yellow and falling to the ground, while others are as green and fresh as you would expect at this stage of the summer. In some places it’s the smaller trees such as silver...
A Place to Call Home (Ros' Blog)
So… the dust has settled, the boxes are emptied and everything is in its proper place. Our new office is in apple-pie order, thanks largely to the efficiency and hard work of Michael, our Operations Manager. A few adjustments are needed on our part – a bit more desk sharing, board meetings have to take place elsewhere, and for...
Churches Inc in Tanzania: Final Blog
Janet, Abi, Katie, and Shaun visited Tanzania from the 6th to 16th June, working hard to deliver events and workshops, and to support church leaders and local work. Our Churches Inc. programme equips the church with a Christian perspective on disability, helping them to be fully inclusive so everyone is valued. Here's their report on the sixth day -...
Churches Inc in Tanzania: Day 6
Janet, Abi, Katie, and Shaun are working in Tanzania from the 6th to 16th June, delivering and supporting Churches Inc leaders events and workshops. Our Churches Inc. programme equips the church with a Christian perspective on disability, helping them to be fully inclusive so everyone is valued. Here's their report on the sixth day -
Churches Inc in Tanzania: Day 5
Janet, Abi, Katie, and Shaun are working in Tanzania from the 6th to 16th June, delivering and supporting Churches Inc leaders events and workshops. Our Churches Inc. programme equips the church with a Christian perspective on disability, helping them to be fully inclusive so everyone is valued. Here's their report on the second day -
Churches Inc in Tanzania: Day 4
Janet, Abi, Katie, and Shaun are working in Tanzania from the 6th to 16th June, delivering and supporting Churches Inc leaders events and workshops. Our Churches Inc. programme equips the church with a Christian perspective on disability, helping them to be fully inclusive so everyone is valued. Here's their report on the second day -
Churches Inc Tanzania: Day 2
Janet, Abi, Katie, and Shaun are working in Tanzania from the 6th to 16th June, delivering and supporting Churches Inc leaders events and workshops. Our Churches Inc. programme equips the church with a Christian perspective on disability, helping them to be fully inclusive so everyone is valued. Here's their report on the second day -
Churches Inc in Tanzania: Day 1
Janet, Abi, Katie, and Shaun are working in Tanzania from the 6th to 16th June, delivering and supporting Churches Inc leaders events and workshops. Our Churches Inc. programme equips the church with a Christian perspective on disability, helping them to be fully inclusive so everyone is valued. Here's their report on the first day - we'll keep you up...
Churches Inc in Tanzania: 6th to 16th June
Janet, Abi, Katie, and Shaun are travelling to Tanzania to deliver and support Churches Inc leaders events and workshops. Our Churches Inc. programme equips the church with a Christian perspective on disability, helping them to be fully inclusive so everyone is valued. We'll keep you up to date on what they're doing as often as the team are able...
Finding Blessings in Unexpected Places (Ros' Blog)
I’ve just returned from another trip to India. It’s my third trip; I try to go in my annual leave as often as I can. I spend the time with friends, but also with a couple of projects that they run. I always look forward to these trips, but as they draw nearer I find myself feeling a bit...
Wheelsblog: Uganda 2018
A team of ten are representing Wheels for the World in Butaleja, Uganda from the 11th to the 21st April. Team Blogger, Phil, is sending back videos, photos and other reports whenever the internet connection allows, and we'll get them all online here. Please keep praying for the team, as they bring wheelchairs and other mobility aids to disabled...
Stephen Hawking - A Bright Star Extinguished (Ros' Blog)
I’m sure that everyone was saddened by the news last week of the death of Professor Stephen Hawking. He is, of course, best known for his amazing advancement of knowledge and understanding in the fields of Cosmology and Theoretical Physics. But he shone as a human being in so many other ways than just his professional accomplishments. He was a...
Emmanuel’s Story (Churches Inc in Kenya 2018)
Kerry, Trevor, Pastor Shadrack, and Pastor Davis ran a Churches Inc training trip to Elburgon, Kenya from the 7th to the 17th February. You can read blog posts from the whole trip by following the links at the bottom of this article, but here's one story from Kerry of their time with a young boy and his family which...
Hidden Disability, Hidden Treasure (Ros' Blog)
Recently, while doing some research on disabled characters in the Bible, I came across an interesting theory, put forward by a Jewish author, that Esau may have had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It might explain why his mother found the foetal movements during pregnancy excessive, why he liked to be physically active, out hunting as often as possible, why...
Churches Inc in Kenya 2018: 3 & 4
Kerry and Trevor from the UK, plus Pastor Shadrack from Tanzania and Pastor Davis - the host and teacher - are hard at work in Elburgon, Kenya for Churches Inc from the 7th to the 17th February. They'll be sending back updates and stories from the trip as often as time and internet connections allow. This is their third...
Churches Inc in Kenya 2018: 2
Kerry and Trevor from the UK, plus Pastor Shadrack from Tanzania and Pastor Davis - the host and teacher - are hard at work in Elburgon, Kenya for Churches Inc from the 7th to the 17th February. They'll be sending back updates and stories from the trip as often as time and internet connections allow. This is their second...
Churches Inc in Kenya 2018: 1
Kerry and Trevor from the UK, plus Pastor Shadrack from Tanzania and Pastor Davis - the host and teacher - are hard at work in Elburgon, Kenya for Churches Inc from the 7th to the 17th February. They'll be sending back updates and stories from the trip as often as time and internet connections allow. Here's their first post,...
Remember Me (Ros' Blog)
Our pastor was recently speaking on what it means for us to remember Jesus. He pointed out that to re-member is to piece back together what is dis-membered, and he suggested that every time we come together as the Body of Christ, we are re-membering Him in our very act of meeting in fellowship. I looked up the origins of...
Love in a Glove (Ros' Blog)
I was told something rather lovely yesterday morning when I went to pick my daughter up from her residential care home to take her to church. Apparently the home recently had a knock at the door. It was a lady whom they recognised as a neighbour. She said, “I live nearby, and I see your residents going up and...
God’s New Year Resolution for you (Ros' Blog)
Shortly before Christmas, prompted by an Advent sermon, I started to read my way through Psalms, something I used to do regularly but hadn’t done for a while. By a happy coincidence, I reached Psalm 12 on New Year’s Day, and my first Bible reading of the year read like God’s New Year Resolution: “‘For the oppression of...
Old Trees Bear Good Fruit (Ros' Blog)
My mother and aunt lived together for about the last 25 years, supporting each other in their widowhood. Each brought something to the relationship that the other couldn’t. My mother could drive and had a car; my aunt had never learned to drive. My mother loved to cook but her arthritis meant she couldn’t stand for long periods at...
#MeToo (Ros' Blog)
In the past few days a hashtag has been trending all over social media. People, mainly women but a few men as well, have been posting #MeToo. The intention behind this has been to highlight the extent of the problem of sexual harassment and abuse, how endemic and pervasive it is in our society. Sadly, some politicians and...
A Covenant People (Ros' Blog)
“Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me...
Trailblazer or Trailing Behind?
Scope Commissioned Report Shows that it’s Time for Churches to Address Disability Rights at Work by Mark Bainbridge Solicitor at didlaw Ltd The findings of an Opinium survey commissioned by Scope show that a person with a disability needs to apply for 60 per cent more jobs than a non-disabled job applicant before they are successful
After the Thank You – What Next? (Ros' Blog)
Well. We’ve had our thanksgiving service, a memorable and uplifting occasion. You can see some photos of it on our Facebook page, and it was great to see so many of our supporters there. So, what happens next? To answer this question, I’ve been taking a look at some famous “thanksgivings” in the Bible, to see what followed them. One...
The Sound of Many Waters (Ros' Blog)
I took my daughter swimming after work yesterday (Basingstoke Aquadrome if anyone’s interested – fantastic place: height-adjustable changing bed, ceiling track and hoist, and a chair that wheels down a slope into the water for ease of getting in and out of the pool). Because there are so many different pools, flumes, tipping buckets and waterspouts there was a...
Learning From History – The Church Can Lead The Way (Ros' Blog)
Once upon a time in Britain, disabled people lived with their families, in their communities, and were as much accepted in their homes and villages as everybody else. Those who could, helped with the family businesses – often farming smallholdings, selling produce or engaging in cottage industries such as seamstressing. They worshipped in church, joined in harvest and other...
The Words She Never Thought She’d Hear (Ros' Blog)
How much of a struggle was it for her to get to the synagogue that morning? To get up off her mattress on the floor and wrap herself in her clothes, to feel her way shuffling down the street and in through the doorway, to lower herself onto the floor in the women’s section, wondering how she would get...
Kumi Wheelsblog: Final Thoughts
The Wheels for the World team spent ten days working hard in Kumi, Uganda from the 14th to 24th June. As they head home, here are some final thoughts from team leader, Rob... Last day in Uganda. In a few hours some of the team fly back. 3 others are doing their own separate travels. As I reflect on the trip-...
Kumi Wheelsblog: Day 6
The Wheels for the World team are hard at work in Kumi, Uganda from the 14th to 24th June. We'll be bringing you all their updates as often as we can... Today was another happy and positive day of fitting chairs. Finding ourselves in the...
Kumi Wheelsblog: Day 5
The Wheels for the World team are hard at work in Kumi, Uganda from the 14th to 24th June. We'll be bringing you all their updates as often as we can... Today was a new day! And it could not have been more different than yesterday. It was still busy - we saw 39! But we had a new plan for...
Kumi Wheelsblog: Day 2
The Wheels for the World team are hard at work in Kumi, Uganda from the 14th to 24th June. We'll be bringing you all their updates as often as we can... Another busy afternoon! Finally finished by torchlight at 8pm. A large truck full of 20 complex children arrived just before lunch, and we were working into the evening to see...
Kumi Wheelsblog: Day 1
The Wheels for the World team are in Uganda, working in Kumi from the 14th to 24th June. Here's the first report back - we'll be keeping you up to date as often as time and internet connections allow. First time for Wheels in Kumi and it was in at the deep end! Almost all of those who came...
Jesus as You’ve Never Thought of Him Before (Ros' Blog)
I had an interesting conversation the other day, which gave me a new perspective on a familiar Bible story. Someone had mentioned the fact that Zacchaeus was a noticeably small person, and speculated as to whether he might have had some condition such as achondroplasia. Someone else chipped in that actually, the relevant Bible verse (Luke 19.3) tells us that...
Wheels in Kumi, Uganda (14.06.17)
Our team are now on the way to Kumi, Uganda, for a ten day Wheels for the World distribution working in partnership with Elspeth Robinson and Kumi Hospital. The team, led by Rob Dalton, will be fitting wheelchairs and other mobility aids to disabled people around the area. We'll be sharing pictures, videos, and stories just as often...
All the Way My Saviour Leads Me (Ros' Blog)
Those of you who receive Through the Roof’s weekly prayer email will be aware that my mother was recently called home to Heaven at the ripe old age of 87. As we met to plan her funeral, my brothers and I naturally had many things about which to reminisce from childhood upwards. My mother’s physical health was devastated by rheumatoid...
Life Will be Different Now (Ros' Blog)
A disabled man sits in a back room, overlooked by all the world, visited a few times a day by a staff member with food, but ignored the rest of the time. Confined to a couch by legs that will not bear his weight, his circumstances chip away at his self-worth until he no longer esteems himself to any...
Don’t Just Do Something – Sit There! (Ros' Blog)
I think that Brenda from Bristol spoke for many, if not most, of us when she was told that our Prime Minister has called a snap election. You have probably seen her on TV or social media, exclaiming, “You’re joking! Not another one!” Suddenly as well as the uncertainty of what Brexit is going to entail, we find ourselves...
Look How Far We've Come (Ros' Blog)
It was an icy winter’s afternoon just before Christmas, and with perfect timing the snow was falling on our outing to the London Emmanuel Choir’s annual Christmas concert at Westminster Central Hall. We had tried to time our arrival at the station so that we wouldn’t have to wait too long on the windy platform. I held my ten...
Time to Celebrate (Ros' Blog)
I get the impression that God loves an excuse to celebrate. The Bible stories are full of them. From the annual celebration when the harvest was brought in, to the Year of Jubilee every fifty years, not to mention Passover and all the other feasts, celebration was written into the Jewish law from the outset. After a remarkable victory, Samuel...
20 Years of God's Faithfulness (Ros' Blog)
1997. The year of Labour’s landslide victory under Tony Blair. Scientists succeeded in cloning a large organism, resulting in the birth of Dolly the sheep. The first Harry Potter novel was published and the UK handed the sovereignty of Hong Kong back to the Chinese. The world was shocked by the untimely death of Diana, Princess of Wales and...
Wheelsblog - Kenya, Eldoret 4
Here's the fourth report from the Wheels team in Eldoret, Kenya, written by team leader, Rob Dalton. The team will be on their way back on the 17th Feburary. We are here working for God, but in truth God is working in us. Coming away on a mission trip can be a time where God teaches you things to challenge and...
Wheelsblog: Kenya, Eldoret 3
Here's the third report from the Wheels for the World team, covering Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The team are hard at work until the 17th February, and have just moved from Kimilili to Eldoret for the second leg of the trip. After journeying to Eldoret the team gladly met old friends and set up for an afternoon distribution. We saw 9...
Wheelsblog: Kimilili 2
Here's the second report from the Wheels for the World Kimilili team, covering Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The team are hard at work until the 17th February - please do support them in your prayers over this time. If you head on over to our Facebook page, you can see...
Wheelsblog (Kimilili 2017)
There's a great Wheels for the World team hard at work in Kimilili from the 8th to the 17th February - we'll be putting up stories and blogs from the distribution as often as they get the chance to send them through. Travel: Hurray! After over 16 hours of travel overnight with almost no sleep the team arrive in Kimilili safely. While...
Let Go, and Let Him (Ros' Blog)
This week’s guest blog from Gwen Davies is timely, as the Prime Minister is acknowledging the need for improvements in mental health services. It’s an area where the Church can make a difference. LET GO AND LET HIM by Gwen Davies As a ‘ex-depressive’ in my early adult hood I got to see first hand how some Christians deal with those suffering...
Happy New Year (Ros' Blog)
The Israelites of the Old Testament certainly knew how to celebrate festivals in style. From the festivals of Passover and First Fruits in the month of Nisan, the start of the liturgical year, through the feasts of Pentecost and Tabernacles (think family camping adventure) and all the rest of the seven appointed feasts, there were traditions of celebration and...
Swords into Ploughshares (Ros' Blog)
As I write, it looks as though the massacre in, and entire destruction of, Aleppo will eclipse even the genocide at Srebrenica in 1995. Hundreds of schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria remain unaccounted for. Tens of thousands of innocent civilians in homes, hospitals and schools in Yemen are being slaughtered by government and Saudi forces, using weaponry...
Here Comes The Bride (Ros' Blog)
I was looking round the congregation at my church yesterday and thinking what a mixed bunch we are. The youngest present was about two years old, the oldest in his mid-eighties. There were singles, couples and families with children. There were people with physically able bodies and people with physical impairments. There were people who could walk...
Meet the Bravest of Britain! (Ros' Blog)
I recently had the privilege of talking to Mark McGowan who has just been awarded both the Community Champion award and the Bravest of Britain award in the Charles Holland Awards for Brave Britons 2016, sponsored by Amplifon. Mark is a minister who lives in Farnborough with his wife Jo and their children Millie, Ella and Caleb. Hello Mark,...
Wheelsblog: Uganda (28.10.16)
Departure from normal, two of our members went out on a home visit to see one lady of 85 who is blind and unable to join in on community life. With a wheelchair we were able to supply, she wheeled out and all her community greeted her. Back at base, we also saw a 95 year old gentleman with Parkinson's...
Wheelsblog: Uganda (27.10.16)
We were greeted with clear blue skies and relentless sun and were very very grateful for the shaded veranda. The tent had been full on our arrival. One group had started out at 2am and arrived at 5am but to some degree we have gotten used to the waiting as it seems to be cultural. We were conscious from the...
Wheelsblog: Uganda (26.10.16)
Today was our rest day, although few British people would describe spending six hours on a bus as restful! Indeed Helen, who wasn’t feeling 100% in the morning and had chosen to stay behind, looked far more rested and well than the rest of us when we returned from Jinja! However, seeing God’s creativity at what Livingstone thought was...
Secrets of the Heart (Ros' Blog)
Have you ever had one of those moments when you feel there is no one who really understands all you are going through? Even people who’ve been through similar experiences don’t always understand one another. I remember when my daughter was born, thirteen weeks prematurely and fighting for her life. Many people sent us notes, messages of sympathy, letters or...
Wheelsblog: Uganda (25.10.16)
Day 3 started a bit later than anticipated as one of the team had to embrace the African experience of trying to “quickly” purchase a sim card to make contact with his family in Uganda. The rest of us enjoyed seeing the hustle and bustle as the town of Mbale came alive. You wouldn’t believe how much can be...
Wheels in Uganda (Sunday 23.10.16)
Wheels for the World are hard at work in Uganda from the 21st October to the 2nd November, and they'll be reporting back with blog posts and updates whenever time and internet connections allow. Please follow along with all the stories here, and do pray for the team and everyone they're meeting and serving. Hello from Uganda! After a...
Permission to Fail (Ros' Blog)
I was talking to a friend recently about the difficulty she has in finding people willing to get involved and take leadership roles in groups and church activities. “People don’t want to do it,” she told me, “because they’re afraid to fail. I wish I could get them to see that it’s better to have a go, even at...
The Five Essentials (Ros' Blog)
When I was younger, sailing was my passion. My father and some of his friends used to charter a couple of yachts from Maldon in Essex for a fortnight every summer and run two one-week sailing holidays for young people. The first was for beginner sailors, with evangelistic Bible studies, and the second was for more advanced sailors, with...
Day 11- Saturday (Wheels in Elburgon 2016)
John and Gunn woke very early as they were catching a flight nearby to enjoy a short safari holiday in the Masai Mara. Thankfully Pastor Davis and his wife, Ruth, accompanied them in the taxi as the ‘airport’ was an unmanned clearing in the forest with no shelter and only a rickety bench without shade. It was unsafe for...
Day 10 - Friday (Wheels in Elburgon 2016)
‘Food, glorious food’, might sum up the day, which started as usual with a walk to the Centre taking in more local sights and sounds along the way. Pastor Davis had indicated that there were to be no more clients, but when you arrive and find clients waiting, who had travelled several hours hoping to receive a mobility aid,...
Day 9 - Thursday (Wheels Elburgon 2016)
A lovely sunny morning again and we all enjoyed walking from the hotel to the centre taking in local life on the way – sheep and goats wandering across the road, little toddlers helping dad fill tins with charcoal to sell and stall holders washing plastic flip flops and shoes before displaying them for sale. We had a lovely welcome...
Day 7 - Tuesday (Wheels Elburgon 2016)
In the afternoon Gunn and John accompanied Pastor Davis in his car to a remote village Mariashoni 12 kms away high up in the forest hills as it was difficult for the disabled people to make the journey to Elburgon. The wheelchairs and walking aids needed were loaded onto a truck which came with us. The road in places...
Day 6 - Monday (Wheels in Elburgon 2016)
Wheels for the World are working hard in Elburgon, Kenya until the 10th September 2016 - follow their journey with our regular blog updates. After breakfast we meandered through the town to the Distribution Centre to set up for the day. Due to a thunder storm the previous evening there was no electricity. This gave Roy, our Techie an...
Here’s to the Paralympics! (Ros' Blog)
This week’s blog post takes the form of an interview with Michael Sharkey, a visually impaired athlete who was part of the Team GB goal ball team at the London Paralympics. Can you tell us a little about your background? I grew up in Buckinghamshire, in a Christian family, and for some of the time I went to a school for...
DAY 5 – Sunday (Wheels Elburgon 2016)
A team from Wheels for the World are hard at work in Eldoret, Kenya from the 31st August to the 5th September - we'll bring you blog updates from them as often as possible. It was a beautiful sunny day so time for a quick stroll in the garden before breakfast. We walked from the hotel to church taking...
DAY 4 – Saturday (Wheels in Elburgon 2016)
Wheels for the World are running a wheelchair distribution in Elburgon, Kenya until the 10th September 2016. We'll bring you stories from the trip as often as possible... A day of rest and relaxation – hallelujah as we were able to have a lie in! We were collected from the hotel at 9a.m. (African time i.e. 9.30 or so!)...
Day 3 - Friday (Wheels Elburgon 2016)
The team was excited as at last we were ready for work, having taken two travelling to the Hope of Glory Centre in Elburgon, which was founded by Pastor Davis in 2013. He has worked extremely hard to raise the awareness of disability issues within his community and the wider area so many representatives from local government, social...
Day 2 - Thursday (Wheels Elburgon 2016)
After a delicious breakfast we crammed our equipment and cases back into the mini-van and set off for our destination in mist and rain. We had a brief stop at the Rift Valley View Point, when the mist lifted to reveal intensive arable land under the viewing point and then opened into a large plain, hills and mountains in...
DAY 1 – Wednesday (Wheels in Elburgon 2016)
A team from Wheels for the World are working in Elburgon, Kenya from the 31st August to the 10th September 2016 - we'll be adding blog posts and updates from them as often as we can. The team arrived in Nairobi over an hour late due to a sick child boarding, who later needed to leave the plane. After...
Wheels in Elburgon 2016
A team from Wheels for the World are out in Elburgon from the 31st August to the 10th September, working hard to fit wheelchairs and other mobility aids to local disabled people. We'll bring you updates just as often as time and internet access allow. (The photo is from a previous Kenya distribution - we'll get new ones up as...
Mental Health, God’s Way (Ros' Blog)
When we did our survey of disabled peoples’ experience of church, some of the respondents were people with mental health difficulties. Sadly, their experience was that churches had little understanding of these conditions and could be somewhat unhelpful in their approach as a result. Having had family members with poor mental health I know how hard it can be to...
Hooray for Generosity (Ros' Blog)
I was recently at a meeting of another charity I’m associated with. We had met principally to pray, but before we did, the Director asked us to brainstorm some ideas about publicity and fundraising. We did come up with lots of ideas, and some of them may even have been usable. But there was something more interesting that came...
Front Line or Civilian? (Ros' Blog)
By Mandy Edwards Back in early 2015 Mandy Edwards wrote this blog for us. Now she’s back again with more insights, and I am enjoying following the journey that God is taking her on. Mandy writes: I had a mind-blowing revelation last night. Boom! Just as my eyes finally closed after...
Me Before You (Ros' Blog)
There are many things that Christians may disagree about, some of them peripheral and others perhaps more foundational. But one thing I think all of us can agree on is that the Bible gives a clear picture of every human being as made in the image of God and being of infinite value because of being chosen, created and...
All You Need is Love (Ros' Blog)
I love the way that Jesus approached people, as recorded in the Gospels. He didn’t overthrow convention just for the sake of it, but nor did He allow Himself to be bound by convention when love demanded a different way. For example, when the synagogue leader came to plead with Him to heal his daughter, Jesus treated him with the...
A Master-Class in Disability Inclusion (Ros' Blog)
“We had a problem at church on Sunday,” someone told me as we chatted at the Big Church Day Out, “a disabled lady in our church was disgruntled because she felt people were ignoring her. But the thing is, we don’t always want to be swamping her with offers of help. It’s difficult to get it right.” I tried to...
Briefing on the EU Referendum from a Disability Standpoint (Ros' Blog)
It is a little over a month to the EU referendum, and I suspect I’m not alone in thinking that the standard of content of the debate has been dismally low. There have been ever more extravagant predictions of disaster from both sides. I almost expected the Prime Minister to end his speech the other day, like Private Fraser...
Beyond Awareness (Ros' Blog)
So, here I sit in the office on 6th April, thankfully alone for the moment, wearing my onesie. Yes, it’s Onesie Wednesday in “Autism Awareness Month” and, never one to miss an opportunity, I decided to get people to sponsor me to wear a onesie as I drive down the A3 and back, and all day in the...
You Belong Here (Ros' Blog)
This week’s guest blog post is written by Natasha Bunney. Natasha is a final year student at De Montfort University in Leicester, reading Education with French, and writing her dissertation on attitudes to disability in the classroom. She has worked and volunteered with disabled people for 10 years and has a sister with complex multiple disabilities. ----- Last week I was...
The Name that is a Place (Ros' Blog)
I have just returned from a ministry trip to India. It was an enjoyable but moving trip, staying in a home for girls rescued from trafficking, and having lots of opportunities to speak both within a church and to other groups in the city. Perhaps the highlight of the trip was being given the privilege of speaking to a...
Outside Our Four Walls (Ros' Blog)
There are comparatively few instances in the Gospels where we see Jesus in the religious environment. There is the occasion when He was twelve years old and His parents lost Him on their way home from Jerusalem, and found Him in discussion with the religious leaders in the temple. And there was the time at the synagogue, recorded by...
Beauty in Decay (Ros' Blog)
I have just come back from a week’s holiday in the North Yorkshire Moors. The weather has been glorious and I’ve divided my time between reading and walking in the stunning North Yorkshire countryside. I haven’t needed a coat – in fact, if it hadn’t been for the varied hues of the trees I could have thought it was...
Preparations in Mozambique (Thursday 20th August)
Our Churches Inc team are working in Mozambique until the 24th August. The four-person team will be training local people in inclusion of disabled people from a Christian perspective, and working with One Mission Society in the city of Maputo - you can find out more about our partners
Mozambique Report (Wednesday 19th August)
Our Churches Inc team are working in Mozambique until the 24th August. The four-person team will be training local people in inclusion of disabled people from a Christian perspective, and working with One Mission Society in the city of Maputo - you can find out more about our partners
Who is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? (Ros' Blog)
As you look back over our generation, whom would you list among the greatest Christians? Billy Graham? Matt Redman? Mother Teresa? Joni Eareckson Tada? All these names are well-known, all are people who have dedicated their whole lives to the cause of Christ, and all have had an immense reach in terms of the numbers of lives they have touched...
British Summer Time (Ros' Blog)
As I write this, at the tail-end of July, I sit shivering in a cold office. I’ve just come back from two weeks in a warm and sunny France, and the contrast is as unwelcome as it is striking! I don’t think, however, that this counts as what cricket commentator Brian Johnston used to call a “Madame Butterfly...
Kosovo Day 7 - Paying Off!
Through the Roof's Wheels for the World team are in Kosovo from the 17th June to the 26th - Linda from the team is sending in reports and blogs as time and internet connection allow. Check back here, Follow this link to read other blog...
Kosovo Day 6 - Back to Gjakova
Through the Roof's Wheels for the World team are in Kosovo from the 17th June to the 26th - Linda from the team is sending in reports and blogs as time and internet connection allow. Check back here, Follow this link to read other blog...
Kosovo Day 4 - Rahovec
Through the Roof's Wheels for the World team are in Kosovo from the 17th June to the 26th - they'll be sending in reports and blogs as time and internet connection allow. Check back here, Follow this link to read other blog posts from the...
Day 3 Kosovo Trip - Prizren
Through the Roof's Wheels for the World team are in Kosovo from the 17th June to the 26th - they'll be sending in reports and blogs as time and internet connection allow. Check back here, Follow this link to read other blog posts from the...
The Law of Undulation (Ros' Blog)
In his celebrated book The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis imagines an experienced devil writing to his young nephew Wormwood on how best to tempt someone away from God. It gives a rich insight into the enemy’s traps for which we, as Christians, need to be on the alert. At one point Screwtape writes, “Has no one ever told you...
Election fever! (Ros' Blog)
Unless, like Richard III, you live buried under a car park, you can’t have avoided noticing that we are in the run-up to the general election on May 7th. There have been TV debates, debates about TV debates and media reporting of debates about TV debates, until we are in danger of losing sight of the real issues that...
Buried Treasure (Ros' Blog)
There’s a story which Jesus told, that is often used in an evangelistic context. It’s a very short story, and is found in Matthew 13. 44: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to...
Visit to India (Ros' Blog)
In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. (2 Corinthians 8.2) I have just returned from 3 wonderful, eventful weeks in New Delhi. I was staying at a place I have long wanted to visit because it has moved me like no other community outreach; a home for...
Parent and Child (Ros' Blog)
Intellectually, it was an easy decision to move our daughter into a residential care home when she left College at the age of 22. Emotionally, it was a different story altogether! After twenty-two years of lifting and handling her, often with no equipment or support, I simply could not go on undertaking her physical care from day to day. ...
Pastures New (Philippa's Blog)
“Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path”. Psalm 119: 105 In the last 3 and a half years or so, I’ve visited many places in connection with my work for Through The Roof. I have had the privilege of spreading God’s word and love, as well as making people aware of the charity...
Brothers and Sisters, Pray For Us (1 Thessalonians 5.25) Ros' Blog
In Baghdad a mother in her sixties looks after her three adult sons, all of whom have poorly controlled epilepsy and learning disabilities. As a Christian in Iraq, her position is precarious. The added burden of the care of her sons is unimaginable. St George’s Church, Baghdad, is able to offer them medical care at home, without which they...
Don't look down on me, look up to God (Philippa's Blog)
Ephesians 3:20 (New King James Version) 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us One of the challenges I face in my life is travel. I am terrified of using public transport of any sort. Since marrying Will we have travelled together and while...
Questions, Questions (Ros' Blog)
Around 30 years ago I was just beginning to discover the extent of my daughter’s disabilities. She had failed to meet any of the normal milestones during the first year of her life, was not moving around, sitting unsupported, picking up toys (or anything else), moving her head or forming any intelligible words, and already the tightness of her...
A busy time... (Philippa's Blog)
I seem to have been kept very busy with speaking engagements recently. March April and May have all been particularly busy, as I had been asked to speak at the anniversary of the New Forest Torch group, a group I have spoken to every year for the past 6 years, even before I started working for Through The Roof....
Integr8 in Kenya 2014
A four-person team from Integr8 took part in a trip to Kenya in May 2014, delivering training to over 400 local officials and churches. Due to our recent website problems, we weren't able to post up their daily blog posts, so here's the whole story of their extremely successful trip, all together in one post. Day 3 The team woke up...
Wheels in Kimilili, the final day
We're very grateful to volunteer, Charlotte, for her inspirational blogs from our wheelchair distribution in Kenya. Here's the final one... We stayed in a lovely little guesthouse overnight and returned to the Eldoret centre on Friday morning for our final distribution. There were nine more clients expected - Seven of those were seated and all went to plan. Our final two...
Day 8 in Kimilili
Our Kimilili Blogger, Charlotte, has all the latest news from our Wheels for the World distribution. You can find all our Wheels Blog posts by following this link. This morning we visited the Dreamlands hospital. What a highlight! Becky Nightingale, a veteran on a Wheels trip, is very involved in the day to day running...
Wheels in Kimilili - Days 6 & 7
Two days in one from our Kimilili Blogger, Charlotte, as she keeps us all up to date with the latest news from our Wheels for the World distribution. You can find all our Wheels Blog posts by following this link. Day 6 - Monday Praise God for another great day of distributing! Today we distributed wheelchairs...
Wheels in Kimilili - Day 5 - Sunday, the day of rest...!
New Wheels team member, and excellent blogger, Charlotte continues to describe her experiences of Wheels for the World in Kimilili, Kenya. You can find all our Wheels Blog posts by following this link. Today we split into 4 groups and went to different churches with members of the IcFEM team. The general...
Wheels in Kimilili - Day 4
You can find all our Wheels Blog posts by following this link. Today we distributed for a second day in Maketa, Kimaeti. We were situated in a beautiful school field, surrounded by butterflies and little baby chicks. When we arrived, there was already a sea of people waiting; lots of expectant faces and bright eyes. ...
Wheels in Kimilili - the first distribution day
You can find all our Wheels Blog posts by following this link. Our first distribution day went really well, praise God. We provided wheelchairs and mobility aids to approximately 50 people in and around Kimaeti. I loved seeing how happy the people were. They were so joyful despite their own or their children’s disability. They smile...
Wheels in Kimilili - Day 2
Blogger, Charlotte, describes the team's journey to Kisumu and arrival with our partners at IcFEm... You can find all our Wheels Blog posts by following this link. Our journey continued at 6.30am this morning when we left African Inland Mission to Nairobi airport. We flew a quick 35 minutes to Kisumu - they even managed...
Wheels to Kimilili - Day 1
Wheels for the World is running a distribution in Kimilili, Kenya for ten days. Our team on the ground will be blogging as often as technology and time allows! Today, Charlotte Smith tells us all about the journey, initial plans, and some prayer pointers for the team. You can find all our Wheels Blog posts
Ghana 2013 - the long trip home...
Day 11/2 A belated blog entry… as it was a long trip home. We headed off on Saturday down to Accra via the Akosombo dam. The dam was a little sight-seeing tour and it's this dam that produces 60% of Ghana’s electricity. Being educated as a civil engineer for me, at least, it was fascinating although our tour guide was...
Ghana 2013 - the final two days
In these last two blogs, volunteer Phil talks about the highs and lows of the trip... Day 9 We started the day praying for God’s support as we knew we only had a few chairs and mobility aids left and we weren't sure how many would turn up today. As we arrived we prioritised those that had come from Kpassa. They had...
Ghana 2013 - Day 8
Our Wheels for the World team are in Ghana for an eleven-day series of Wheelchair distributions. Team member, Phil Green, is writing a regular blog to let us know how it all goes. Here's his account of day eight of the trip. Catch up on all Phil's entries by following...
Ghana Blog - Day 7
Phil Green is on the ground in Ghana for the Wheels for the World distribution - he's bringing us a daily blog from the trip. Catch up on all the entries by following this link to our Wheels blog page. An early start today and breakfast, you may have guessed,...
Ghana blog - Day 6
Phil Green is on the ground in Ghana for the Wheels for the World distribution - he's bringing us a daily blog from the trip. Catch up on all the entries by following this link to our Wheels blog page. A routine start to the day, with breakfast the Ghanaian...
Ghana blog - day 5
Phil Green is on the ground in Ghana for the Wheels for the World distribution - he's bringing us a daily blog from the trip. Catch up on all the entries by following this link to our Wheels blog page. I had the opportunity to have a lie...
Ghana blog - day 4
Phil Green is on the ground in Ghana for the Wheels for the World distribution - he's bringing us a daily blog from the trip. Catch up on all the entries by following this link to our Wheels blog page. After the customary breakfast of eggs, beans etc we headed...
Ghana blog - day 3
Phil Green is on the ground in Ghana for the Wheels for the World distribution - he's bringing us a daily blog from the trip. Catch up on all the entries by following this link to our Wheels blog page. Breakfast here seems to consist of omelette, beans and sausages......
Ghana 2013 - 1st Blog
Our Wheels for the World team have arrived in Ghana for an eleven-day series of Wheelchair distributions. Team member, Phil Green, is writing a regular blog to let us know how it all goes. Here's his account of the first two days - the picture shows this trip's team, eager to get to work. Catch up on all Phil's...
Elburgon - 15th July
Here's another story from our distribution in Elburgon, Kenya, sent to us by Suzanne Millwood. I thought that having been to Kenya before and having worked with adults with physical disabilities, I would feel fairly equipped and prepared for my trip to Elburgon. This couldn’t have been further from the truth! Nothing could have prepared me for meeting Joel, an...
Through Fresh Eyes
From my first steps on African soil my senses were bombarded with new sights and smells but you quickly notice there is a slower pace of people, writes new Wheels team member Graham Watts. It’s my first time in Africa and my first experience as part of a charity organisation so whilst I was full of excitement, part of me...
Uganda thoughts
Volunteer therapist, Gunn, writes: As always, I am touched by some of children I’ve seen and their tragic situations which, in many cases, could have been improved/avoided had they lived in the West. I am touched, too, by the gratitude of parents/carers when we are able to provide something and feel a great sense of thankfulness to God that I...
"Exciting and Humbling..."
Wheels Uganda trip team member, Linda Head, has sent us a great summary of what's been going on so far: Y’ello from Uganda at the (very late) end of day two! Team travel – safe, straightforward and uneventful. Praise the Lord! For those of us returning to Africa it’s at once exciting and humbling. For our “techie”, Graham,...
Nyeri Blog -- 23 November 2012
Today's blog post comes from Ruth Davey, part of the Wheels team in Nyeri. The picture is one of the first we've had back from this distribution. As we near the end of this Nyeri distribution I feel a sense of gratitude and a bit of relief. The constant stream of people coming for help with...
Nyeri Blog - November 22nd
Jill, a member of our Wheels team currently in Kenya has emailed with the latest details of the distribution in Nyeri, including a visit to Nyeri prison... How appropriate that during Prison Week in the UK the Wheels team in Kenya were able to supply wheelchairs and mobility aids to inmates in Nyeri Prison. Pastor Davis gave a Disability Awareness...
Nyeri Blog - Tuesday 20th November
Wheels for the World Nyeri trip team leader, Glenda, writes: We prayed for more clients and they certainly came yesterday. We were here at the Hospice from 9.00 am till 7.00pm. The power went off a couple of times but that was at least during daylight. We saw 48 clients which included a large number of children with complex seating...
Nyeri news - Monday 19th November
Wheels Coordinator Glenda has emailed to say all is well over in Nyeri, Kenya - they have blue sky and the birds are chirping... There have also been tales of the 'interesting' Kenyan plumbing, resulting in Glenda having slightly more of a shower than she expected! Glenda says: Hoping for many more clients today... business a bit slow - please...
Nyeri Blog - Day 3 - Sunday 18th November
Nigel Drury (our new International Missions Manager) reports from his first Wheels trip - our wheelchair distribution in Nyeri, Kenya... Sunday's church service for the team was a God-directed choice I believe. The team, including Pastor Davis Gatua (from Elburgon, another town in Kenya), walked the twenty minutes to the Dominion Chapel, Nyeri and were impressed by the spirit and...
Nyeri Blog -- Day 1 - 15/11/12
Glenda from our Wheels for the World team is writing a blog from Nyeri. The team will be there running a distribution up until returning to the UK on the 24th November. Here's the first entry... We arrived in Nyeri about 12.00 - all feeling slightly fuzzy headed through lack of sleep. We had lunch at the hotel...
Wheels in Uganda -- Phil's Blog, Days 8 and 9
Thursday 5th July - Day 8 Started the morning with what seems like a routine now and I have it down to a fine art, so I can afford to stay in bed an extra 30 seconds! Now, this was effectively the last day here as on Friday we will be traveling home. As such this means the blog won’t be...
Phil's Blog - Wheels in Uganda, day 5
Monday 2nd July Surprisingly awake this morning after about 5 hours sleep and up and ready for breakfast. Back at the main distribution point this morning and again did an initial count of the chairs. As yesterday we are struggling for small chairs so I spent some of the morning trying to make sure the ones we had were in good...
Stephi's blog - the final two days in Nakuru
Day 7 Today was a really quiet day in comparison to the last few. We were expecting a bus load of people to come but after about 3 hours we heard that they were stuck because of police road checks. We think they will come tomorrow. However we had a chance to see others who weren't registered but had come...
Stephi's Blog - Wheels distribution day 6
We really appreciate Stephi's blogging, bringing us all the news from Nakuru Kenya each day. Here Stephi tells us about some of the disabled people the team helped. Stephi writes: Went to the Catholic centre for 8.30 as usual. Then Alexa and I went off in a tuk- tuk to the supermarket to buy lunch for everyone. When...
Stephie's blog - Days 4 & 5 in Kenya
Day 4 The alarm went off at 3:45 UK time (5:45 here) for us to have breakfast and then head out to the first church service at Michinda Secondary School in a village 45 minutes drive from Nakuru. We were welcomed as honoured guests and all the girls there wanted to hold my hand and touch my hair! They were...
Stephie's Blog - Nakuru Days 2 and 3
Day 2 We set off at 8:15 to walk to the centre. When we got there, we carried some tent poles to a grass area and the team put up a large tent for us to work in. The centre has a big room where we had laid out all the wheelchairs the day before but the lights don't work...
Stephi's Blog (Wheels in Nakuru) - Day one
Our youngest Wheels for the World team member, teenager Stephi, is writing about her experiences in Nakuru, Kenya, whilst on a wheelchair distribution trip - we hope you enjoy reading what she has to say! The whole team met up at Heathrow, that's Glenda, Eileen, Pam, Caroline, Linda, Roy, Gordon, Helen, Brenda, Alexa and me, Stephi, as finally our...
Our Weakness and God's Strength: Disability Ministry in the Local Church
We have come across a useful blog by John Knight – staff member with John Piper’s ministry, Desiring God. John writes from the perspective of a parent with personal experience of disability and the Christian faith. His articles will move you and...
Ghana 2009 - the final day
Friday was a chill-out day before flying home overnight. Mid-morning, we headed off to the local market in Tema. It was a great experience, particularly seeing all the fresh food stalls. A highlight of the morning, and the trip as a whole, was when we happened to see a disabled...
Ghana 2009 - Day 8
Today we got a lie in, getting up at 8:00am rather than our usual 6:00am, which was gratefully received! The morning was spent where the remaining wheelchairs were being stored. There were only...
Ghana 2009 - the final distribution day
We headed to Ofoase which was up towards the mountains. It was such a change in scenery - much greener than further south. After setting off at 7:00am on what we were told was to be a 2-3 hour journey, we finally arrived at 12:20pm! There was no time for...
Ghana 2009 - Day 6
Today we had another fairly long journey to our distribution site, leaving again at 7:00am. We were based in a church in Asesewa. I think many of the team will agree with me that this was the most challenging day of the trip so far. I remember the awful feeling of ‘I don’t know if I can do this’...
Ghana 2009 - Day 5
We left at 7:00am for a distribution in Winneba, just over two hours away. We were based in an open space outside the council offices. For me it turned out to be my favourite distribution of the whole trip — it had such...
Ghana 2009 - Day 4
Today the team went in pairs to several different churches. This enabled the word to be spread more widely about the work of ‘Wheels for the World’. Between the whole group, we experienced a whole range of churches across many different denominations. Some were livelier than others...
Ghana 2009 - Day 3
Today we headed to Teshie for another distribution. We were due to be based outdoors but fortunately we were offered some shelter so we didn’t all end up with heat stroke! It was another busy day, seeing a variety of people in need of wheelchairs or walking aids. The...
Ghana 2009 - Day 2
Today, we carried out our first wheelchair distribution locally in Tema. We arrived at our destination around 9:00am, where there were already several people waiting for us and a sense of anticipation in the air. We set up our base...
Ghana 2009 by Lucy Wood
After arriving late last night, today was spent mainly sorting through all the wheelchairs and mobility aids. They were already colour-coded into sizes. However, we needed to divide them up into the different distribution days. Three of the therapists spent some time looking through all the application forms already received (at...