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EDEN — Justin Howard just wants to find ways to help others.

But he has cerebral palsy and, as you might expect, his opportunities to volunteer and help others are limited.

That didn’t stop his family from searching diligently for a place where the 26-year-old could truly know that he’s making a difference.

They found it in March in the Dominican Republic, where they took part in Wheels for the World, a ministry of Joni and Friends, an organization that focuses on the needs of the disabled. The ministry makes wheelchairs available to disabled people in developing countries.

Kevin and Laurie Howard, Justin’s parents, particularly wanted to go on a mission trip as a family. Kevin, a physician at Dayspring Family Medicine, has been on numerous mission trips, but those weren’t suitable for Justin, who uses a wheelchair and has speech difficulties.

Shortly after Justin was born, the Eden family learned about Joni and Friends. Back then, their older son, Aaron, participated in one of its programs that offers support to the siblings of disabled children.

More recently, Justin and his parents attended several family retreats sponsored by Joni and Friends.

Kevin and Laurie both found ways to serve at those — Kevin as a physician and Laurie as a Bible study leader. But there was not a volunteer role for Justin, who enjoyed taking part in the camplike experience designed for people with disabilities.

“We were looking for a way to serve as a family, and all those doors kept closing,” Laurie said.

Then a director at the Charlotte office of Joni and Friends suggested that Justin could be a real asset to the Wheels for the World ministry. He could teach people how to maneuver their chairs while Kevin handled medical needs and Laurie made seat cushions, chair bags and fabricated parts for the chairs.

In March, the three were part of a 20-member team that spent a week in the Dominican Republic, working alongside members of five churches in the country.

A wheelchair clinic is an involved process, Kevin said. Before it could be held, the donated chairs — about 200 — were collected, refurbished and shipped to the country. Special effort goes into getting chairs for disabled children.

Someone in the Dominican Republic organized the clinic, recruited local churches to help, connected with people needing chairs, collected the chairs from the ship and got them to the clinic.

Those wanting chairs were given appointments for fittings with the team.

“In the U.S., we have the luxury of having someone measure you and fit the chair for your needs,” Laurie said. In poorer areas, the chairs must be jury-rigged to fit.
Once people got their chairs, Justin showed them how to take them for a spin, giving high fives when they got the hang of it.

But the ministry was about more than wheelchairs.

“You have to meet their needs, first,” said Kevin, who explains how that forms a bond from which a spiritual relationship can grow.

The Howards’ overriding purpose was to share that they were there in the name and love of Jesus.

Recipients were given Bibles and small gifts and were invited to join a faith community. The wheelchairs often give people their first opportunity to leave their homes and attend church, Laurie said.

Getting the chair and gaining mobility was life-changing for many.

But Laurie and Justin had another life-changing gift in store for some: the ability to communicate.

Justin can’t talk in conventional ways, so he uses a board with symbols and letters on it. Laurie thought others might find the communication board useful.

She selected some of the most practical symbols for things such as tired, hungry, drink, bathroom, cold and hot. She printed pages with those symbols and laminated them.

Laurie and Justin demonstrated the boards and gave them out.

One recipient was Edini, an 8-year-old girl whose father carried her into the clinic to get her first wheelchair.

“You could see that the father was beaten down,” Laurie said.

Laurie and Justin began using the board to communicate with each other.

“I watched the father sit up. His whole countenance changed,” Laurie remembers.

“My child could do this?” he asked Laurie.

In minutes, Edini picked up the concept, and the father wept as his daughter communicated with him for the first time.

Laurie also recalls a woman about Justin’s age.

“She was just vacant,” Laurie said of her facial expression.

But when she and Justin demonstrated the board, there was a spark of understanding.

Laurie asked if she could take her photo. With a slight finger movement, the woman pointed toward the word “no” on the board they’d given her.

Then she took a moment to do what most young women facing a camera would do: She primped. Then she pointed again, this time to “yes.”

Justin, who cheered for every success, was dubbed the “minister of encouragement.”

During the week, they gave away 171 wheelchairs. The youngest recipient was 2; the oldest, 104.

“It was fun to show everyone how they work,” Justin said, using a dedicated communication device to talk. With a keyboard and symbols, the device can audibly transmit what Justin instructs it to say.

“I was able to be an encourager because of my disability, not in spite of it,” he said.

Laurie added: “This is the door the Lord opened for us.”

And if there is anything she can impart from their experience, it is this: “Don’t let what you perceive as limitations stop you from serving.”

Justin, Kevin and Laurie are planning to return to the Dominican Republic for another wheelchair clinic in the spring.

Contact Myla Barnhardt at 627-4881, Ext. 116,or myla.barnhardt@news-record.com