New Trike Prototypes

Our amazing trike designer/engineer/president was hard at work this weekend. He has come up with a few new trike prototypes. 

In the photo below: Up on wheels is the completed frame for the experimental  DOTT "Ultra Compact" trike, to be tested this summer. In the right, foreground are some of the parts for the slightly larger experimental "Compact" version of the DOTT trike, waiting to be built. On the bench in the background is the partially built frame for a low, fast, seven speed version of the DOTT trike to be used to test some concepts and also advertise for HWI in local events and races.

Below: A rear view of the full size DOTT trike, seen on the left, as compared to the much smaller DOTT Ultra Compact, seen on the right.

Below: A view of the full size, second generation DOTT trike in the rear and the new and improved third generation DOTT trike, in the Ultra Compact size, in the foreground. All future third generation trikes, in all sizes, will have numerous small improvements which will strengthen the frame and reduce weight by several pounds. They will also have an available option for easily removable side supports for those who need them.

Below: For several years now HWI has had a "full size" adjustable hand pedaled trike design that can fit a wide range of people. However, we have come to recognize the advantage of having at least one smaller size, adjustable design to fit larger children thru small adults. As a part of our effort to try and define what the ideal dimensions would be for this smaller, second size, we are building two new prototypes this summer. For now they are being called the "Compact" and the

"Ultra Compact"  (or "Cutie") prototypes. They will be tested with a wide range of users to see which dimensions work best for this smaller size.

The partially completed trike shown in this picture, the first Ultra Compact  prototype, will spend a few months being tested in the States. Later this summer, this particular trike may end up going to the jungles of Peru for use by a young disabled girl.

The Ultra Compact DOTT prototype shown in the foreground is approx. 5 inches shorter, 2 inches lower and 1 inch narrower than the full size version in the background.

Happy 97th Birthday

On Saturday I went to the nursing home to visit our oldest His Wheels team member, Mr. Ken who just turned 97 this week. Back in 2006 I was talking to Ken's "older friend" Bob at church. Whenever Bob saw me we'd have a conversation that went like this. Bob: "How many bikes are in your basement?" Alice: "I don't have a basement. How many bikes would fit in your basement?" Bob: "I don't have a basement." Well on this particular morning Bob went on to say, "but Ken, (sitting next to Bob) has a basement." I didn't know Ken and he had hearing aids in so I wasn't sure he was following our crazy conversation. But all of a sudden Ken said, "Over a 100 could fit in my basement. When are you going to bring them by?" I told Ken I'd bring some by two days later. Then I asked, "can you have bikes in your retirement community house?" He said, "Don't ask, Don't tell!"


When I ended the conversation my head was spinning. I wondered what had just taken place? Did Ken know what he just signed up for? Did he hear the conversation? So, I found one of HWI's board members, Tom, and told him what had just happened. I asked Tom to go and see if Ken knew what he was getting himself into. Indeed he did and he couldn't wait.


The next day as I was telling someone about Mr. Ken I found out that Ken's basement had white carpeting. I called Ken and said, "I hear your basement has white carpeting." He said, "Don't worry about that, the carpet rolls up." No one bothered to tell me that to get to the basement we had to walk through the front entrance way, through the living room, down the stairs that makes a 90 degree turn at the bottom, of which all of that was off white carpet and the same for the walls. Ken's "underground bike operation" became the talk of the community. He loved having us come every week to work on bikes and we did so for over a year and a half. We definitely left our mark(s) on the walls, in the community, and on Ken's life and he has left his mark on His Wheels too. 


A few months ago his community paper wrote a story about him. After interviewing Ken, the writer, who was new to the community showed the story to another person on the editorial team. They said, "You don't have the whole story. You must go back and get the rest." Ken had left out his bike operations. So, one day I got a call from the writer. He said, "Ken told me you would have to tell the rest of the story." It's hard to outwit a 97 year old like Mr. Ken.


So as I went to visit Ken on Saturday I was reminded of something my Aunt told me years ago. "Alice you should be a pastor." Well that sounded like an impossible idea. However my Aunt's words have come true in so many ways through His Wheels. My title is HWI Executive Director but I am keenly aware that in many ways I am the pastor of our tight knit team. 


Oh and of course Mr. Ken is still working for His Wheels even as he lay in the nursing home bed. He has a stack of our new brochures on his bedside table. He wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks Mr. Ken. We are praying for your recovery.

Cutie-Trike Prototype

Our engineer Kevin is working on 4 new trike prototypes. He just made a little one that has been nicknamed cuitie. Another one he's planning to do is a compact trike and one for racing in the US for marketing purposes. What fun it is to go into the shop. I can't believe God has allowed me to have a part in such a fun ministry with so many neat people.

His Wheels Resources

We exceeded our goal - 404 people have watched our new His Wheels DVD. Thanks for your help. It's still possible to make 500 or more by the end of the month.


Now we are on to sharing our new brochure. You can see it by clicking the link below.
Since yesterday I have delivered brochures to:
 a Chiropractic Office in Naperville
 a Massage Therapists Office in Wheaton
 a Bike Shop in Wheaton,
 our Graphics Artists at Trader Joe's
 Our Landlord
Our Volunteers
 For a new church plant in Lombard
Board member and friends and church partnership in Bronson, Michigan.


If you would like to help us distribute some of our 10,000 brochures, let us know.
http://www.hiswheels.org/Resources/pdf/brochure/HWIbrochure.pdf

Sharing the ride with others

Kim, featured the following on her blog http://road2beautiful.wordpress.com/

This has become feature week at the Road to Beautiful where I seem to be highlighting some of my friends and what they are about...I hope you don't mind, because really, the people I am highlighting are all on their own journeys towards Beauty in their own way and it is good to notice it is not all about weight loss...

Today I want you to meet Alice.  I met Alice a few years ago when I spent a week at ELIM.  Remember, the race team I was part of when I ran Nashville a few weeks ago?? Alice is one of the stateside ministry workers who came to ELIM for a week of rest before setting out into the rest of what God had called her to.

This is what I remember of Alice from that week on the banks of the Huron River.  She was kind and sweet-natured.  She was quiet, which I tend to notice because I am NOT quiet.  Yet, in her quietness, she was passionate about the ministry God had given her and how He was using her in practical ways to serve others and that passion was contagious.  Her ministry you might ask?  It is called His Wheels International and is a ministry that provides bikes to people.  They take donations of bikes, fix them up and give them away and have given away bikes to people affiliated with 85 different countries.  They reach out to immigrants, refugees, international students, ex-offenders and missionaries who may be in need of a bike.

HWI also has a global ministry.  On an international scale, Alice and her team created a prototype for a hand-pedaled three wheel bike, they call a trike.   This trike was designed with people in third wold countries who have been disabled due to things like polio or land mines and do not have use of their legs any longer to be able to pedal.  Providing a trike gives them a sense of dignity as they can now get themselves places and care for themselves without having to drag themselves through the dirt to get where they need to go. How fantastic is THAT?!

Currently on the global scale, HWI now provides plans, resources and information for the development of these trikes with the hope and vision that these trikes can be manufactured locally, thereby not only providing one person with transportation, but a community with a means for employment.   More dignity to be had...

If you can't tell, I am awfully proud to know Alice, honored to call her friend, and humbled to have been able to serve her in some small way at ELIM.  In a small way, I feel like I have had a part in impacting the world, by serving her.

Since I recently finished Nashville and all the fundraising, I wanted to highlight a few of the people I met so you can see the impact ELIM has and how it practically impacts the rest of the world.  I asked Alice to write something about what ELIM was for her.  Here is what she has to say.

Alice on the original prototype for the hand pedaled trike they designed. Isn't is cool!

“And the word of the Lord came to [Alice], Depart from [Wheaton,IL] and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith [Elim Retreat Center]…And the ravens [Mars Hill Church folk and Elim staff] brought [Alice] bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and [Alice] drank from the brook. And after a while the brook dried up [my week at Elim]…Then the word of the Lord came to [Alice], Arise, go to [Wheaton, IL- resume ministry with His Wheels International].” (I Kings 17:2-8)

Warning! Big things ahead! The Lord directed me to the early part of Elijah’s work while on a Sabbath retreat at Elim Retreat Center June 1-5, 2008, after 21 months of intense Christian Service. “As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” (I Kings 17:1) Elijah was obedient to God, delivered the message to King Ahab and then departed to the brook Cherith.

While studying this section of scripture I was struck by how importance it is for me to follow and obey God even if I don’t understand why at first. The Lord knows best the timing and rhythm my life needs. Elijah’s ministry had just begun and so had my position as Founder and Executive Director of His Wheels International (HWI). The events in Elijah’s life were only going to get bigger and grander. But before He got to the next event, the Lord told him to go and drink from the brook Cherith where the ravens would feed him. The Lord did the same for me through the opportunity to go to Elim Retreat Center for a week of being pampered and cared for.

While at Elim God impressed on my life again the importance of keeping Sabbath rest, as a lifestyle, even amidst the hectic times of being the Founder and Executive Director of His Wheels. Then I’ll be a little more pliable and able to handle more things as they come.

The Lord knows when I need time for “self-care,” just like Elijah did. Time to fill up on Him before yet another intense season of ministry.  Going to Elim was a time to relax, laugh, rest, play, enjoy God’s creation and spend time alone with my Savior. The location in the forest of Michigan was conducive to turning my cell phones off (especially since I couldn’t get reception), shutting down the internet (since it wasn’t easily accessible), and resting from the schedules that blared in my head.

Kim thanks for running the race to make it possible for Christian Ministers to stop their hectic pace of ministry and get refilled at the brook. To get a glimpse of the ministry God has called me to, I’d invite you to take 5:18 min. to enjoy the ride that I’ve enjoyed over the last 7 years as the Founder and Executive Director of His Wheels International. You will see that God wasn’t kidding. There were and still are big things ahead for HWI. Our goal is 400 hits on our new youtube video by the end of May. We are at 360 hits. Can you help us far exceed our goal? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htdxAYSNqE4. Visit our website atwww.hiswheels.org

Alice Teisan

Thanks for reading guys.  I hope you will enjoy the HWI video like I have and that you will be blessed by getting to know Alice a little bit and the ministry she provides to her community and to the world.

New Brochure

After 3 years of working on our new brochure it is finally here. It was worth the work and the wait. If you would like to help us spread the word to your friends, family, associates, and acquaintances, let us know. We had over 10,000 printed and are willing to send you enough to pass out, to include in your yearly letter to friends and family, to distribute at church, or to share at your other venues.

http://www.hiswheels.org/Resources/pdf/brochure/HWIbrochure.pdf

DVD Update May 24th

Oh me of little faith. On May 6th one of our consultants asked, "What would it take to have 400 people view the new His Wheels video by the end of May?" For me it seemed impossible. I had no idea how to rally the troops. But then I went to my friends on our social media sites. As of this morning 324 people have viewed our DVD. Thanks for your part in spreading the word about HWI. We can do it with your help. If you have viewed the DVD, pass the challenge along to a friend of yours.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htdxAYSNqE4

Email Surprise

Here is the fun note that awaited me in my email inbox this morning.
   "My fiance and I are avid bike riders, and also love Jesus! We are getting married in August and in lieu of giving wedding favors, we wanted to put that money towards something more meaningful. We got online and searched for some sort of Christian Bike ministry and found you guys! Also, our wedding has a bike theme to it, so this couldn't be more perfect! We looked up your video on  youtube and watched it. I love what you guys are about and the impact you are making for Christ! I was curious if you have any information or literature that we could share with our guests? I am so excited to have found you guys! Look forward to hearing from you!"

DVD Update

As of this evening we have had 306 people view the video. Thanks for everyones help. With the help of our growing His Wheels team I am fairly confident that we can make 400 viewers of the video by the end of May. When the challenge came in from a consultant I questioned how could this happen. So, thanks for showing me how!

DVD Challenge Update

Thanks to everyone who has watched our His Wheels video and passed the video on to their friends. As of this morning 287 people have watched it on Youtube. Our goal is 400 people by the end of May. Join us in reaching our goal. Many have shared the link by FB, a few have posted it on their blog, others have sent the link to their friends through email.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htdxAYSNqE4

Movie Challenge

By this morning we had 246 people who have seen our video on You Tube. One consultant posed a challenge,"What would it take to have 400 people view your video by the end of May?" Thanks everyone. We are over halfway there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htdxAYSNqE4

A Divine Delivery

Yesterday a truck driver delivered one of our trike manufacturing fixture sets. I could tell he was puzzled by what he had just delivered. So, I told him about our hand-pedaled trike and showed him the different ones. He told me his brother was an olympic wheelchair racer in the China para-olympics and now lives in Champaign, Illinois. I'm off to try and connect with him.

The Perfect Pick

One little boy got a bicycle on Saturday. When the church family delivered it the little boy said, "This is just the bike I wanted." We serve an amazing God. Only He knew the perfect bike for this child. No detail is too small for our Sovereign Lord! Thank you Lord for getting this little boy the bike He always wanted.

Wheaton E. Free & Lincoln School Partnership

Yesterday I sat in church surrounded by those from about seven churches in South Wheaton and Glen Ellyn. We were all gathered together to participate in CareFest, which is a day when the churches come together. The first hour was a combined church service. The next couple hours we went out and worked in the community doing over a dozen different projects. What a powerful thing to see the Church serving the community.

Before the service started I read through a stack of response cards from 11 families in my church, Wheaton Evangelical Free Church (WEFC) who had delivered 16 bicycles to 11 different families in need within our community, over the past 2 weeks. Many bikes went to refugees from several different countries. The project was done in partnership with His Wheels, WEFC and Lincoln School in District 200. Sitting in church on CareFest Sunday, reading these responses was a rich act of worship for me.

When looking for families to deliver these bikes, I wrote in an email, "If you are looking for an opportunity to knock on a neighbor's door, deliver a bike from WEFC, and get a big smile in return, we would appreciate hearing from you." Here are some of the responses those delivering bikes received:

"A 7 year old girl was very excited to hear I had arrived with the bikes! She hopped right on and rode down the sidewalk. Her little brother was too shy to get on his bike with me there..."

"We took the bike to the door and a little girl clasped her hands together with delight and ran out her front door in her stocking feet." After getting her shoes and coat on she was off-"riding around the condo complex in circles. She and her mom both said many "thank you's!"

"The girls were very happy and thanked us several times. We bought them locks, and set the combos with them. We showed them how to use the locks, the hand brakes and the speeds. They offered us old bike parts, which we will go back and get."

"One happy little girl. It was a joy!" This delivery quote described how I felt sitting in church on CareFest Sunday, worshipping with the Church of South Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, and Warrenville.

Video challenge

"What would it take for this to be viewed by 400 poeple by the end of May?" This was a question from one of our consultants.

"The video is well produced, clear with a strong message and you and eveyone should be pleased with it." John

"A good video is one that you want to keep going even after it ended. This is a great video." Jim

I'm not sure what the answer is. I thought I'd pose the question to my FB and twitter fans. Could you help me reach the goal by sharing our video on your FB site. If there are other venues you have where we could share it, let us know.

http://www.youtube.com/user/HisWheelsIntl?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/htdxAYSNqE4

New Brochure

Tomorrow I'm off to the printer with His Wheels new brochure. The process took 3 years. It included getting our logo trademarked, redoing the logo graphics, coming up with a tagline, formulating our mission statement, defining our programs, and moving into a new headquarters.

In addition a brochure needs a good graphics artist. HWI has Ray Wu to thank for that service. It also requires visiting the printer for choosing paper, deciding on the # of copies, getting quotes and praying for the funds. Thanks to all who helped in that process. We are getting 10,000 full color tri-fold copies, each for under 12 cents. Thanks to the printer for working with HWI and helping us produce a quality brochure way below market value.

Then lets not forget there are words and pictures needed for the brochure. It takes time to get the words right and make everyone involved happy. After the words get on the paper then it requires many rounds of proof reading. I think the memo line for the last 2 months read: Final Proof of Brochure. Well, it is now complete. Thanks to all who contributed in each of these parts of the process.

I also want to thank those who have made His Wheels who we are today. The list includes over 100 different volunteers just since moving into our headquarters last May. Then there are our many different consultants, and vendors. But the biggest thanks goes to the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who we love, serve and live for.

The brochure will be posted on our website soon. If you would like multiple copies to pass out we are more than happy to get them to you. For instances if you would like to include them into your yearly friends and family mailings or to distribute at the clubs, organizations, events or churches you attend we would welcome the opportunity of getting our information out in these ways and other ways you may come up with.

important Lessons gained through participating

Yesterday a 10 year old missionary kid came to get a bike. When it came time for him to give a donation I had the opportunity to make it a teachable moment. I explained how giving is an issue of the heart. I asked him if the bike was valuable to him. He said, "Yes." I pointed out that when we get something of value we are willing to give until it hurts. I also pointed out that his giving was a way for him to have a part in the ministry of HWI. I shared the story of how when God first challenged me to buy bikes in Tanzania He asked me to give $1,200, the cost of my road bike, which I had just ridden up on and this young boy saw. I said, it was a lot of money because I was only making $450 at the time. I explained what that meant. I said, but God gave it all back to me and more within a week. I said my giving $1,200 is where HWI began. Four years ago they had received bikes from us while on furlough, from my backyard. They made mention of how God had grown HWI.

I also shared how we all like to get something for free, especially me. But I explained that a donation does not mean give as little as you can and get as much as possible. It means give what God is asking of you. So he and his dad went out to the van and prayed.

What a precious sight to see this 10 year old come in holding his donation between prayer folded hands, with his head bowed over his hands. I watched as he placed his donation in our locked donation box realizing this young life was changed by the experience of getting a bike. This young boy came in for a bike and I watched him leave forever changed by the challenge of participating in the ministry of HWI in his own way. He left having met God. I shutter to think what he and his siblings would have missed if they weren't given the opportunity to participate in this way. I witnessed many things that are near to my heart:

1. The life lessons that a bike has to teach us

2. The fact that giving is an act of worship

3. We can all participate in Christ's Kingdom and reach our full potential in ministry

4. HWI is a ministry who's platform is a bicycle but our goal is that bicycle transportation will facilitate life transformation.

Wheaton Evangelical Free Church & His Wheels Partnership

Last fall the elders and pastors at WEFC, my home church, agreed to partner with HWI to serve our community. Today HWI was part of two different programs at the church. Inside we had a booth for disability Sunday where we featured our trike. Outside we had 16 bikes that HWI prepared for 11 families in the neighborhood affiliated with Lincoln School this week. Eleven families from the church picked up bikes at the church today and will be delivering them to our church neighbors soon.

What a fun way for HWI to begin May, which begins our 7th year of ministry and our 2nd in our headquarters.

I never tire of seeing so many bikes lined up together

All the signs of spring

Thanks Jeanne for your amazing coordination between His Wheels, Lincoln School and Wheaton E. Free. You are a liaison par excellent!

Thanks Lord God Almighty for such a perfect day. Seeing a group of bikes has always impressed me. I never dreamed I'd be in the picture as the Founder and Executive Director of a cycling organization. This month begins 7 years. What a way to begin the year!

Disability Sunday at Wheaton E. Free Church. HWI had a booth with our trike.

Thanks Brian for sharing your photography and artistic flare by taking this photo.

Thanks Brian for sharing your photography and artistic flare by taking this photo.

A picture is worth 1,000 words!

Move over mom, I'm steering this trike

It's all under control mom!