“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30

A number of years ago, I started to pray that God would help me to seek Him with all of my heart, strength, mind, and soul. A dangerous prayer, I know, but I had decided that I didn’t want to live a lukewarm Christian life. I wanted the abundant life God promised in John 10:10 and I realized that I needed to be willing to follow Him with all of my heart, strength, mind, and soul to get there. I prayed that prayer every day and eventually, things started to happen…

I first began volunteering as an occupational therapist with Joni and Friends’ Wheels for the World program in 2004. I helped to hand-fit wheelchairs in developing countries. Now God was placing more opportunities like stepping stones in my path that would change the entire direction of my life. Each step was small (although sometimes it didn’t feel that way) and after I took that step, a new step would be presented. One step was completing a master’s degree in healthcare management. Another step was changing my status with my employer of 10 years to become a contractor.  Another step was saying yes to speak about disabilities at a pastor’s conference in Haiti. Little by little God was setting me on a new path.  The big step was to form a non-profit organization with the intention of providing therapy in the developing world whenever or wherever God could use me.

After deciding to start International Therapy Outreach Teams, Inc (iTOT), I had some doubts that this was where God was leading me. Some of my doubts had to do with the red tape and costs of incorporating a company, filing for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and the big job of fundraising. An email the very next day from my friend who coordinates the Haiti project for Joni and Friends said that “God had placed me on his heart to pray for and…God was going to use me to do exceptional things in what He is calling me to do” and was my confirmation to not look back.

International Therapy Outreach Teams, Inc (iTOT) was incorporated in September 2010 and granted tax-exempt status by the IRS. The mission of iTOT is to provide therapeutic intervention services to disabled people in developing nations where there is limited or no access and to present the gospel message to meet physical needs, spiritual needs and improve quality of life. iTOT’s vision is to bring hope and help to show God’s love to the world. This year, God is using iTOT to help the disabled in Haiti, Serbia, Ghana, and Romania through partnerships with Joni and Friends, Connect 2 Ministries and Calvary Church of Souderton.

What an amazing blessing to be able to use my skills and share God’s love in so many places all over the world. Watching a mother’s face beam as she sees her daughter learn a new skill, providing a training for teachers so they can learn new ways to help their students, playing with a child at an orphanage and making that day special for him, or showing a family how to make their child more comfortable; these are all ways that iTOT touches lives. So often I hear people in other countries say that it means more to them that we came to them to help then we can ever realize. What a privilege to serve God and what an abundant life in Him.

Dawn Weidemoyer
iTOT, Founder and Executive Director

Click here to read more about the short-term missions trips taking place this summer

Click here to find out more about Calvary-supported missionaries and organizations