By Constanza Morales
Special to The Texas Catholic
PUEBLA, Mexico — On the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, Estefania received a visit that she felt came to answer her prayers.
On May 13, missionaries from Dallas arrived at her home in southwest Puebla, Mexico, bringing a brand-new wheelchair for her son, Omar, along sandy, gravel roads.
The 11-year-old boy is one of the 140,000 children receiving therapeutic assistance at the Children’s Rehabilitation and Inclusion Center (CRIT) in Puebla.
With a strong pediatric care network, CRIT provides comprehensive rehabilitation services to children and young people with neuromusculoskeletal disabilities, autism, and cancer across 24 states in Mexico.
Omar was born in Puebla with Cerebral Palsy and has been attending the CRIT for three years. He receives multiple therapies in the center.
For Estefania, caring for Omar means overcoming great mobility difficulties every day, but her faith is her refuge.
“I prayed a lot to God for a new chair,” said the woman, who supports her family by cleaning houses. “God heard my prayers. I feel very grateful for this gift.”
Instruments of God
Mother and son received a blessing on May 13 from Father Jason Cargo, pastor of St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Parish in Plano, who visited the family accompanied by members of Santa María Council 6065 of the Knights of Columbus and representatives of American Wheelchair Mission.
During the visits, Father Cargo recalled the mission of the Apostles.
“In this simple way, we are sent to these small communities to bring Christ to the people, to recognize the situation they are going through, and to show them the goodness of God,” he said. “It is profound not only to be the feet and hands of Jesus but to see Jesus in their faces,” he added.
Omar received the wheelchair thanks to the fundraising that parishioners of St. Mark carried out on the 2025 Wheelchair Sunday. The fundraising is organized annually by the knights and AWM.
“It is the charity of God that uses us as instruments to be able to respond to the prayers that these families make,” said Oscar Sánchez, who serves as Grand Knight.
“They pray because they don’t have the resources to buy a wheelchair, and they ask that someone comes and helps them, and we come from so far away because God uses us as a means,” Sanchez added.
Gratitude and joy filled the families at the CRIT on May 13 when the center also delivered 50 wheelchairs to families receiving services there.
“With this chair, I will be able to take my son to school,” said María Erika, mother of 7-year-old José, through tears.
“We knocked on many doors to get a wheelchair, and we are very grateful, because in the end one opened,” added Hector, father of a 2-year-old girl with Down syndrome.
With a contribution of $150, AWM acquires a wheelchair, and with 280 wheelchairs, a container is filled.
The St. Mark community raised $75,600 on Wheelchair Sunday in October 2025.
The parishes of Prince of Peace in Plano, Mary Immaculate in Farmers Branch, and St. Mark the Evangelist in Plano raised the most funds in the Diocese of Dallas.
This was the third time a group of missionaries from St. Mark traveled to Mexico. In 2023, they went to Chihuahua, and in 2024 to Cancún.
The trip to Puebla was Luis Urtecho’s second mission trip. The member of Santa María Council 6065 said the experience left him “transformed.”
“God has changed me by allowing me to carry each of those children,” he said. “I hope to continue giving more as part of this mission,” he added.
For Marcos Olvera, the mission trip to Puebla served to make his commitment stronger.
“We have a lot of potential to continue growing this mission in our community,” he stated. “We’ve seen the impact a wheelchair can have. The program works. We need to get more people with the desire of helping others to participate and give more,” he said.
The knights reaffirmed their desire to continue spreading the message so that more in the Diocese of Dallas will join.
“We are all part of that wheelchair,” said Ana Sánchez, Oscar’s wife. “There’s a story from the moment it arrives until it’s delivered to each family. Who can say God doesn’t exist? Every little face is a miracle, a reward for every heart. Let’s hope we continue to be part of this great miracle that touches us all,” she concluded.
Editor’s Note: The full names of the families were omitted for medical confidentiality.
Cutline for featured image: Father Jason Cargo, members of Santa María Council 6065 of the Knights of Columbus, and representatives of American Wheelchair Mission pose with Maria and Hector at the presentation of a wheelchair for their daughter on May 14 in Puebla, Mexico. (RODRIGO EPSTEIN/Courtesy of American Wheelchair Mission)
