Are you a college student or young professional looking to learn more about serving people with disabilities? Joni and Friends offers a variety of internships! Learn how to serve well by signing up as an intern with us.
When people ask about my favorite part of Joni and Friends, I always, always talk about our interns!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and I love the variety of internship opportunities we have at Joni and Friends. And when I reflect back on the hundreds of interns who have served with us, I think of one special woman, Olivia Batchelor, who, a few years ago, interned with us when she was studying occupational therapy. Olivia came to Joni and Friends with such drive and enthusiasm and all of us were immediately struck by her intelligence and bright spirit. Olivia really enjoyed her time with our ministry – taking part in Family Retreats, working through our Beyond Suffering course of study, helping out with disability ministry in nearby churches. Anyway, Olivia loved interning so much that she returned to take our Leadership Training – by this time, Olivia had landed her doctorate and she wanted to develop her leadership skills; she was excited about casting the Luke 14 vision among our younger interns.
And I will never forget last summer when I caught up with Olivia and her group of interns on our parking lot at Joni and Friends. Olivia and two other leaders were about to fly to Thailand with these young people. They had just returned that week from serving at one of our Family Retreats, and now they were flying to the other side of the world to work alongside our partners in Thailand, fit wheelchairs, visit with some of the special-needs families who attended our International Family Retreat last year and to also serve missionaries with family members who had a disability. As I sat there and looked at Olivia on the parking lot, I just recalled when she first arrived as a young person. And now, she had developed incredible leadership skills and was guiding her own team in an extraordinary missionary outreach to people with disabilities in Thailand. I’ve posted a photo of me and Olivia and all her interns ready to head off to Thailand. Just visit joniradio.org and be inspired by everyone’s smiles!
And you know what? Olivia’s story can be yours. If you are a student or a young professional looking to serve people with disabilities and learn more about it, then take part in our Global Mission Internships – it’ll give you hands-on experience in helping disabled people overseas. And here’s what it’ll look like. You and your other interns will first be trained on the biblical view of disability in our Beyond Suffering course. Then, you’ll apply everything you’ve learned by serving disabled people in a developing nation – and this year, we’re focusing on Serbia and Thailand. Our Global Mission Internship program is taking applications now, so if you know a student or a young professional, tell them to visit joniradio.org today, where I have posted a link to our internship page. There’s lots of photos on that page, testimonies, videos, and stories to look through and a place for you to ask questions. There’s also application forms.
If Olivia were sitting next to me at this microphone, I know she’d love for you to intern with us. So, whether you are studying nursing, special education, occupational or physical therapy, or pursuing a focus on disability studies, come serve with Joni and Friends. Romans 12:7 says that when we serve, we should do it well. Well, learn how to serve well by signing up as an intern with Joni and Friends. Get all the details at joniradio.org. Oh, and don’t forget, I’ve posted a photo of that 2022 group of interns on the parking lot with me. So take a look at joniradio.org. That’s your good word today from Joni Eareckson Tada sharing hope.
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