JONI: I have on the line today my good friend, Mary Jane Ponten, and around Joni and Friends, she is known as Miss Wheels for the World. Mary Jane, would you like to explain why you hold that honorary title?!
MARY JANE: Well, Joni, it’s like this… I have been on 37 trips in 7 different countries – Ghana, China, and Poland are a few of them.
JONI: Now wait a minute, I want to get that right. How many trips have you been on?
MARY JANE: 37.
JONI: 37. Your mileage plus miles must be way up there. Well, I know that our friends listening can tell you have a disability. Mary Jane, take a moment and tell us about your impairment.
MARY JANE: I was born with cerebral palsy but I have been privileged to live a very normal life. I worked, married, and raised two children and I’m enjoying five grandchildren. And now I’m a widow.
JONI: Mary Jane I can’t believe you’ve got so many grandchildren and I know that your husband Bob is in Heaven right now cheering you on in what you’re doing for Wheels for the World. Explain to our friends listening why you think it’s so important to have people with disabilities like you serving on a Wheels for the World team.
MARY JANE: I tell you Joni, on a Wheels team it’s so important to have people with disabilities so that we can serve by example, asking and answering questions, laughing and praying together with the prayer team. I’ve seen it work.
JONI: And I’ve seen it work too, Mary Jane. When you are on a team, people look at you in your own disability, and I’ve seen you talk face-to-face with folks and they see you handle your disability with the grace of the Lord Jesus. And they see you in a position of leadership and counseling and teaching and I know that that really changes a lot of attitudes, huh?
MARY JANE: Yes, it’s very important.
JONI: Well, finally, Mary Jane, I’d like to hear your favorite story from one of your Wheels for the World outreach trips.
MARY JANE: Well, it comes from Ghana this time. A pastor told us his baby sister was put in the jungle for the animals, because she was born disabled. And his question to us was, “Now that I know the truth about disabled people, how can I forgive my parents? How can I live with the guilt inside my heart for letting this happen?” This man is now actively working with the disabled in Ghana.
JONI: Unbelievable, a pastor’s heart changed. Mary Jane, I know that God is using you all over the world to do that. Tell me, your next Wheels for the World trip will be to what country?
MARY JANE: I’m going to go back to Ghana in October.
JONI: All right, going back to Africa. Well, friend listening, I know you have enjoyed hearing my friend Mary Jane Ponten and I would like to send you her book, with her complete testimony that I just know is going to bless your heart. Write us today or visit our website at joniandfriends.org.
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JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
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