God really can make a dream even 20 years in the making come true. Hear Joni talk about the Joni’s House that’s being built in Serbia to serve children and families living with disabilities. Christ-honoring solutions are the best solutions.
My eyes could hardly believe what I was seeing!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I fought back tears as I saw small disabled children tied to their cribs, gaunt, sunken-eyed, malnourished, and isolated from the world. Although these children were small, their size did not fit their age. Some of them were eight years or older, but they looked as though they were two or three years old. And there were no staff people around to regularly change their diapers. No one to hold or cuddle them and it broke my heart. This was back 20 years ago when I was a member of the U.S. State Department's Disability Advisory Committee under President Bush, and I was watching a human rights report on the appalling lack of care for disabled children in Serbian institutions. I left the meeting stunned and saddened. And I came home, and I told our Joni and Friends leadership about the report, and I prayed that our ministry might somehow be used of God to break that horrible cycle of institutional abuse. But little did I know there were like-hearted Serbian Christians already working on it.
These believers in Serbia were wise and seasoned. They had lived through the Bosnian war, less than a decade earlier, and they were committed to making their country of Serbia a righteous nation. They took seriously verses like Jeremiah 22:3, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Do justice and righteousness and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor.’” These Serbians understood the plight of children with disabilities in their land, and they wanted to make changes. Big changes.
A few of the changemakers were at HUB Bible College in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. There, a brother in Christ named Sladjan Milenkovic had a heart to minister to children with disabilities and their family members. Before long, he was recruiting students from the college to serve at our first International Family Retreat there in his country. A network with other like-minded believers grew, and now, almost 20 years since I listened to that human rights report at the State Department, the situation for disabled children in Serbia is changing. And I am so happy to announce that construction will soon begin on a Joni's House in Serbia – all because God’s people caught the vision of Luke 14 where Jesus says, “Go out, find the disabled, and bring them in…so that my Father’s house might be full.” And this is exactly what a Joni’s House Serbia will do.
It’ll bring awareness to the plight of disabled people, as well as put Gospel love into action for Serbian families who struggle daily with disability. There will be respite, physical therapy, biblical counseling, medical support, food distribution, job training, and much more. And I couldn't be more thrilled – Joni’s House in Serbia; a 20-year-old dream that’s coming true! This is what I love to see – Christ-honoring solutions to the desperate plight of the world’s disabled, and a Joni’s House does just that. Psalm 103 says, “The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.” Yes, the Lord is working righteousness and justice for kids with disabilities in Serbia. And if you’d like to see a photo of what Joni’s House will look like, then visit us at joniradio.org. And join me in praying that countless disabled people in Serbia will come to Christ through Joni's House! See what it’ll look like at joniradio.org. One more thing, Romans 12:7 says that “When we serve, we should do it well.” Learn how to serve well by signing up as an intern with Joni and Friends. Get all the details at joniradio.org.
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