Joni and Friends turns 45 this year! Tune in to hear Joni reflect on the ministry and what impact it’s had overseas for those living with a disability for all of these years.
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ.”
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and don’t you love that verse from Ephesians 1? Because think of it. Before he created the universe and said, “Let there be light;” before he made the world and moved upon the waters, puckered up mountain ranges, or carved out rivers; before all of this, God knew you and loved you.
From time immemorial, God was designing you in his heart, envisioning you as he intended you to be. Man, God has been thinking about you for a long, long time. And that includes the people with disabilities we serve at Joni and Friends—people like Jimly.
This little guy with cerebral palsy arrived at our Wheels for the World distribution in Manila, the Philippines. At 22 years old, he has been too big for his mother Lilian to carry, and so the only way to bring him to the distribution was on a stretcher. Jimly’s entire body is twisted due not only to his cerebral palsy, but from the absence of early medical care. This young man and his family live in a squatter’s village, in severe poverty and ever since his birth, Jimly has been lying on the floor of his little home. That’s 22 years of lying stiff, and rigid on the floor, only able to turn his head to interact with his family. It breaks my heart to know that someone has lived like that day after day after day in those conditions for 22 years.
But no matter how severe or twisted the disabling condition, no matter how profound the poverty, people like Jimly are created in God’s image. Before there was a sun or moon, before there was day or night, God delighted to place his glory, his image on Jimly—and on every disabled person like him. That is such good news!
But here’s the really great news: when people like Jimly embrace Jesus as their Savior, they reflect something about God that’s much more specific— it is [as 1 Corinthians 15 puts it] it is the “image of the heavenly man,” Jesus Christ. And that is exactly what happened at our Wheels for the World distribution. For the first time, Jimly and his mother, Lilian, heard the good news that Christ died for them. And now? When this young Filipino smiles through his tough disability, he is bearing the image of Christ’s perseverance and endurance. Christ’s patience and humility. Christ’s long-suffering. Oh, what a convincing testimony of the life-transforming power of the Gospel of Christ!
God always delights in displaying his power through weakness. And when people who live with affliction endure pain and poverty yet keep their hearts bright —their spiritual stability can only be explained by the miracle of God’s sustaining grace. And this is the purpose behind Joni and Friends. God has raised up this ministry to reach for Christ the world’s oft forgotten and most neglected; and that is, disabled adults and children with disabilities and their families. And we’ve been doing it for 45 years. That’s right, 2024 marks the 45th anniversary of Joni and Friends and we are celebrating by redoubling our efforts to reach even more disabled children around the world for Jesus. So have a look at what we do. Visit joniradio.org today and be blessed by a video I’ve posted of Jimly’s story – it’ll touch your heart. And please pray for the many young people like him that we will be reaching for Christ this year. On this 45th anniversary? Let’s remember the neglected and the forgotten people of this world – those with disabilities. Visit joniradio.org and learn how you can help.
© Joni and Friends