A Family Transformed by Love, Service, and Christ
“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
2 Corinthians 9:15
Art and Jen have ten children. They have five children still living at home who are all adopted from China and all live with disability. Caleb (24) has a cleft pallet; Robert (16) is a double amputee and uses a wheelchair; Jacob (16) has autism; Zoey (15) is legally blind; and Bethany (14) has autism, diabetes, and significant medical and health challenges.
We first met Jen in 2021 after she donated a wheelchair to our Wheels for the World™ program. At that time, Art and Jen described life as a never-ending wilderness filled with years of traumatic hospitalizations, medevac flights, Ronald McDonald Home stays, amputations, IEP meetings, therapies, and medical bills paired with two cross country moves. Moving to Massachusetts from the South for Boston’s medical care, they found themselves in a foreign land grieving the loss of church, family, friends, support systems, and community.
Jen began attending our Support Group for Moms, and she and Art both participated in disability ministry trainings to help their new church become more welcoming. Then in 2022, they attended their first Family Retreat, which became “a soft place to land” for their family.
Art and Jen recall arriving at their first Family Retreat a bit uptight. Their youngest, Bethany, requires so much support, and they are constantly on high alert. Could they trust a 1:1 volunteer to care for their daughter? Would she be safe?
“As parents, hypervigilant caregiving can be so isolating, but we don’t know anything else,” says Jen. “Our volunteers kept telling us that they had everything under control. It wasn’t until the last evening that we finally realized we could relax.”
Jen
Jen continues, “Spending time with other parents who understand the unique joys and challenges of life with disability reminds us that we do not have to carry our load alone.”
Over the last three years, our Joni and Friends family has helped Art and Jen see how precious and holy their journey with disability really is—bringing them closer and closer into the arms of Jesus.
Through your faithful ministry partnership, Art and Jen have also had the opportunity to strengthen their marriage. Disability never allows them to leave the house together. Date night?… Forget about it! Except for one weekend a year at Marriage Getaway. Not only do they receive Christ-centered marriage coaching and fun with other couples—they also enjoy time alone holding hands, laughing, and reconnecting as a couple.
After having their cups filled by friends like you, this precious family is now serving with Joni and Friends. Art and Jen serve in leadership roles with couples at Family Retreat and Marriage Getaway while Caleb, Robert, Jacob, and Zoey have found their niche serving in different areas at Family Retreat. And their entire family desires to help their church grow in welcoming and including people of all abilities.
Caleb, Robert, Jacob, and Zoey are learning that God doesn’t ask them to fit a specific mold. They are finding the freedom to be who God created them to be. Before serving at Family Retreat, they often wondered how they could make a kingdom impact. But after being encouraged by Joni Eareckson Tada’s story and seeing what she can do, they now see themselves in a different light—through the lens of God’s indescribable gift.
Your partnership is an answer to Art and Jen’s greatest prayer: “We pray that God would be glorified through our family and that our kids would walk with the Lord all the days of their lives.”
We’re thanking God for life transformations like Art, Jen, and their children’s. And we praise him for spreading Gospel hope all around the world through our many Christ-centered programs. But our hearts ache over the tens of thousands of children and families living with disability still desperate for help and hope in Jesus.
Would you let Jesus work through you today to reach these precious families with the power of God’s unfailing love?
We are depending upon the generosity of friends like you to help us reach even more people navigating life with disability. Our goal is to bring hope through hardship to every corner of New England and beyond. Your gift will help us reach vulnerable people who otherwise may never hear the Good News of Jesus!
Support Joni and Friends New England
Your gift today will bring healing the hope of the Gospel to families living with disability! Learn more about Joni and Friends New England.
