God Used His People to Bring New Hope and Healing to This Mother-Son Pair
“Joni and Friends has a God-ordained impact on our lives.”
Judy
Meet Judy and her son David…
When David was 23 years old, he was in a near fatal motorcycle accident. His motorcycle landed on his face, crushing it and breaking all his extremities. It took 23 surgical procedures to restructure David’s face and limbs. And with two-thirds of David’s brain not receiving proper blood flow—including the part that controls his lungs—doctors told Judy that David shouldn’t have even survived.
Miraculously David did survive, but life would never be the same for him or his mother. And as if David’s traumatic injury and resulting disabilities weren’t difficult enough for Judy to navigate, her husband died from early onset Alzheimer’s disease during the pandemic.
Family Retreat Brings Hope
Judy and David found Joni and Friends, and learned about Family Retreat during a season of grief—and God used his people to bring new hope and healing to this mother-son pair.
Judy says: “From the daily stuff to the spiritual stuff and seeing the connection between the two—it’s where we find hope as the anchor of our souls… Hope not found in the conditions of our children or our circumstances, but in realizing we are all normal, and we all have something to give each other.”
Throughout the week of Family Retreat, David shared the joy of the Lord with others through his now-famous fist bumps that he calls “knuckles.”
In an atmosphere of joy and acceptance, David experienced notable growth, even in his cognitive capacities.
As Judy put it: “The experiences David has at Family Retreat are healing to his brain, forming new neuropathways and helping him heal from the trauma of the accident…
And to see David on a jet-ski this week—that’s the closest he can get to being on a motorcycle again. Feeling that wind in his face… You didn’t just make his day. You made his year!”
Family Retreat: Just the Beginning!
Many families living with disability look forward to Family Retreat all year long.
But Joni and Friends wants to deliver more than just a weeklong “slice of heaven,” as some people call Family Retreat.
From stateside Retreats & Getaways to Wheels for the World™ outreaches and Joni’s House locations in countries across the globe, Joni and Friends works toward a God-sized vision: a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Judy has tasted the fruit of this heaven-ordained vision.
As she says, “Who knows this side of heaven what Joni and Friends has meant not only for David’s physical healing, but also for his spiritual healing.”
You can be part of bringing immediate and eternal hope and help to families like Judy and David’s, and so many others around the world!
Support Joni and Friends
Your gift to Joni and Friends will bring people present and lasting hope!
