Joni Reports on Her Latest Trip…
We just returned home from an incredible trip that included the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville and Messiah College near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – it was my first opportunity to travel in nearly a year (having been grounded during my battle against cancer last summer). At Messiah College, we helped focus attention on the new “Disability and Society” elective being offered for the fall 2011 semester (our Joni and Friends’ Christian Institute on Disability [CID] is working hard to help other colleges develop disability ministry courses of study). I’m pictured here with Charlie, an engineering student at Messiah, who helped develop a proto-type of a “tricycle” wheelchair that is being used by disabled people in Mali, West Africa – I’m convinced these are the kinds of young Christian leaders who will one day carry the banner of the Gospel of Christ to disabled people around the world! … and we love signing them up as CID interns (think about joining our internship program this summer)! We also partnered with our Joni and Friends/Eastern Pennsylvania team in several fantastic ministry outreach events!
Be praying for our Wheels for the World team distributing Bibles, wheelchairs, and Joni books in Spanish among needy disabled people in the Dominican Republic. Eighty percent of the world’s disabled live in developing nations, and most of them are in desperate situations. Ask God to lighten their load as we share hope and help in Jesus Christ.
Finally, on the last night of our trip, I was able to enjoy time with my sisters, Linda and Kathy (great crab cakes at our favorite Baltimore restaurant). So, all in all, it turned out to be a wonderful trip filled with great ministry opportunities. Ken and I weren’t sure how I would manage the long flights and different hotel beds – but just like Psalm 84 says, I was able to set my heart on pilgrimage and, by the grace of God, “go from strength to strength!” Thank you so much for praying me all the way home!
