Stepping Out in Faith to Serve
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When Becky Ellis first served at a Joni and Friends Family Retreat in 1999, she didn’t know she would find her life calling! But year after year, Becky returned to Family Retreat…
Now a Regional Operations Director for Joni and Friends, Becky gets to love and serve people living with disabilities every day. And, through her work, she gets to inspire the next generation to love, serve, and advocate for people with disabilities.
Becky joins the podcast to talk about bringing the love of Christ to individuals and families living with disability—and how getting involved as a volunteer can transform your life!
Where is God calling you to step out of your comfort zone to serve him and others?
Becky first served with Joni and Friends when she was 12 years old. At first, she admits, the experience of serving a person with a significant disability made her uncomfortable.
She recalls volunteering as a senior in high school, paired with a teenaged girl with cerebral palsy whose tongue thrust forward as she ate. During mealtimes Becky struggled and found herself losing her appetite through the messy process of feeding her friend. After a long day full of unpleasant meals, Becky told her mom she didn’t want to keep serving.
Her mom’s response struck her heart: “Becky, you are going to feed this girl for two more days. Her mother feeds her every day of her life.”
Becky realized that her heart needed to change.
She reflected: “A lot of the families that we serve, this is their one week of respite. And so, to serve over those three days is very powerful. Family Retreat that year revealed my selfishness and pride… That summer, my brokenness was truly revealed.”
What internal or external barriers prevent you from stepping out in faith to serve?
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
2 Corinthians 12:9
Becky knows firsthand that it’s easy to feel unprepared or uncertain when it comes to volunteering in disability ministry, especially if you don’t have personal experience with disability. If you feel hesitant about getting involved with Joni and Friends, or serving at a disability ministry event at church, she has a message for you:
“Don’t hesitate. Sign up today. I’m thinking of 2 Corinthians 12 where God tells Paul: ‘my power is made perfect in weakness.’ So you aren’t ready, you aren’t equipped yet. But we will help you get there, and he will help you get there.
I remember countless examples of just being terrified that I couldn’t do it, so out of my comfort zone. But through that, Christ was able to work… So whether it be Family Retreat or a disability ministry at your church, volunteering will be the most rewarding thing that you do for yourself. And then to teach your family what it truly means to serve others.”
You can follow God’s call to serve people living with disability:
- Apply to volunteer with Joni and Friends
- Explore job opportunities at Joni and Friends
Like Becky, you can discover the life-changing experience of serving God through Joni and Friends. And together we can follow the call of Christ found in Luke 14:
“Go out quickly in the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame…. Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.”
Luke 14:21, 23
Lear More About Family Retreat
At Joni and Friends, we value each person as an image-bearer of God, worthy of dignity and respect! We create a rich, Christ-centered environment at each Family Retreat that is safe and accepting for every member of the family.
