A New Disability Brought a New Call
She didn’t see disability coming…
Meet Vianey, an energetic mom of three from Monterrey, Mexico. She lived a busy, happy life, never imagining that disability would be part of her story. Then a horrific car accident turned her life upside down. Left her with chronic pain and a new disability, Vianey faced a daunting road ahead—one that Joni Eareckson Tada understands well.
“When a family experiences a new disability, they enter into a new and foreboding world.”
Joni
In addition to her physical struggles, Vianey felt rejected by her church where some members wrongly blamed her disability on a lack of faith. Wrestling with feelings of insignificance and exclusion, and often unable to sleep because of her pain, Vianey tuned in to Joni Eareckson Tada’s radio programs. And through Joni’s Christ-filled inspirational messages, Vianey found the hope and encouragement she needed.
A New Thing
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:19
Starting with the radio, Vianey learned Joni’s story of coming face-to-face with a new disability after her catastrophic diving accident at seventeen. The story felt familiar—how new disabilities bring with them a whole new set of medical appointments, caregiving routines, therapies, and heartbreak.
But, as Joni’s story attests, Jesus can bring new life and new ministries out of new disabilities. Vianey prayed that God would work through her story too.
Vianey didn’t waste any time…
Moved by the Holy Spirit, Vianey responded to Joni’s on-air invitation to contact Joni and Friends. She let us know that—like Joni—she wanted to make a difference for Christ by helping other people with disabilities.
Our team prayed with Vianey, provided her with resources, and invited her to our Wheels for the World™ outreach in her area where she then received a much-needed wheelchair. From there, Vianey’s connection with Joni and Friends continued to deepen.
Soon Vianey received a Joni and Friends scholarship to complete our Beyond Suffering course, which offers a biblical perspective on disability and suffering. Here, Vianey learned the truth: that all people, regardless of disability, have equal dignity and value—and that every person with a disability deserves to be welcomed into God’s family.
After completing her own Beyond Suffering program, Vianey became an instructor for the course. And in 2022 she became our Joni and Friends International Country Coordinator for Mexico!
“Jesus had a plan for his glory!” – Vianey
Vianey has now led hundreds of students through our Beyond Suffering curriculum and is responsible for overseeing our online Beyond Suffering trainings in Central America. She has become a trainer of trainers—mentoring other instructors and guiding each course to completion. More than that, Vianey personally ministers to the people God brings into her care. And as others listen to her testimony, they come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior.
“Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame… that my house will be full.”
Luke 14:21, 23, NIV
Learn more about Beyond Suffering
A groundbreaking course of study created to transform the way Christians view God’s plan for disability and suffering.
