Global Day of Prayer

This message was just posted onto the Joni and Friends website.

Dear Friend in Disability Ministry…

I’m excited to share with you the following opportunity to involve people with disabilities in a historic global outreach of praise and intercession.

On June 4th, Pentecost Sunday, millions of Christians around the world will be united in prayer from the rising of the sun in the east and across each time zone until the day ends – it will be 24 hours of specific worship, confession, and prayerful intercession. It’s called the Global Day of Prayer.

As we all know, prayer gives energy to the advancement of Christ's kingdom on earth. And at Joni and Friends, we believe that certain followers of Jesus are given a special privilege in prayer -- the Bible contains numerous references to the poor, the needy and the afflicted and how their prayers possess a unique power with God. Psalm 10:17 says, "You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted, you encourage them, and you listen to their cry."

Could it be that God has set apart saints with disabilities to be His greatest prayer warriors? We believe so! We envision an army of people with disabilities serving as God's prayer team for advancing global intercession. And we see the Global Day of Prayer as a golden opportunity for disabled persons to join together around the world, bringing about change and blessing to the cities and nations of the earth.

We hope you will catch this exciting vision to alert the disabled people you know to become involved with the Global Day of Prayer! Please go to our Joni and Friends website www.joniandfriends.org and the 'news' section for further ideas and suggestions regarding how you might get involved. You can also get more information at www.GDOPusa.com and learn of this unprecedented world prayer meeting. Then, encourage disabled people in your sphere of ministry to join the movement, as well as spread the word to their friends.

NOTE: I am excited to announce that our new Joni and Friends website will be up just a week or so and we are going to have a whole section on PRAYER that will eventually include:

-- more creative ideas on how you can include the disability community in prayer

-- our Joni and Friends daily prayer calendar

-- "How to Pray for a Handicapped World"

-- a Daily Devotional

Please be a part of helping us raise a worldwide team of disabled individuals to pray! If you have any questions on how you can organize Christians with disabilities in this Global Day of Prayer, please contact Jean Kingery at jkingery@joniandfriends.org.

Many blessings…
Joni Eareckson Tada

Krista on the Radio!

You may remember my friend Krista from a story that I posted on this blog back on January 23, 2005. (If you haven't read it, click here).

I just received an e-mail informing me that Krista has been interviewed. Here is information on where to go to hear that program! (Way to go, Krista!)

Krista was interviewed as a part of the radiothon described below. She will be on the radio sometime during this coming weekend. We don't know when, but you can hear the interview on the KS95 website starting Friday morning, by following the instructions below.

Tune in to the 8th annual KS95 for Kids® Radiothon, broadcast live March 3-5 from Ridgedale Center in Minnetonka. During the past seven years, this premier fundraising event has generated more than $7.7 million for Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare and Children's Cancer Research Fund. To hear the courageous stories of kids battling cancer and living with disabilities, tune in to 94.5 KS95 FM or log on to www.ks95.com

Krista's story and photo is also featured under "Meet the Kids" at :http://www.ks95.com/ex.html

Go to KS95.com

Click on KS95 for Kids

Click on Meet the Kids

Click on Krista Horning

Click on the link to listen at the top of their story

Joni and Friends 2006 Family Retreats

I have simply copy and pasted this information from the Joni and Friends website.

Since 1991 Joni and Friends Family Retreats has hosted five-day summer programs across the United States where families affected by disability can find hope get a break from the challenges of everyday life.

If your family is affected by disability, we invite you to pack the car and join us this summer at one of our fifteen retreats. Browse the family information section or check out the family registration.

Our Short Term Missionary opportunities are a great way to engage in serving others in a fun environment. Browse the Short Term Missionary information section or check out the Short Term Missionary application.

While you're here, browse through our 2006 schedule. There are also opportunities to help support Family Retreats and find referrals to other camps and conferences that serve families affected by disability.

We're proud to be a part of the Christian Camp and Conference Association and the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

If we can be of any help to you, please feel free to contact us.

After Eve Women's Conference Info

You can now see some information on the After Eve website on my workshop seminar that I will be presenting on Saturday, November 5,2005 at MacLean Bible Church in Vienna, Virginia (close to the Washington D.C. area). The title of my workshop is "Biblical Jewelry." If you click on that link, you will see a brief outline of my message, photo, and bio.

A study of 1 Peter 3 - Beauty from God's perspective. The book of 1 Peter is all about various kinds of trials, suffering, and persecution. So why then, in chapter three, does Peter address the topic of women and how they should dress? Come to Biblical Jewelry and discover why this passage is not as out-of-place as you might think! Taught from the perspective of a young woman born with a severe birth defect that disfigured her face, come and see what the Bible has to say about beauty and how all of us, no matter what our reflection tells us, can do all things for the glory of God – including shoe shopping and applying mascara!

Speaker - Vicki Anderson
Vicki was born in 1972 with Orbital Hypertelorism, a rare birth defect that deformed her face. Twenty-five reconstructive surgeries later, she now lives in Minneapolis, MN and works for Desiring God Ministries. Vicki has found true contentment and joy in Christ and would like to share the secrets of how to live with victory and hope in a culture obsessed with beauty and physical perfection.

After Eve Women's Conference

Well, I've managed to blog for just over eight months without any shameless plugs, so I figured it was high time that I dropped one.

I will, Lord willing, be one of the workshop speakers at a women's conference in November. I will be teaching on "Biblical Jewelry: A Study of 1 Peter 3 -- Beauty From God's Perspective." The workshop is 75 minutes long and is during the Saturday afternoon breakout sessions.

The conference is sponsored by the After Eve organization and is being held at McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Virginia on Friday and Saturday, November 4-5, 2005.

The conference is by young women, for young women and hopes to draw a crowd of women between the ages of 18-30, give or take -- which in my case, is some take.

Information about the keynote speakers, available workshop sessions, cost, location, room and board, as well as the mission statment and purpose of the conference can be found on their website.

I am looking forward to being there. Please keep me in your prayers as you think of it. I have been told that my session is being recorded, so after the conference, I will post information on how to obtain copies of the audio, should anyone be interested.

Joni and Friends Summer Family Camp

It is not to late to still sign up for a Joni and Friends summer retreat. Whether you are the parent of a disabled child and would like your family to attend, or you would like to sign up to volunteer at a family camp, you can still go to Joni's site and sign up. Here is some of the information they have posted. For more details, go to Joni's website or contact JAF at (800) 523-5777.

Since 1991 Joni and Friends Family Retreats has hosted five-day summer programs across the United States where families affected by disability can find hope get a break from the challenges of everyday life.

If your family is affected by disability, we invite you to pack the car and join us this summer at one of our fifteen retreats. Browse the family information section or check out the family registration.

Our volunteer opportunities are a great way to engage in serving others in a fun environment. Browse the volunteer information section or check out the volunteer application.

While you're here, browse through our 2005 schedule. There are also opportunities to help support Family Retreats and find referrals to other camps and conferences that serve families affected by disability.

If you are a church leader, we're here to serve you.

We're proud to be a part of the Christian Camp and Conference Association and the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

The Final Countdown

Fellow blog-buddy JT posted this info on his site today.

Today the Senate and House will decide whether or not to pass The Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act of 2005, which grants people like Terry Schiavo her due-process rights of habeas corpus when a court orders that their nutrition, hydration, or medical treatment by removed. If the legislation does not pass, Terry will begin starving to death tomorrow.
Mel Martinez, freshman senator from Florida, was the co-author of the legislation. He summarizes it and urges us to act in an op-ed for National Review Online. The easiest way to contact your congressmen is by going here and typing in your address and zip code.

Here's what JT wrote to his senators and to my represenative. Feel free to copy and paste it as your own. It only takes about five minutes to e-mail both of your state senators, please do so and tell others also.

Dear _____:

I urge you to vote in favor of The Incapacitated Person’s Legal Protection Act of 2005, to grant people like Terry Schiavo the due-process rights of habeas corpus when a court orders their death by removal of nutrition, hydration and medical treatment.

This woman is being deprived of her full constitutional rights, and such legislation would ensure fairness and justice to her and others like her.

Thank you for your consideration, and for serving our state.

Joni & Friends Family Camp

One great way to overcome debilitating self-pity is to give yourself over to the cause of others and invest your time and experiences into encouraging and loving other people who are also suffering.

This summer, some friends of mine and I are volunteering at JAF Family Camp for a week. We will be at the camp, paired up with a disabled person and their family and we will play with them and talk with and encourage them. This camp is an awesome opportunity for those of use with perceptual disabilities to reach out to those with mental and physical disabilities. For me, there's no better cure for self-pity but to spend time with someone with more severe disabilities than mine to realize how merciful God has been in my life by witnessing first hand how merciful he has been in theirs.

For more info on volunteering at a JAF camp visit Joni's website:
http://www.joniandfriends.org/retreat/index.shtml

For more info on Joni's ministry, click here: http://www.joniandfriends.org/