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Joni Eareckson
Tada
Joni Eareckson
Tada is the founder of Joni and Friends, an organization
accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community.
A diving accident
in 1967 left Mrs. Tada a quadriplegic in a wheelchair, unable to
use her hands. During two years of rehabilitation, she spent
long months learning how to paint with a brush between her
teeth. Her high detail fine art paintings and prints are sought
after and collected.
Mrs. Tada is now
recognized by her first name in countries around the world
following the distribution in many languages of her biography
Joni and the full-length feature film JONI, in which she
portrays her own life. She has personally visited over 41
countries, several of them many times.
Mrs. Tada's role
as a disability advocate led to a presidential appointment to
the National Council on Disability for three and a half years,
during which time the Americans with Disabilities Act became
law.
Joni and Friends
was founded by Mrs. Tada in 1979 and has grown into four
flagship programs which affect the lives of thousands of
disabled people and their families.
• With over a
million listeners a week "Joni and Friends," a daily five minute
radio program, is heard over 1000 broadcast outlets. In 2002 it
received the “Radio Program of the Year” award from National
Religious Broadcasters. • In 2004 Joni and Friends will serve
over 600 special need families through 13 Family Retreats across
the nation. • Through Wheels for the World, over 25,000
wheelchairs have been collected nationwide, refurbished by
inmates in correctional facilities, and then shipped and donated
to developing nations where, whenever possible, physical
therapists fit each chair to a needy disabled child or adult. •
Through 11 Area Ministry offices nationwide, the Joni and
Friends teams provide church training along with educational and
inspirational resources to promote ministry to those affected by
disability and those who can help.
On Friday,
December 3, 2004, Joni and Friends broke ground for their new
INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY CENTER. The ICD will not only
accommodate the extraordinary growth of existing programs but
provide a new communications center and training facility for
our international partnerships.
Mrs. Tada is a
highly sought-after conference speaker both in the U.S. and
overseas. She is also a contributor to Discipleship Magazine,
Christianity Today and serves as a columnist for the United
Kingdom’s Christian Herald, and several European Christian
magazines
Mrs. Tada is
Senior Associate for Disability Concerns for the Lausanne
Committee for World Evangelization and serves in an advisory
capacity to the American Leprosy Mission, the National Institute
on Learning Disabilities, Love and Action, and Christian Blind
Mission International, as well as on the Board of Reference for
the Christian Writers Guild, Pregnancy Resource Center’s
Advisory Board, New Europe Communications and the Christian
Medical and Dental Society. She is currently Honorary Page 2
Joni Eareckson Tada bio
Co-Chair of the
Presidential Prayer Team, and serves on The World Prayer Team
Honorary Committee.
Joni Eareckson
Tada has received The American Academy of Achievement's Golden
Plate Award; The Courage Award from the Courage Rehabilitation
Center; The Award of Excellence from the Patricia Neal
Rehabilitation Center; The Victory Award from the National
Rehabilitation Hospital; The Golden Word Award from the
International Bible Society. She is inducted into the Christian
Booksellers’ Association’s Hall of Honor. In 2002, Joni received
the William Ayer Award for excellence from the National
Religious Broadcasters’ Association. In 2003 she was given the
Gold Medallion Award for her book When God Weeps. In 2004 she
was awarded the Gold Medallion Award for co-authoring Hymns for
a Kid’s Heart, Volume 1.
Mrs. Tada was
named "Churchwoman of the Year" in 1993 by the Religious
Heritage Foundation and was the first woman to be honored by the
National Association of Evangelicals as their "Layperson of the
Year." She also holds:
¨ An honorary
Bachelor of Letters from Western Maryland College. ¨ An honorary
Doctor of Humanities from Gordon College. ¨ An honorary Doctor
of Humane Letters from Columbia International University, the
first honorary doctorate bestowed in its 75-year history. ¨ An
honorary Doctor of Divinity from Westminster Theological
Seminary. ¨ An honorary Doctor of Divinity from Lancaster Bible
College.
Joni Eareckson
Tada is the author of over 30 books. Her best-selling and
award-winning works cover topics ranging from disability
outreach to reaching out to God and include: A Christmas Longing
depicting her best-loved Christmas paintings; Life and Death
Dilemma addressing the tough issues of euthanasia and assisted
suicide. She explores the nature of heaven in Heaven ...Your
Real Home. The mystery of suffering is approached in When God
Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty, co-authored by
Steve Estes. Joni and Steve also wrote A Step Further to speak
to the subject of healing. In 2003 Joni authored her memoirs,
The God I Love, chronicling a lifetime walking with Jesus.
Mrs. Tada has
also written several children's books, including Tell Me The
Promises, which received the Evangelical Publishers’
Association’s Gold Medallion and Silver Medal in the 1997 C.S.
Lewis Awards, and Tell Me The Truth which received the EP Gold
Medallion in 1998.
Mrs. Tada and her
husband Ken have been married since 1982. Mr. Tada recently
retired from 32 years of teaching and has come on board with
Joni and Friends to serve as Director of Ministry Development.
He is also a member of the Board of Directors and recently
received Family Life Ministries Robert McQuilken Award honoring
“The Courageous Love of a Marriage Covenant Keeper.” Revised (4)
August 5, 2005
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