Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast
Join Crystal Keating each Thursday for an encouraging conversation about finding hope through your hardships, as well as practical ways to include people with disabilities in your church and community. Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Join us in answering the call in Luke 14:21-23... until his house is full!
Episodes
Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, Galyna, the Joni and Friends in-country coordinator—alongside other Joni and Friends partners in the region—has organized rescue efforts and ongoing care for people with disabilities from Ukraine. Galyna joins the podcast to give updates on the continuing war, including what happens to Ukrainian refugees after they cross the border.
You can help send Ukrainian refugees with disabilities the long-te...
Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, bringing violence, destruction, and terror to Ukrainians, Galyna, the Joni and Friends in-country coordinator in Ukraine, has orchestrated ongoing rescue and care for people with disabilities in and around the warzone.
Galyna joins the podcast to share how God has strengthened and equipped her and other Joni and Friends partners to serve vulnerable people in the midst of severe danger.
"Advocacy makes change possible when people call out what is wrong, care enough to stand up for what is right, commit to the cause for as long as it takes, and have confidence in God's power to change hearts." -Angela Muir Van Etten
- Learn more about Angela
- Get your copy of Angela’s book, “ALWAYS AN ADVOCATE: Champions of Change for People with Dwarfism and Disabilities”
Advocacy Resources:
- Find your state’s Protection & ...
When an unexpected disability or disease turns your life on end, how do you journey through each day without letting fear, depression, or discouragement overtake you? Dr. Jean Sutherland can answer this question from personal experience; she has leaned on the Lord through three bouts of aggressive cancer (and treatments) that have significantly altered her life, abilities, appearance, and even the way she eats and speaks. Dr. Suthe...
A recent Joni and Friends survey identified respite care as the top unmet need among families living with disability. Many parents and caregivers who lack respite care options have to just keep going despite exhaustion, isolation, and discouragement. Disability advocate Jennifer Evans joins the podcast to talk about the gift of respite—how providing this type of rest can enable families to experience the love and grace of Jesus Chr...
Jennifer Evans is a humanitarian, author, and speaker whose work address topics of overcoming addiction, burnout, and mental health challenges. Jennifer has served at Joni and Friends Arizona, and as Executive Director for Grace Sober Living, a nonprofit organization that provides Christ-centered recovery care and housing to people overcoming addiction.
Jennifer has also worked as director of a public health charity where she develo...
After more than 55 years living with quadriplegia and chronic pain, Joni Eareckson Tada knows what it means to “press on” through suffering. As she celebrates her 73rd birthday, she’s using this miracle milestone to share the Good News of Jesus with families struggling with disabilities. Will you give in Joni’s honor and help others press on in their suffering?
Rosaria Butterfield used to be a committed unbeliever, a leading thinker in queer studies, and a practicing lesbian. Then God used an invitation to dinner in a modest home, from a humble couple who lived out the Gospel daily, simply, and authentically, to draw Rosaria to himself.
Dr. Butterfield shares her story in her book, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor’s Journey into Christian Faith
Rosaria used to be a “committed unbeliever,” a tenured professor at Syracuse University, a leading thinker in queer studies, and a practicing lesbian. Then God used an invitation to dinner in a modest home, from a humble couple who lived out the Gospel daily, simply, and authentically, to draw Rosaria to himself.
Rosaria shares her conversion story in her book, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor’s Journ...
Jodi Stuber, co-founder and program director of HopeWell Ranch and the co-author of Project Solomon: The True Story of a Lonely Horse Who Found a Home—and Became a Hero, joins the podcast to share how her organization uses rescued horses to help meet people’s emotional, spiritual, physical, and social needs.
Through their compassionate and creative approach to equine therapy (therapy using horses), Jodi and her husband Ty have witn...
An abortion survivor and one of eleven adopted sisters (most with disabilities), Sasha Carpenter returns to the podcast to talk about her family and their ministry and advocacy work, her own journey living with cerebral palsy, and how to be a voice for the voiceless in today’s world.
Listen to Part 1 of Crystal's conversation with Sasha Carpenter.
Learn more about Ting Ministries.
Learn more about Sasha’s family members: Our Family – ...
Sasha Carpenter joins the podcast to share her story of adoption and redemption in Christ. Born in Russia having survived a failed abortion, Sasha was adopted into a family that loves Jesus.
Now an adult, and one of eleven adopted sisters with disabilities, Sasha works as an adoption advocate and writer—a “voice for the voiceless.” Sasha is also part of Ting Ministries, an adoption counseling organization founded by the Carpenter f...
Bonnie O’Neil calls herself a hope hunter, finding hope in the hard seasons of life. Born in the shadow of her brother’s death to type 1 diabetes, and raised with a sister living with the disease, she was nevertheless unprepared for the sorrow she experienced when her own son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age five.
Over time, and through a crisis of faith, Bonnie sought the Lord in her family’s struggle. She slowly learned t...
Susan Wahlers is the founder of Makers of Care, a nonprofit that provides resources and support for caregivers, and equips churches to proactively serve them. Susan understands the exhaustion, loneliness, and discouragement that caregivers face. When her husband Dave was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at 55, their life went into disarray and caregiving became consuming for Susan. Following Dave’s passing in 2019, Susan founded ...
Susan Wahlers is on a mission to ensure every caregiver has what they need. She founded Makers of Care, a nonprofit that provides resources for caregivers in dire need of support during a long-term crisis. The organization also equips churches to proactively serve caregivers.
FACTS ABOUT CAREGIVERS (courtesy of Makers of Care)
- 80% of care, for those unable to care for themselves, is provided by friends and family.
- Most caregiving ...
When a diving accident left Joni Eareckson Tada with quadriplegia at 17, she felt like her life was over. She couldn’t fathom what good her life could be without legs that walked or hands that worked. She couldn’t imagine that God had good purposes in store for her. She certainly didn’t expect her suffering to sow the seeds of an international disability ministry. Looking back on 55 years in a wheelchair, Joni reflects on the Lord’...
Lamar Hardwick (DMin, Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) is the lead pastor at Tri-Cities Church in East Point, Georgia. He and his wife, Isabelle have three daughters.
Dr. Hardwick’s blogs and articles can be found on his website.
Get your copies Dr. Hardwick’s books:
- I am Strong: The Life and Journey of an Autistic Pastor
- Disability in the Church: A Vision for Diversity and Inclusion
Key Questions:
- What is my purpose...
Lamar Hardwick (DMin, Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) is the lead pastor at Tri-Cities Church in East Point, Georgia. He and his wife, Isabella have three daughters.
Dr. Hardwick’s blogs and articles can be found on his website.
Get your copies Dr. Hardwick’s books:
- I am Strong: The Life and Journey of an Autistic Pastor
- Disability in the Church: A Vision for Diversity and Inclusion
Key Questions:
- What is it like to ...
For more than two decades Leisa Williams has cared for a son with a disability. She knows firsthand the grief, hopelessness, family divisions, and weariness that often plague families living with disability. (Listen to part 1 of this conversation.)
Leisa joins the podcast again to talk about the power of HOPE: Having Other People Engaged when the challenges of life seem too heavy to bear. She shares about her journey from resistance...
For more than two decades Leisa Williams has cared for a son with a disability. She knows firsthand the grief, hopelessness, family divisions, and weariness that often plague families living with disability. That’s why she wrote her book, Hope Wins: Overcoming Feelings of Hopelessness in Special Needs Families.
Leisa joins the podcast to talk about the challenges that come with disability and the importance of turning to God and Chr...
Popular Podcasts
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
It’s a lighthearted nightmare in here, weirdos! Morbid is a true crime, creepy history and all things spooky podcast hosted by an autopsy technician and a hairstylist. Join us for a heavy dose of research with a dash of comedy thrown in for flavor.
New episodes come out every Monday for free, with 1-week early access when you join Amazon Music or 1-week early and ad-free for Wondery+ subscribers "SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind.