"When you’re not sure what to offer, your very presence can be a gift."
People of all abilities need community, a place to fully belong and share our gifts with others. But loneliness, especially exaggerated by the isolation of COVID-19, is one of the difficult realities faced by many adults with disabilities.
Today on the podcast, Crystal is talking with author and educator Jenny Hill. Born with mild spastic cerebral palsy, Jenny didn’t experience the healing she prayed for as a girl, but she has learned to walk in the tension of God’s goodness and the challenges of cerebral palsy. In this conversation she shares honestly about her experiences with envy, grief, and loneliness, and where she has discovered healing for her soul. Jenny also offers tangible ways to share friendship with adults living with disability and the importance of sharing your story to create hope and community for others along life’s journey.
Resources:
- Learn more about Jenny Hill
- Order Helping with Life Transitions: Engaging Young Adults with Disabilities into the Life of Your Church
- Listen to How to be More Inclusive
- Serve at Family Retreat
Questions or comments? Email Crystal at podcast@joniandfriends.org
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*Joni and Friends was founded in 1979 by Joni Eareckson Tada who in a diving accident was left a quadriplegic at 17 years old. Ministry began as Tada, joined by friends around her kitchen table, responded to letters she received from people with disabilities in search of support. For more than 40 years, the ministry has grown to serve thousands of people impacted by disability worldwide: Joni and Friends has delivered more than 180,000 wheelchairs and Bibles through Wheels for the World and provided Christian care to 63,000 special needs family members through Family Retreats. The organization also equips individuals and churches with disability ministry training and provides higher education courses through the Christian Institute on Disability. For more encouragement, download the Joni and Friends radio podcast in English or Spanish, and view inspirational videos on the Joni and Friends website.
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