Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast

By Joni and Friends

Society & Culture Education Religion & Spirituality Christianity

What's Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast about?

Joni and Friends shares encouraging conversations about finding hope through your hardships, along with practical ways to include people with disabilities in your church and community.

We've wrapped season 5, but we'll return with new conversations in 2024!

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Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast episodes:

10.26.2023
Growing a Heart for Disability Ministry – Wilame Leal Silva
In our final episode of season 5, we hear from Joni and Friends team member Wilame Leal Silva. He and his wife Erica Leal were overjoyed to hear they were pregnant with their second child. Then doctors gave a diagnosis...
10.19.2023
Care for Caregivers – Rebekah Dowhy
Across the United States nearly 53 million people serve as caregivers to family members, friends, and others in need of care. On call around the clock, often without pay, caregivers can experience discouragement and burnout. Rebekah Dowhy knows the rigors...
10.12.2023
Walking Her Home: Learning to Say “Your Will, Not Mine” – Cami Lundt
Cami Lundt didn’t expect any surprises with her fourth pregnancy… until the doctor broke the shocking news. Baby Grace was diagnosed with trisomy 13 and a Dandy-Walker brain malformation—conditions that doctors considered “incompatible with life.” The baby, they said, had...
10.05.2023
How Including People with Disability Changes Church Culture
Have you considered how including people with disabilities might positively impact your church’s culture? Stephanie Hubach is on the podcast to share the importance and value of including everyone in ministry.
09.28.2023
Ways to Become a More Disability Friendly Church
Jeb Beauchamp joins the podcast to talk about expanding the reach of the Gospel to people living with disability in the North Carolina area. As an Area Director with Joni and Friends and an ordained pastor, Jeb talks about shifting...
09.21.2023
A Life Transformed – J.D. Kim’s Story of Living with Purpose (and Quadriplegia)
J.D. Kim’s life changed forever when he broke his neck in a snowboarding accident and became paralyzed. At first J.D. wanted to die. Then Jesus reached into his life, gave him hope, and sent him on a purposeful journey. Tune...
09.14.2023
Talking About Disability with Children – Laura Wifler
Bestselling author Laura Wifler joins the podcast to share about her journey as a mother raising a child with disabilities, and to introduce her children’s book, Like Me: A Story About Disability and Discovering God's Image in Every Person. The...
09.07.2023
What is Spiritual Abuse? – Darby Strickland
Author and Christian counselor Darby Strickland previously joined the podcast to share about caring for people who have suffered from trauma and abuse. In this episode, she returns to talk about spiritual abuse. Tune in to learn the markers of...
08.31.2023
Understanding Trauma and Abuse
Author and Christian counselor Darby Strickland joins the podcast to talk about trauma and abuse. As a specialist in counseling people in abusive marriages, Darby provides a biblical response to domestic abuse and other forms of oppression, including people with...
08.24.2023
Living in God’s Love: A Call to Christian Community
Kay Toombs, a Christian, professor, and author who lives with disability, returns to the podcast to explore the transformational power of intentional Christian community. Over decades living with multiple sclerosis (MS), Kay has reflected and taught on issues related to...
08.17.2023
The Meaning of Illness, Healing, and Wholeness
At age 29 Kay Toombs was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), an unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that has since caused paralysis and impacts every part of her life. Living with disability and chronic illness for decades has...
08.10.2023
Creating a Peaceful Home: Parenting Wisdom from a Mother of Ten!
Do you know how to create lasting peace in your home? Laura Hernandez joins the podcast to share her story of raising ten children (biological and adopted), some living with hidden disabilities. Hear how Laura transformed from an overwhelmed do-it-all...
08.03.2023
How to Grow through Significant Loss and Grief
Loss came suddenly for Jerry Sittser. In an instant, a tragic car accident claimed three generations of his family: his mother, his wife of 20 years, and his four-year-old daughter. Left as a single father to care for his three...
07.27.2023
Sharing Hope Through My Quadriplegia and Suffering
In 2011 Cameron Horner survived a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. Like many others who have endured life-changing injuries, Cameron never imagined he would live without the full use of his hands and legs....
07.20.2023
Finding Grace Through Canines for Christ
Larry Randolph joins the podcast to share the story of how God called him to start Canines for Christ, an organization spreading the Good News of Christ through therapy dogs and their owners. Hear how he uses dogs to bring...
07.13.2023
Stepping Out in Faith to Serve
When Becky Ellis first served at a Joni and Friends Family Retreat in 1999, she discovered God’s call on her life. Every summer Becky returned to Family Retreat to serve. Now a Regional Operations Director for Joni and Friends, Becky...
07.06.2023
Perseverance in Suffering
Disability. Illness. Loneliness. Heartache. It’s a broken world and suffering comes at us in many shapes and sizes. Joni Eareckson Tada who has lived through more than 5 decades of quadriplegia, two rounds of breast cancer, and daily chronic pain,...
06.29.2023
From Disability to Ministry: Serving God While Living with Terminal Illness – Christopher Davinson
Christopher Davison has faced many difficulties because of his Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive, terminal illness that has led to quadriplegia. Diagnosed at age 6 and in a wheelchair by 8, Christopher didn’t expect to live past his 20s. Now...
06.22.2023
Living with Chronic Illness
At age 14 Sarah Willoughby's world turned upside down when she fell seriously ill. Sarah went from trail running and adventuring to spending her days sick in bed. Doctors struggled to diagnose her condition until they finally discovered the culprit:...
06.15.2023
Creating Equity, Equality, and Inclusion for People with Disabilities
Joni and Friends Nashville Area Director Larea Kwakye joins the podcast to talk about being called into ministry serving people living with disabilities, especially those struggling with poverty and in under-resourced communities. For more than twenty years Larea has followed...
06.08.2023
The Heart of the Caregiver
Caregiving for a person with exceptional needs—whether it’s a child, spouse, parent, or friend—can be overwhelming. Mary Tutterow, author of the Heart of the Caregiver® study series, joins the podcast to share how peace is possible for caregivers in all...
06.01.2023
Finding God’s Plan for Your Life
Joni and Friends New England Area Director Maria DeGenova joins the podcast to share how God brought her deep healing through serving families living with disability. Maria is one of four sisters—and a twin! Two of her sisters deal with...
05.25.2023
Living with a Brain Stem Tumor: Finding Faith and Purpose
As a young child, Kyle Campbell was diagnosed with an inoperable brain stem tumor, which caused symptoms from difficulty speaking and swallowing to nausea and general ill health. While radiation therapy in his teens alleviated some of Kyle’s symptoms, effects...
05.18.2023
Desperate for Hope: Questions We Ask God in Suffering
Vaneetha Risner joins the podcast again to talk about finding true hope in suffering. With a story that includes childhood bullying, losing an infant son, developing post-polio syndrome, and going through an unwanted divorce, Vaneetha has wrestled with God. But...
05.11.2023
Life After Coma-Induced Memory Loss
When 30-year-old Marcy Gregg woke up from a coma, 13 years of her memories had disappeared. In her mind, she was still 17 years old. She didn't remember her husband or her three children, including the baby she had just...
05.04.2023
How the Church Can Celebrate People with Disabilities
Hannah Snoots, director of Special Abilities Ministry at Calvary Community Church in California, joins the podcast to share her story of finding joy, peace, and purpose in the midst of navigating disability. As a single mother raising two daughters with...
04.27.2023
Why Should We Love the Return of Christ? – John Piper
Pastor John Piper joins the podcast to share a hopeful vision for the second coming of Jesus. Hear how anticipating the return of Christ can help people who are suffering with hardship and disability today, plus the importance of cultivating...
04.20.2023
We're Kicking Off Season 5 Next Week!
Get ready… Season 5 of the Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast is coming your way! This season will help you lean on Christ, even in the midst of disability, suffering, and struggle. Tune in to hear from guests who will share...
11.24.2022
How to Help Ukrainians with Disabilities: The Long Road Ahead (Part 2) – Galyna
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...
11.17.2022
How to Help Ukrainians with Disabilities (Part 1) – Galyna
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...
11.10.2022
How to Advocate for People with Disability and Dwarfism – Angela Muir Van Etten
As a dwarf who stands three feet, four inches tall, Angela Muir Van Etten has spent her life advocating for herself and others. A dual citizen of the United States and New Zealand, she is qualified to practice law in...
11.03.2022
Weak Woman, Strong God – Dr. Jean Sutherland
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...
10.27.2022
How to Help Relieve Exhaustion and Isolation for Families Living with Disability – Jennifer Evans
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...
10.20.2022
Out of Addiction to Freedom: The Road to Recovery – Jennifer Evans
As a child, disability advocate Jennifer Evans dreamed of traveling around the world to help people in need. By age thirty-three she had been on mission trips to forty-five countries and her life looked purposeful and productive. But as a...
10.13.2022
Pressing On: How to Lean on Christ through Suffering – Joni Eareckson Tada
After more than 55 years living with quadriplegia and chronic pain, Joni Eareckson Tada knows what it means to “press on” through suffering. Joni encourages you to join her in living out Philippians 3:14: “I press on toward the goal...
10.06.2022
The Power of Hospitality: Finding Healing and Wholeness in Community – Rosaria Butterfield
Dr. Rosaria Butterfield returns to the podcast to continue the conversation about the power of hospitality. As a new Christian who came to faith through the radically ordinary hospitality of a believing couple, Rosaria quickly realized that the church was...
09.29.2022
Radically Ordinary Hospitality: A Conversation with Rosaria Butterfield
Dr. Rosaria Butterfield, author of The Gospel Comes with a House Key, joins the podcast to talk about radically ordinary hospitality. She shares how opening our homes can provide a doorway for people to experience the love, truth, and grace...
09.22.2022
How God Uses Horses to Heal: The Power of Equine Therapy – Jodi Stuber
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...
09.15.2022
Sasha Carpenter: Abortion Survivor and Voice for the Voiceless
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...
09.08.2022
An Abortion Survivor’s Story of Adoption and Redemption – Sasha Carpenter
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...
09.01.2022
Chronic Hope: Parenting a Child with a Chronic Disease – Bonnie O'Neil
After raising a son who lives with type 1 diabetes, Bonnie O'Neil knows the heartache, struggle, and growth that can come with parenting a child with a chronic illness. Bonnie joins the podcast to share a vision for navigating chronic...
08.25.2022
The Caregiver’s Journey: Surviving to Thriving – Susan Wahlers
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...
08.18.2022
Alzheimer’s Disease: Help and Hope for Caregivers – Susan Wahlers
When Susan Wahlers learned her husband Dave was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease, their life was thrown into disarray. As they struggled with the progressive disease, friends faded into the background, caregiving became consuming, and Susan wrestled with loneliness,...
08.11.2022
God’s Power in Weakness—A Message from Joni Eareckson Tada
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...
08.04.2022
Purpose, Identity, and Diversity in the Church – Dr. Lamar Hardwick
Since his diagnosis with autism at age 36, “The Autism Pastor,” Dr. Lamar Hardwick has been a disability advocate, writing and speaking about autism awareness and inclusion. He returns to the podcast to talk about finding purpose and identity in...
07.28.2022
Meet “The Autism Pastor,” Dr. Lamar Hardwick
Some people call Dr. Lamar Hardwick "the autism pastor." In 2014, after decades of silently struggling with social anxiety, sensory processing disorder, and a host of other significant issues Dr. Lamar was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Since his diagnosis...
07.21.2022
Community: A Key to Hope for Families Living with Disability – Leisa Williams
When Leisa William learned that her son, Justin, had autism, her hopes and dreams got sidelined. At first, the burdens of disability—constant demands, exhaustion, and nagging grief—made Leisa want to withdraw from Christian community. Now, 20 years into living with...
07.14.2022
Hope Wins: Don’t Let Disability Steal Your Hope – Leisa Williams
Leisa Williams is a special needs mother with a passion for the wellbeing of families like hers, who lovingly care for their children with disabilities. When doctors predicted that her son, Justin, diagnosed with autism, would never speak or progress...
07.07.2022
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: Finding God’s Gifts Amid Suffering – Darci Steiner
Over twenty years ago, a fall down the stairs changed Darci Steiner’s life. The ankle injury Darci suffered from her fall triggered a debilitating condition called complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), which causes acute and chronic pain. Darci joins Crystal...
06.30.2022
Creating Belonging in the Church for People with Disabilities – Scott Sauls
Author and pastor Scott Sauls returns to the podcast to talk about fostering belonging in an age of isolation and fear, and how churches can welcome people living with disability into the body of Christ. Through decades of church leadership,...

What's Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Joni and Friends Ministry Podcast episodes:

Growing a Heart for Disability Ministry – Wilame Leal Silva

Care for Caregivers – Rebekah Dowhy

Walking Her Home: Learning to Say “Your Will, Not Mine” – Cami Lundt

How Including People with Disability Changes Church Culture

Ways to Become a More Disability Friendly Church

A Life Transformed – J.D. Kim’s Story of Living with Purpose (and Quadriplegia)

Talking About Disability with Children – Laura Wifler

What is Spiritual Abuse? – Darby Strickland

Understanding Trauma and Abuse

Living in God’s Love: A Call to Christian Community

The Meaning of Illness, Healing, and Wholeness

Creating a Peaceful Home: Parenting Wisdom from a Mother of Ten!

How to Grow through Significant Loss and Grief

Sharing Hope Through My Quadriplegia and Suffering

Finding Grace Through Canines for Christ

Stepping Out in Faith to Serve

Perseverance in Suffering

From Disability to Ministry: Serving God While Living with Terminal Illness – Christopher Davinson

Living with Chronic Illness

Creating Equity, Equality, and Inclusion for People with Disabilities

The Heart of the Caregiver

Finding God’s Plan for Your Life

Living with a Brain Stem Tumor: Finding Faith and Purpose

Desperate for Hope: Questions We Ask God in Suffering

Life After Coma-Induced Memory Loss

How the Church Can Celebrate People with Disabilities

Why Should We Love the Return of Christ? – John Piper

We're Kicking Off Season 5 Next Week!

How to Help Ukrainians with Disabilities: The Long Road Ahead (Part 2) – Galyna

How to Help Ukrainians with Disabilities (Part 1) – Galyna

How to Advocate for People with Disability and Dwarfism – Angela Muir Van Etten

Weak Woman, Strong God – Dr. Jean Sutherland

How to Help Relieve Exhaustion and Isolation for Families Living with Disability – Jennifer Evans

Out of Addiction to Freedom: The Road to Recovery – Jennifer Evans

Pressing On: How to Lean on Christ through Suffering – Joni Eareckson Tada

The Power of Hospitality: Finding Healing and Wholeness in Community – Rosaria Butterfield

Radically Ordinary Hospitality: A Conversation with Rosaria Butterfield

How God Uses Horses to Heal: The Power of Equine Therapy – Jodi Stuber

Sasha Carpenter: Abortion Survivor and Voice for the Voiceless

An Abortion Survivor’s Story of Adoption and Redemption – Sasha Carpenter

Chronic Hope: Parenting a Child with a Chronic Disease – Bonnie O'Neil

The Caregiver’s Journey: Surviving to Thriving – Susan Wahlers

Alzheimer’s Disease: Help and Hope for Caregivers – Susan Wahlers

God’s Power in Weakness—A Message from Joni Eareckson Tada

Purpose, Identity, and Diversity in the Church – Dr. Lamar Hardwick

Meet “The Autism Pastor,” Dr. Lamar Hardwick

Community: A Key to Hope for Families Living with Disability – Leisa Williams

Hope Wins: Don’t Let Disability Steal Your Hope – Leisa Williams

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: Finding God’s Gifts Amid Suffering – Darci Steiner

Creating Belonging in the Church for People with Disabilities – Scott Sauls