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ShareHave a Heart for Service?
…Then pray about serving this April as a short-term missionary at our International Family Retreat in Guatemala. Special-needs families in Guatemala often live in extreme poverty, and they need to know the touch of Jesus – perhaps through someone like you! Take Walter, a short-term missionary who served last year at our International Family Retreat in Guatemala. He was assigned to help Enrique, a 71-year-old stroke survivor who had lost his wife. Enrique was very hardened against God. Walter found him difficult to work with (many times Walter had to leave the activities and simply walk Enrique around the campus). But the young man kept extending kindness and patience, and soon, Enrique's stubborn heart began to melt. He finally came to Jesus...
El Salvador Family Retreat
Rejoice with us! We just finished our third Family Retreat in El Salvador at a little resort in Costa del Sol – most of these families have never experienced a real resort, even if it is a small, humble one. They enjoyed a barbecue, carnival, swimming, crafts, and even a spa day for the mothers (unheard of in El Salvador)! The special-needs children and their parents soaked in the love of Christ showered on them by our JAF staff and church partners in-country. During the Family Retreat, we also hosted a special conference for engineers and architects, encouraging them to work with us in making more villages in El Salvador accessible to people with disabilities – we think this is a wonderfully creative way to reach more El Salvadorans with the Gospel of Christ!
The Wonder of JAF's Wounded Warrior Getaways
We just completed this year's Getaway for Marines at Murrieta Hot Springs, CA. The first day? Imagine hard-as-steel Marines and their families from Camp Pendleton arriving, reserved, a little stiff, and wondering, What have we gotten ourselves into?! Next, picture them being flooded with four days of slam-dunk fun and feasting, hot-air ballooning, rock wall climbing, a carnival, spa treatments for the wives, a 'patriotic' barbecue, campfire with s'mores, games-parties-prizes for the children, stirring speakers and heartwarming times around God's Word with awesome music. On Sunday afternoon, the closing day, Marine Corps Chaplain Ron Newhouse pointed these men, wives and children to Jesus Christ – afterward, at the sharing time, every steel-hard heart had softened and tears of gratitude and repentance flowed as couples wrapped their arms around one another. All the evaluation forms rated the WWG as “excellent,” and one Marine wrote, “I have become a better man, husband, father, brother, son, Marine, Christian since I attended your retreat.” Our hats off to the Chaplaincy Office at Camp Pendleton, as well as our hard-working Joni and Friends team for making it happen… all to the glory of God!
Wounded Warriors: Prayer Needed!
Over the next several days, Joni and Ken, along with JAF president, Doug Mazza, will be ministering to American Marines wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan at our southern California Wounded Warrior Getaway. The best part? These disabled Marines will be joined by their families, making it an extraordinary opportunity to give the healing love of Christ to these men, their wives, and their children. Also, on November 6, our Joni and Friends team in San Antonio will be holding a Warrior Getaway Reunion – we are hoping to start a Bible study for interested military families. Thank you for praying for these brave men and women who have sacrificed much in defense of our freedoms!
Family Retreat: Chinese Style
The highlight of every Family Retreat is usually Talent Night where kids with disabilities have a chance to shine – and our recent International Family Retreat in China was no exception. There were plenty of tears in the audience as parents were overwhelmed watching their special-needs children perform for the first time (with several children with autism finding their 'voice' for the first time, too)! Gospel seeds were firmly planted at this Family Retreat, so please join us...
This Week in El Salvador!
Right now, a team from our Joni and Friends’ Christian Institute on Disability is in El Salvador, teaching at the Evangelical University of El Salvador – they are leading a class of 90 pastors and 120 students in our Beyond Suffering course which covers a theology of suffering and practical models of disability ministry. We are ‘setting the stage’ for more...
Family Retreats go Canadian!
Our neighbor-nation recently held its first Family Retreat –one family arrived with three children with Down syndrome, but experienced a fresh touch from the Savior, along with all the other families. Even the residents of a nearby mobile-home park...
Our First Urban Family Retreat: A Big Success!
Life can feel overwhelming when you're a family with special needs. And if you're living in the inner-city, with all its challenges? It's even harder. That's why we are working to make Family Retreats accessible to urban families – we want parents (including single moms) of kids with disabilities to experience all the heartwarming fun and inspiration that every family enjoys at a Joni and Friends Retreat! Recently we completed our first Urban Family Retreat at a mountain conference center near LA, ministering to 22 families of various colors and cultures – many came to Christ!
Marlene is a single mother whose son, Joey, struggles with multiple disabilities (including speech problems and renal failure). She came to camp having no idea what God's Word says about her son's disability. Like the rest of the families, Marlene's weary heart was totally refreshed by the Christ-centered love of our STM's and she got a whole new perspective on disability from the daily messages of our camp pastor...
Be Free!
Our season of Family Retreats is winding down and stories are pouring in of hearts changed by Christ, marriages mended, and families united. Our 2011 season of Family Retreats touched the lives of thousands of children and adults with disabilities, their family members, staff and short-term missionaries. All activities were planned around this year’s theme of “Be Free” from II Corinthians 3:17, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”...
Wounded Warrior Getaway
We have an unique opportunity for those who have served and sacrificed for our country. We have limited space available for wounded warriors and their families at our Wounded Warrior Getaway coming up September 11-14 in Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay. Room and board are covered by monies designated for soldiers who are or have been in the Wounded Warrior Battalion. If you are someone or know someone from any branch of the service, who wishes to apply please contact us. For more info contact Sib at 717-522-1467 or email: scharles@joniandfriends.org.
Watch the video below to learn what this wonderful ministry is all about.
