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ShareEaster Egg Hunt
Imagine it’s time for an Easter Egg Hunt. Do you have good ideas about how to find the most eggs? Where are you going to look first? How are you going to make sure no one missed any eggs?
Now think how your hunt for eggs might be changed if you were in a wheelchair. Do you think it would be harder to fill your basket with eggs? It was for Candace and Ciara, twin sisters in Pennsylvania. They both have cerebral palsy (CP) and can’t walk. When they went to find eggs, other kids ran them over to get to the eggs first! Can you imagine how sad they felt?
That’s when their mom and our Philadelphia Area Ministry put their heads together and asked the girls’ church to help out. Do you know what they came up with? An Easter Egg Hunt that kids with all sorts of disabilities could participate in! That was nine years ago, and now so many kids come to this special kind of Easter Egg Hunt that they had to move to a larger place!
But you know what the best news is? Every year when all of these kids ...
Continue to Full Post →Sparks for Jesus (and Cubbies, too!)
Can you say John 3:16? Here are some kids who recited that verse plus a whole bunch more. And if you’ve been in AWANA clubs, you know that when you finish memorizing a verse, you earn AWANA Bucks.
But do you know what is different about these kids? Once they earned their AWANA Bucks, they didn’t go shopping in the AWANA store for toys or candy, like most kids do. Instead, with the help of their leaders, they traded the Bucks they earned into money they could donate to Joni and Friends. They earned enough money reciting verses to help one kid like them get the wheelchair they need!
That’s pretty cool, isn’t it? Not only are they hiding God’s Word in their hearts, but they are learning to share it with others, too!
Continue to Full Post →Seven Ways to Pray on the National Day of Prayer
The National Day of Prayer is coming up! This is a day when Christians all around the United States set aside time to pray in a special way for our country. Here are seven ways you can pray for our country, Kids’ Corner style.
- Government – Pray for leaders of the United States and also those in your city and state. Ask God to give them good ideas about how to protect kids with disabilities.
- Military – Pray for the moms and dads who care for a kid with special needs and also serve in the military. Ask God to give them extra strength for the times when their family is separated.
- Media – Pray actors, authors and news reporters will share views about people with disabilities in a way that will show that every person is valuable.
- Businesses – Pray for businesses to think of good ways to make life easier for kids who have a disability.
- Schools – Pray that kids with disabilities won’t be teased or bullied at school. Ask God to help kids not be afraid of making friends with someone who is different than they are.
- Churches – Pray churches will look for ways to make kids with disabilities feel ...
Where is Guatemala?
Grab a friend, a map of the world, and a stop watch. Why? Let’s see how much time it takes you to find the country of Guatemala. It’s pretty small, so you might just need a magnifying glass, too!
Did you find it? If not, you can download the information sheet below and learn where it is. But before you do that, pay attention for a sec…
When Joni and Friends takes wheelchairs to a country like Guatemala, what do we do with them? You already know that we give them to people along with a Bible and a book about Joni’s life or some other encouraging story, but what about the wheelchair itself?
Each person who receives a wheelchair has the wheelchair fitted to them. What does that mean? Think about going shopping for shoes. You sit down on the bench and try on a bunch of different shoes, right? You may walk up and down in them or adjust the laces or make sure that they are the right kind to wear to school or whatever your need is. If you got shoes that were too tight or you got dress shoes to wear while playing soccer, it would be a big mistake.
That’s just how it is with finding the right wheelchair for each person. If the wheelchair is too big or too little, it can cause the person to get painful sores. If the person needs help sitting up straight in the chair but the chair doesn’t have the right kind of straps, it can be a big problem. So when Joni and Friends takes wheelchairs to give out, we spend a lot of time to make sure each person gets the best fitting wheelchair we can find.
And that is just one reason why your prayers are so important to us! And now download that info sheet!
Continue to Full Post →Christopher
Are you learning to play an instrument? Christopher is. He is ten years old and has been playing the piano since he was seven. He also likes to sing. A few weeks ago he was able to perform the song “Open the Eyes of my Heart” at a fundraising banquet for our Joni and Friends New England Area Ministry.
But you know what? Christopher couldn’t see the 240 people in his audience. Actually, he can't see at all; he's blind. He also has autism, which is a disorder that makes it difficult to process what is going on around him. That didn’t stop him, though! And the audience was really glad that he focuses on the things he can do rather than the things he can’t do.
So, the next time you are thinking of all the things you can’t do, remember to be like Christopher and focus on the talents God has given you to use! To learn more about Christopher, visit our Star Kid of the Month page.
Continue to Full Post →How Big is God?
That’s a trick question, right?
Once when Joni was visiting Ghana, someone came up to her and said, “Welcome to our country where our God is bigger.” That made her stop and wonder! Why would this person think that God was bigger in Ghana than in the United States? That’s when this person continued and said, “God is always bigger to those who need Him most. We need Him - we really need Him here in Ghana.”
Ghana has a big need, but isn’t it wonderful that we serve a God that is even bigger than Ghana’s need? And that is why Joni and Friends is so glad to be able to take wheelchairs and Bibles to help people with disabilities in Ghana!
Learn more about Ghana and how you can pray for our team there by downloading the Ghana info sheet.
Continue to Full Post →Global 4/14 Day
Did you know that on April 14th there will be one million Christians praying for you? That’s right, Global 4/14 Day is a day where people from all over will be praying and fasting for the 2 billion children in the world between the ages of 4-14. Share your prayer requests with us on the Kids’ Corner so we can be praying for you on 4/14.
Alyssa: A Budding Artist!
Joni always loves it when kids visit her art studio – and this week, 7-year-old Alyssa came by with her mom to give Joni her book report, some money for Wheels for the World, and a really nifty picture she drew. Joni told us later, “I had so much fun showing Alyssa my paints and colored chalk. I put her drawing up on my bookshelf to inspire me in my own artwork!” Hey, send us one of your creative works of art – we’d love to show Joni and post it here on Kids’ Corner!
¡Bienvenidos a México!
Or in English, we would say, “Welcome to Mexico!”
This week we have a team going to Mexico to fit wheelchairs.
There will be a team in the city of Ameca and one in Guadalajara. We were going to visit a third city, too, but after praying we decided that it would be too dangerous in the third city. But what may be our “Plan B” is God’s “Plan A”!
So we hope you will download the Mexico information sheet and pray for safety and good ministry opportunities as we follow God’s plan!
Continue to Full Post →Time to Celebrate!
When you think of all that happened because of Jesus’ resurrection, it is no wonder we celebrate! For instance, look at Ephesians 1:18. It says, "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints."
What is that glorious inheritance?
Let’s go back to the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and their disobedience. With that one act of disobedience, Adam and Eve lost their innocence. And, because of them, we lost our standing as children of God, too. We lost everything, really. But God was not about to leave us abandoned. He had a plan, and that plan involved the cross. With the death of Jesus, He redeemed us. But here’s the best part: Jesus did a whole lot more at the cross than simply buy back our innocence. He didn't purchase our redemption just so we could get back to the Garden and be just like Adam was when he was created. Oh no; thank heavens, God had much more in mind than that! He's much more ...
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