Giving Tuesday Part 2
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and today is Giving Tuesday! I hope you can hear the smile in my voice because it being Giving Tuesday I can ask for your help: your prayer help and your financial support. I normally do not do that on the Joni and Friends radio program. I don’t like doing that. But you know what, today is a Global day dedicated to generous giving. And that is why I have my friend and co-worker sitting next to me here, Shauna Amick. You are celebrating this special day; there is a lot of excitement in the air, isn’t there?
SHAUNA: There sure is, Joni! And you know one thing I love about Giving Tuesday is that it is the perfect day for us all to slow down; to think about how we can be used to make a difference in the lives of those who have great needs all around the world. And then, how can we partner with Joni and Friends? How can God use us to transform lives?
JONI: Oh, absolutely! You know, our friend listening, can make a difference by providing (get this) spiritual help and hope to families affected by disability through the double gift of not only given human dignity through the gospel of Jesus Christ, but mobility through the gift of a wheel chair and a Bible. Because in the developing world I tell you what, I’ve been there. Wheelchairs are either extremely expensive or they are very scarce, forcing disabled people to crawl through the dirt or to be pushed in a wheelbarrow if they want to leave their homes — so many are relegated to back bedrooms and concrete little huts. In small villages thousands of disabled children and adults are living without the independence and freedom they could have if only they had a wheelchair, right?
SHAUNA: Oh, it’s heartbreaking. It’s so desperate times. Joni. But this Giving Tuesday, we can change all that! Your gift will show God’s great love in a tangible way (like you said, Joni) through that gift of a wheelchair, lifting children up out of the dirt and bringing those family members out of those back bedrooms into the light and into their communities. And of course every wheelchair that is given through the ministry of Joni and Friends comes with the gospel, a Bible in the native language of that family receiving it. That means that the gift of freedom isn’t restricted to life here on earth, it’s an eternal gift as well.
JONI: I love that because the focus is just on providing that wheelchair, so we have a golden opportunity to show people who don’t know Christ how generous He is and the gift of His salvation. So friend, it’s a double blessing and this Giving Tuesday (today) I want you to join us. You do it through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and if you don’t use social media, that’s no problem! Just visit joniandfriends.org and click on the Giving Tuesday slide right there on the homepage – doing so will help send wheelchairs, Bibles, the gospel and even disability ministry training in churches to those who need it most.
SHAUNA: Please remember to pray. Pray for the children who long to go to school but simply can’t without the gift of a wheelchair. Pray for the adults who want to be productive and have a job providing for their family, but know that a job is out of reach without a wheelchair.
JONI: That’s right, Shauna. Pray listening friend. Pray for our brothers and sisters with physical and intellectual disabilities. Do that in your community but also pray for those all over the world. Pray that they will come to know Jesus because His eyes are on them. Although they feel lost and forgotten and neglected they need to know from Psalm 139 that they are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God.
SHAUNA: Show your love and the love of God by giving these wheelchairs and Bibles to those who need it most. Go to joniandfriends.org today and change someone’s life forever.
JONI: Forever! That’s the best part. Thanks Shauna.
SHAUNA: Thank you Joni.
© Joni and Friends
