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Founder and President of Joni and Friends
A diving accident in 1967 left Mrs. Tada a quadriplegic in a wheelchair, unable to use her hands. During two years of rehabilitation, she spent long months learning how to paint with a brush between her teeth. Her high detail fine art paintings and prints are sought after and collected. Due to her best-selling books, beginning with her autobiography, Joni, as well as having visited 35 countries, Joni's first name is recognized around the world. World Wide Pictures' full-length feature film, JONI, in which Mrs. Tada recreated her own life, has been translated into 15 languages and shown in scores of countries around the world. Mrs. Tada's role as a disability advocate led to a presidential appointment to the National Council on Disability for three and a half years, during which time the Americans with Disabilities Act became law. Joni and Friends was founded by Mrs. Tada in 1979 and has grown into four flagship programs that affect the lives of thousands of disabled people and their families. In 2002, Joni and Friends will serve over 500 special needs families through nine Family Retreats across the nation. Through Wheels for the World, over 14,000 wheelchairs have been collected nationwide, refurbished by inmates in correctional facilities, and shipped to developing nations where physical therapists fit each chair to a needy disabled child or adult. Joni and Friends, a daily five minute radio program, is heard over 850 broadcast outlets and this year received the "Radio Program of the Year" award from National Religious Broadcasters. Through ten Area Ministries offices, Joni and Friends teams provide church training and education to promote inclusion of people with disabilities. Mrs. Tada is a highly sought-after conference speaker both in the U.S. and internationally and is also a columnist for Moody Magazine, the United Kingdom's Christian Herald, and several European Christian magazines. Mrs. Tada serves on several boards, including the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization as Senior Associate on Disability Concerns and the Board of Reference for the Christian Medical and Dental Society. She also serves in an advisory capacity to the American Leprosy Mission, the National Institute on Learning Disabilities, Love and Action, and Christian Blind Mission International. Joni Eareckson Tada has received The American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award; The Courage Award from the Courage Rehabilitation Center; The Award of Excellence from the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center; The Victory Award from the National Rehabilitation Hospital; The Golden Word Award from the International Bible Society. Mrs. Tada was named "Churchwoman of the Year" in 1993 by the Religious Heritage Foundation and was the first woman to be honored by the National Association of Evangelicals as their "Layperson of the Year." She is currently the Honorary Co-Chair of the Presidential Prayer Team. Mrs. Tada holds:
Joni Eareckson Tada is the author of over 30 books. Her best-selling and award-winning works cover topics ranging from disability outreach to reaching out to God include:
A Christmas Longing includes reproductions of her best-loved Christmas paintings. The Life and Death Dilemma addresses the tough issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide. She explores the nature of heaven in Heaven ...Your Real Home. When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty, is co-authored by long-time friend and mentor, Steve Estes. Mrs. Tada has also written several well-received children's books, including two that have received awards. Tell Me The Promises received the Evangelical Publishers' Association's Gold Medallion and a Silver Medal in the C.S. Lewis Medal Awards in 1997, and Tell Me The Truth received the EP Gold Medallion in 1998. Mrs. Tada and her husband Ken have been married since 1982. Mr. Tada recently retired from 32 years of teaching and has come on board with Joni and Friends to serve as Director of Ministry Development. He is also a member of the Board of Directors and recently received Family Life Ministries Robert McQuilken Award honoring "The Courageous Love of a Marriage Covenant Keeper." |
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September 3, 2004
For more info,
contact the Southwest Women's Festival Office, |