1. The True Story Of Joni Eareckson Tada By Becky Kew – Download from www.gospelhall.orgwww.gospelhall.org

2. Joni loved to ride horses. She was good at all kinds of sports. Her horse’s name was Tumbleweed. Her and her dad would ride together often. Joni had three older sisters. Sometimes she would get jealous or angry at them. Do you always get along with your brothers or sisters? God says, All have sinned and fallen short of what God expects of us. Rom. 3:23

3. Joni, Tumbleweed and her Dad.

4. One year, when Joni was a teen, she went Bible Camp over the summer. She felt that something was missing in her life. At camp she heard about how she could have a relationship with the Lord Jesus. Joni knew that she had sinned, she heard about a Savior who loved her and wanted to forgive her. She learned that Jesus paid for her sins on the cross. After three days God brought His Son back to life again to show He was satisfied with Jesus’ death to pay for sin. She couldn’t save herself, only God could take away her sin. =

5. As Joni sat under a tree one night at camp. She believed the message for herself. She put her faith in the Lord Jesus for her salvation and asked the Lord to help her obey his word. That night, Joni became a child of God.

6. God is still speaking to people today!

7. Soon Joni began to tell many of her friends that Jesus was now the head of her life. The months sped by quickly. While she did many things to obey God’s word, Other activities began to crowd out time for God. Then one day Joni prayed that things would change. “God do something in my life to help me to know you better. want you to change my life so that I’ll love you more.”

8. A few weeks later on a hot day, Joni went swimming with her sister Kathy. Whoosh! Joni dove down into the water. She felt it rush up her arms and legs. Suddenly her life would never be the same again.

9. Joni’s head had hit something hard. She heard a loud buzzing noise and found herself at the bottom of the lake. “Why won’t my arms and legs move?” she thought to herself. She held her breath for as long as she could but she soon realized she wasdrowning. She had no power to save herself. She quickly remembered her Lord Jesus and how that she knew she was ready to meet him, just at that moment she heard her sister calling.

10. Everything had happened so fast Joni found herself in a hospital. She had no feeling from her chest down. She couldn’t move her hands or feet. She stayed in the hospital for a couple of years.

11. Throughout all of the surgeries she had and all of the time she spend in hospitals fighting infection and facing the fact that she would never walk again. Do you know what kept Joni strong? Her faith in the Lord Jesus. She held on to his promises. The nurses would prop her Bible so she could read it. Her family always prayed with her when they visited. It wasn’t always easy, but she knew she wasn’t alone.

12. Joni learned to thank God for the things she could do. She asked God to help her with everything. God wants us to realize our dependence on him. God gave her the ability to paint with her mouth.

13. God used her to speak to others about salvation and what he had done for her throughout the days of her accident.

14. She was able to tell people that the Lord is faithful. He gave her peace and strength throughout the events of her accident. The Lord taught Joni to be thankful and to appreciate things that she never would have appreciated before. The Lord used Joni to be a witness for him. many people trusted in the Lord Jesus, when they saw how her life had changed on the inside. She had the power of God in her life!

15. God has met Joni’s needs and has provided a vehicle for her that she can drive on her own to do God’s work.

16. Joni has a radio program, writes books and reaches out to children around the world who have disabilities.

17. God has even provided Joni with a husband who helps her in her work!

18. Lessons from this story. Each person must come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. Rom. 10:9 When you know him, he helps you to live in a different way, a new way, in which he gets the glory. Our responsibility is to trust him for salvation, then to listen to him and follow him.

19. Do you know him as your Savior? “Jesus said, I am the way…..no one can come to the Father in Heaven but by me.” John 14:6

20. JESUS: FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONGST MEN WHEREBY WE MUST BE SAVED! ACTS 4:12 TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, DON’T LEAN ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING, IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AND HE WILL DIRECT YOUR PATH. PROVERBS 3:5-6