Joni Erickson Tada cancels ministry appearances

AGOURA, Calif. — Prominent Christian speaker Joni Eareckson Tada has cancelled all of her appearances for the next two months while she recovers from debilitating back pain.

Tada, founder of Joni and Friends ministry, has experienced ongoing back pain over the past few years. A quadriplegic who has used her experience to help others for the past 38 years, Tada said doctors have advised her not to travel while her doctors are conducting tests.

"I am so disappointed I won't be able to attend events I have been praying about and planning for, such as the disability advisory committee to the U.S. State Department, as well as the National Religious Broadcasters convention,” she said in a news release. “But I know these friends understand my unique predicament."

Since the beginning of January, Tada and her husband, Ken, have been conferring with spinal cord injury specialists at the Department of Rehabilitation at Northridge Hospital to determine the source of her discomfort. Doctors have said they expect Tada to make a full recovery.

"It's hard to describe how a quadriplegic like me 'feels' pain; it's like an internal knifing sensation," Tada said, adding that the experience of physical pain has given her a new identification and empathy for the families affected by disability served through JAF.

Over the past several years, Joni has experienced pain associated with her ability to sit up in her wheelchair. In 2004, she spent several months healing a broken leg; in 2005, she cancelled her travel plans due to pneumonia; with the arrival of 2006, Joni noticed her backache was becoming aggravated.

Ministry officials said that, although she is limiting her time in her wheelchair and resting in bed, her energy and enthusiasm has not diminished.

"Using my bedside computer, I'm able to write and record radio programs, write and do research,” she said. “I'm also taking the time to memorize Scripture and keep up with correspondence.”

She said her Joni and Friends staff are carrying on and that their work is not dependent on her presence at the office. The ministry’s Wheels for the World teams are still doing work globally and 16 family retreats are in the planning stages. Meanwhile, construction on the new Joni and Friends International Disability Center is nearing the halfway point.

Cards of encouragement may be sent to Joni and Friends, Box 3333, Agoura Hills, CA 91376. For updates, visit joniandfriends.org.

Published by Keener Communications Group, March 2006

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