Author, radio host, and ministry leader, Joni Eareckson Tada, says her “faith has widened” and “her love for Jesus has skyrocketed” since being diagnosed with COVID-19.
The 71-year-old founder of Joni and Friends added that having COVID has enabled her and her husband, Ken, to share Christ with health care workers where she receives her antibody treatments and to pray with them. “What COVID meant for evil, Christ meant for good,” she wrote on Facebook today.
Tada also shared that her body is responding well to treatment, stating, “my lungs are clear and my temperature is down.”
As a quadriplegic, Tada is at higher risk of developing a severe case of COVID-19. According to Christianity Today, Tada is receiving monoclonal antibodies to help boost disease-fighting by her immune system. This is the same treatment President Trump received when he was battling COVID.
On Monday, Tada asked for prayers on Facebook and expressed confidence in God’s provision for her.
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“Psalm 84 assures me that ‘No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly,’ and I am being showered with good courage, good endurance, a heart that sings good songs, and confidence in my good and great Savior.”
In March, Tada encouraged Christians to trust God’s sovereignty in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I am an aging quadriplegic with very fragile lungs, an immune system that can be easily compromised,” she wrote. “But I bolster my confidence with the same assurance that we are giving the people we serve through Joni and Friends: Again, that the world belongs to almighty God, so Christians can be confident in His plan and purposes.”
On Saturday, immediately following Tada’s diagnosis, Joni and Friends expressed similar sentiments.
“Friends, aren’t you so glad that we serve a sovereign God?” the ministry posted to Facebook. “Through each of our challenges he is trustworthy, and his purposes are good.”
In the past 10 years, Tada has also battled breast cancer, first in 2010 and again in 2018. However, in June 2019, Tada shared the “miraculous” news that she was cancer-free.
In Saturday’s Facebook post, the ministry recalled these triumphs.
“We have seen God protect her from two bouts of cancer and we know he can do it again! Thank you for joining us in prayer!”
Tada has served on the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission, helping seniors and people with disabilities protect themselves from the the virus.
She also has been given numerous awards for her advocacy on the behalf of people with disabilities, including the William Wilberforce Award from the Colson Center on Worldview and the Daniel of the Year award from WORLD Magazine. Tada also has been inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
*This story has been updated.
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8 Responses
God has blessed us with Joni’s faith and life for times like this.
George Whitefield, who had received several barbs from John Wesley over the years, was asked if he expected to see Wesley in heaven. The questioner, knowing there had been ill will between the two, may have been hoping for “a story.” Whitefield answered “No.” The questioner followed up with “why not?” To which Whitefield reportedly replied “I don’t expect that I will be that close to the throne.” I don’t expect that I will see Joni in heaven for the very same reason. What a lady, what a life, what a ministry, what a legacy, what a love for our Savior!! My prayers are with her and for her.
When we are weak, He’s strong.
Baruch Haba B’Shem Adonai
Uwe
(Jude 3)
I hope Joni uses the acidophilus I sent her some time ago. I haven’t gotten sick in nearly 5 years now thanks to American Health acidophilus. When I start to get sick, I take 5 every 4 hours, and it goes away. This is not “snake oil.” Look up “Using Probiotics to Flatten the Coronavirus Curve.” It works by increasing CD4 + T cells, which are the building blocks of antibodies. I also am taking Visbiome daily, which is a more potent probiotic (112 billion strength), but am keeping the lower dose American Health on hand too, to supplement it should I start to get sick (it’s only 1 billion strength per tablet).
I was both encouraged and convicted by this news. Joni is truly seeing God work as she allows Him to work thru her as a testimony to all around her. She is not seeing this as a time or reason to politically rant or take a stance on who is right or wrong. It’s just another part of her discipleship journey that she’s is taking faithfully. Amen.
Thank you God for Joni, her testimony, and her bravery. God bless her this Xmas and may we praise You so freely as she does,
Amen.
May we all see and be with God through physical difficulties. My diagnosis of multiple myeloma will not stop my singing and praising God, nor will it stop me from having hope nor sharing my faith to my care takers. Praise, praise. God inhabits the praises of his people.
Wonder if Joni and Ken still attend John MacArthur’s church ?