Joni Eareckson Tada, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Joni and Friends International Disability Center, is an international advocate for people with disabilities. A diving accident in 1967 left Joni Eareckson, then 17, a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. After two years of rehabilitation, she emerged with new skill and a fresh determination to help others in similar situations. She founded Joni and Friends in 1979 to provide Christ-centered programs to special-needs families, as well as training to churches. Joni and Friends serves thousands of special-needs families through Family Retreat, and has delivered over 100,000 wheelchairs and Bibles to needy disabled persons in developing nations. Joni survived stage III breast cancer in 2010, yet keeps a very active ministry schedule. Her new daily devotional, A Spectacle of Glory, contains fresh biblical insights from her battle with cancer, and chronic pain. Joni also serves as General Editor of the new Beyond Suffering Bible, a special edition published by Tyndale for those who suffer chronic conditions, and their caregivers. She and her husband Ken were married in 1982 and reside in Calabasas, California.
