Upcoming Events
Through The Roof Seminar Saturday, March 13, 2010 9AM- 1PM Topic: Steps For Including People With Disabilities In The Church Through the Roof is a church training program dedicated to equipping churches, ministry staff, workers, and volunteers for all levels of disability ministry and outreach programs.  Gender Road Christian Church 4595 Gender Road Canal Winchester, OH 43110  For more Information or Workshop Reservations: (937) 352-4095 or ohio@joniandfriends.org or send check to: Joni and Friends Ohio  Fee: $15.00/person or group rate 4/$50. (includes training materials, and a continental breakfast).
Come See Us at the Midwest Homeschool Convention April 8-10, 2010 Exhibit Hours: Thursday 9 AM-6 PM Friday 10:30 AM-9 PM Saturday 9 AM-6 PM We will have a booth to sale Joni and Friends products and promote awareness about disability ministry resources.  Deb Pettermann, Church Facilitator for Joni and Friends Ohio, will be one of many providing seminars at this event.  Visit her seminar, Friday, April 9 in the Millennium Pavilion "Labels- What a Rip Off!"  from 8- 9 PM. Duke Energy and Convention Center Cincinnati, OH http://www.duke-energycenter.com/ Free admission/parking garages and on street parking available.
Through The Roof Seminar Saturday, April 17, 2010 9AM-1PM Topic: Welcoming God's Children: Steps For Inclusion In The Church Through the Roof is a church training program dedicated to equipping churches, ministry staff, workers, and volunteers for all levels of disability ministry and outreach programs.  Christian Fellowship of Toledo 6711 Pilliod Road Holland, OH 43528 For more Information or Workshop Reservations: (937) 352-4095 or ohio@joniandfriends.org or send check to: Joni and Friends Ohio  Fee: $15.00/person or group rate 4/$50. (includes training materials, and a continental breakfast).
2010 Shawnee Family Retreat June 21-25, 2010 (STM June 20th) Ready to experience adventure, fun and fellowship that can be compared to "a slice of Heaven on earth?"  Register NOW to attend Family Retreat! Shawnee Family Retreat is a 5-day/4-night refuge where people with disabilities and their families find rest, training, support, counsel, encouragement, and recreation.  Family Retreats also offer short-term missions (volunteer) opportunities for churches, providing some of the best disability training experiences available. Shawnee Resort and Conference Center West Portsmouth, OH 45683 http://www.shawneestateparklodge.com/ For FAMILY information, email Julie Hines or call 440 224-3326 For STM information, email Donna Hughes or call 937 352-4095 STM: $385/ Families please contact Julie Hines
Come See Us at the American Heritage Girls 15th Anniversary Celebration July 14-17, 2010 American Hertiage Girls (AHG) will be hosting its 15th Annivesary Convention, "BAM" (Be a Moon, Reflect the Light of the Son). This year, AHG offers an exciting time of celebration and unique programming for both girls and adults at its convention.  AHG is blessed to feature many well-known authors, synergistc ministries and workshop presenters as well as two exciting evening events for the entire family!  Debra Petermann, Church Facilitator for Joni and Friends Ohio will be a guest presenter.  Come learn more about AHG and their new Disability Awareness Badge "All God's Children".  Vineyard Community Church 11340 Century Circle East Cincinnati, OH 45246-0422 www.cincyvineyard.com American Hertigage Girls WWW.AHGONLINE.ORG
2010 Jumonville Family Retreat August 16-19, 2010 (STM August 15th) We're excited to announce a new retreat in southwestern Pennsylvania this year! Please consider joinining us... Jumonville Family Retreat will be a 4-day/3 night refuge where people with disabilities and their families find rest, training, support, counsel, encouragement, and recreation.  Family Retreats also offer short-term missions (volunteer) opportunities for churches, providing some of the best disability training experiences available. Jumonville... a Premier Christian Camp & Retreat Center Hopwood, PA 15445 http://www.jumonville.org/index.html For information, email Donna Hughes or call 937 352-4095 STM: $320/ Families please contact us.
Save the Date... Cedarville University Bioethics Conference September 16-17, 2010 Joni Earekson Tada, founder of Joni and Friends Ohio and Kathy McReynolds, PHD, Director of Public Policy at the Christian Institute On Disability have been asked to participate. http://www.joniandfriends.org/cid_secularism.php#bioethics Cedarville University 251 N. Main Street Cedarville, OH 45314 http://www.cedarville.edu/About/Default.aspx
Walk 'n' Roll September 18, 2010 10:00 AM- 1:30 PM It's our annual event to support Joni and Friends Ohio! Show your support for the ministry while having fun! We need groups of walkers, rollers and riders; we need YOU!  Be a spectator... come out and enjoy watching a great wheelchair basketball game! Cedarville University Recreation Center - Doden Field House 251 N. Main St., Cedarville, OH 45314 Contact: Joni and Friends Ohio 937-352-4095 or ohio@joniandfriends.org
Shawnee Family Retreat Reunion September 18, 2010 1 PM In conjunction with our Walk 'n' Roll, we invite all our Family Retreat families and volunteers to a gathering at the beautiful Legacy Center Campus. Games, fellowship, FUN.... we'll have it all! The reunion is our gift to our faithful families and volunteers, given by our partners who care, so please join us,  it's FREE! Overnight accommodations are available.  1185 Wesley Avenue Suite 300 Xenia, OH 45385 Contact: Joni and Friends Ohio at 937-352-4095
Previous Events
El Salvador Wheels For The World Distribution and Total Access Team Update (Jan. 28- Feb. 6, 2010) Thank you for praying during our recent ministry outreach in El Salvador.  If our teams distributing wheelchairs and completing Total Access projects were the “boots on the ground” for this outreach, you all were surely our “supply lines.”  We came home amazed and humbled by the many, many ways God chose to grace us with evidence of His presence and power during our week in country.  Our upcoming newsletter will feature pictures and stories of lives changed for eternity, but we wanted to share with you, our team partners, just a few of our reasons for praise and thanksgiving. · 31 known new decisions for Christ were made during the week and 9 people recommitted their lives to the Lord. ·  Despite 90+ degree weather and 11-hour work days, the Wheels for the World team custom fitted 190 wheelchairs and the Total Access team built ramps in three different locations, including our Family Retreat site. ·  Due to an unusual set of circumstances (check the newsletter for the whole story), we had television coverage on four different channels at seven different times.  We also received media coverage from the San Salvador newspaper. ·  We continued to cement relationships with ISRI, the national rehab institutes in El Salvador and its Director, Dr. Coto.  He accepted our shipment of wheelchairs, transported patients to receive them, and brought therapists to receive training because equipment is not available in El Salvador.  By week’s end, the local therapists and mechanics who had been working alongside us were assessing and fitting their own chairs. · We were blessed beyond measure by a spirit of unity in the team.  There were no major illnesses or issues and many on the team have already expressed interest in returning to El Salvador. · We interfaced with our new Salvadorian network of ministry partners.  A local planning team for their next Family Retreat has been formed and pre-planning for a 2nd Pastor’s Training Conference is underway, along with planning for the Christian Institute on Disability to return in July…             And the list could go on.  Thank you again for being part of this ministry outreach.  To give a wheelchair or to build a ramp in a country like El Salvador is to give the gift of hope for the future to someone who is truly Christ’s “least of these.”  And to be able to also share the Gospel, our only true HOPE, is a privilege beyond compare.
Recharged... Ronnie Houston came to Joni and Friends Ohio’s Family Retreat to serve as a Short Term Missionary (STM).  STMs are critical to the success of Family   Retreats, serving those affected by disabilities in a number of ways, and Ronnie’s credentials were impressive.  He had worked with special needs children for seven years and had a career focused on pediatric disorders.  But Ronnie was also spiritually, mentally, and physically drained.  When Ronnie arrived at the Retreat, he was paired with Jacob, a nine-year-old boy with Down syndrome who loves to run.  It didn’t take long for Jacob’s winning smile and enthusiasm for life to grab Ronnie’s heart, leaving him “charged and feeling great.”  Even Rory, Ronnie’s 15-year-old son, formed a special bond with Jacob, spending some of his own free time with him.  And it was Rory that insisted that they all needed to be in Jacob’s cheering section at Special Olympics the day after Retreat!  By Ronnie’s own admission, God humbled him beyond anything he could ever have imagined, and God’s provision brought his family closer and gave him a determination to do more for the disabled in his community.  “I rate the experience at camp as being number 3 on my list of life experiences, behind my marriage and the birth of Rory,” Ronnie shared.  We thank all those who served so faithfully at our summer retreat!
Joni In Ohio! Joni and Robin Hiser brought a message of hope to two large gatherings in Ohio recently. Their heartwarming conversation and Joni’s description of the disabled as the “hidden” but absolutely essential parts of the Body of Christ affirmed the truth that each life has incredible value in God’s economy.  Listeners were touched and lives impacted by Joni’s inspirational message.	Robin Hiser and Joni
Special Delivery Debra Petermann, Joni and Friends Ohio Program Coordinator had the opportunity to take a Special Delivery to Faith and her family. Faith is a 7- year-old little girl with Down syndrome. Life has held many challenges like her dad's unemployment due to Parkinsonís disease, her mom's inability to work full time due to Faith's need for various medical procedures. Through it all Faith's family worships the Lord through her dancing, smile, and hugs. Faith's face lit up when she saw the brightly wrapped Special Delivery and her mom said, Faith this is for you! Faith was delighted as she quickly jumped up on the couch and opened the packages one by one. Mom, Dad and Alexandra also received Special Deliveries to encourage them and let them know they were not forgotten. Thank you to each one who donates to help us make Special Delivery a reality for so many!!!	Faith joyfully opens her Special Delivery packages.