GLOBAL PRAYER OUTREACH: FROM TRAGEDY INTO GLORY

Biography

Tada was born in 1949 in Baltimore, Maryland, the youngest of four daughters.

As a teenager, Tada enjoyed riding horses, hiking, tennis, and swimming. On July 30, 1967, she dove into Chesapeake Bay after misjudging the shallowness of the water. She suffered a fracture between the fourth and fifth cervical levels and became a quadriplegic, paralysed from the shoulders down.

During her two years of rehabilitation, according to her autobiography, she experienced anger, depression, suicidal thoughts, and religious doubts. However, Tada learned to paint with a brush between her teeth, and began selling her artwork. To date, she has written over forty books, recorded several musical albums, starred in an autobiographical movie of her life, and is an advocate for disabled people.^[1]

Tada wrote of her experiences in her 1976 international best-selling autobiography, Joni, The unforgettable story of a young woman's struggle against quadriplegia & depression, which has been distributed in many languages. The book was made into a 1979 feature film of the same name, starring herself. Her second book, A Step Further, was released in 1978.

She married Ken Tada in 1982. In 2010, she announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She emerged successfully from cancer surgery and is hopeful of a positive prognosis.

Ministry and public life

Tada founded Joni and Friends (JAF) in 1979, an organization for Christian ministry in the disabled community throughout the world. In 2006 the Joni and Friends International Disability Centre in Agoura California was established.^{[citation needed]}

Led by Tada and Doug Mazza, the Joni and Friends International Disability Center has four programs. Joni and Friends, a daily five minute radio program, heard in over 1,000 broadcast outlets. In 2002 it received the “Radio Program of the Year” award from National Religious Broadcasters. The Wounded Warrior program offers family retreats. Wheels for the World collects wheelchairs, which are refurbished by prison inmates and donated to people in developing nations where, physical therapists fit each chair to a needy disabled child or adult.

In 2005, Tada was appointed to the Disability Advisory Committee of the U.S. State Department.

Tada is a conference speaker. Her articles have been published in Christianity Today, Today’s Christian Woman, The War Cry (Salvation Army), and newspapers around the world. Tada has appeared four times on Larry King Live.

In November 2009, Tada signed an ecumenical statement known as the Manhattan Declaration calling on evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox Christians to work towards changing laws which permit abortion, and other matters that go against their religious consciences.^[2]

Awards

Tada has received The American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award; The Courage Award from the Courage Rehabilitation Center; The Award of Excellence from the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center; The Victory Award from the National Rehabilitation Hospital; The Golden Word Award from the International Bible Society. She is inducted into the Christian Booksellers’ Association’s Hall of Honor. In 2002, Tada received the William Ward Ayer Award for excellence from the National Religious Broadcasters’ Association. In 2003 she was given the Gold Medallion Award for her book When God Weeps. In 2004 she was awarded the Gold Medallion Award for co-authoring Hymns for a Kid’s Heart, Volume 1.

Tada was given the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. She was also named "Churchwoman of the Year" in 1993 by the Religious Heritage Foundation and was the first woman to be honored by the National Association of Evangelicals as their "Layperson of the Year." In 2009, Tada was inducted into Indiana Wesleyan University's Society of World Changers.^[3]

She also holds the following degrees:

Bachelor of Letters from Western Maryland College
An honorary Doctor of Humanities from Gordon College
An honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Columbia International University, the first honorary doctorate bestowed in its 75-year history
An honorary Doctor of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary
An honorary Doctor of Divinity from Lancaster Bible College
An honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Indiana Wesleyan University
An honorary Doctor of Laws from Biola University

On April 1, 2009, Tada was inducted into the Indiana Wesleyan University Society of World Changers and was presented with an honorary doctorate while speaking at the university.^[4]

Books

Tada is the author of over 48 books on the subjects of disability and Christianity. Several of them have been children's books, including Tell Me The Promises, which received the Evangelical Publishers’ Association’s Gold Medallion and Silver Medal in the 1997 C.S. Lewis Awards, and Tell Me The Truth, which received the EPCA Gold Medallion in 1998.

The life story of Tada was used by Czech composer Ivan Kurz in his opera Večerní shromáždění ketho (Evening Divine service).^[5]

Bibliography

1976: Joni
1978: A Step Further
1986: Choices...Changes
1987: Friendship Unlimited: How You Can Help a Disabled Friend
1988: Secret Strength: For Those Who Search
1989: Glorious Intruder: God's Presence in Life's Chaos^[6]
1990: A Christmas Longing
1990: Pursued
1991: Seeking God (Reflections)
1991: A Step Further: Growing Closer to God Through Hurt & Friendship
1992: All God's Children: Guide to Enabling the Disabled
1993: When Is It Right To Die?: Euthanasia on Trial
1993: Diamonds in the Dust
1995: The Life and Death Dilemma
1994: A Quiet Place in a Crazy World
1995: Heaven: Your Real Home
1996: Tell Me the Promises: A Family Covenant for Eternity^[7]
1997: When God Weeps
1997: Tell Me the Truth: God's Eternal Truth for Families^[8]
1997: Barrier Free Friendships
1998: More Precious Than Silver:366 Daily Devotional Readings
1998: I'll Be With You Always
1999: Holiness in Hidden Place
1999: Prayers from a Child's Heart
1999: Heaven: What Will It Be Like
1999: Acres of Hope: The Miraculous Story of One Families Gift of Love to Children Without Hope
2001: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Faith
2001: NIV Encouragement Bible
2002: God's Precious Love
2002: God's Tender Care
2002: On the Wings of the West Wind
2003: The Hand That Paints The Sky: Delighting in the Creator's Canvas
2003: The God I Love: A Lifetime of Walking with Jesus
2003: Hymns for a Kid's Heart Vol. 1
2004: Hymns for a Kid's Heart Vol. 2
2004: Christmas Carols for a Kid's Heart (Hymns for a Kid's Heart Vol. 3)
2004: Passion Hymns for a Kid's Heart (Hymns for a Kid's Heart Vol. 4)
2005: 31 Days Toward Intimacy with God
2005: A Fathers Touch
2006: Pearls of Great Price
2006: How To Be A Christian in a Brave New World
2006: 31 Days to Overcoming Adversity
2007: 31 Days Toward Passionate Faith
2008: Hope...the Best of Things
2009: A Lifetime of Wisdom
2010: Life in the Balance
2010: Finding God in Hidden Places
2010: Place of Healing