Part 1: The Scars that Have Shaped Me – Vaneetha Rendall Risner

This week on the podcast, Crystal is talking with a special guest who understands suffering. With the diagnosis of a debilitating disease that led to 21 surgeries by the time she was 13, years in the hospital, and bullying from classmates, Vaneetha Risner encountered extraordinary pain early in life. She then experienced multiple miscarriages as a young wife, the death of a child, abandonment, and an unwanted divorce. And through it all, Vaneetha discovered the goodness of God and His divine purposes in her suffering. Listen as Crystal talks with Vaneetha about her book The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering, and God’s sustaining grace she found in the midst of disability, shame, and grief.

Find your copy of The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us in Suffering at https://store.joniandfriends.org/product/scars-have-shaped-me-how-god-meets-us-suffering.

Learn more about Vaneetha at www.joniandfriends.org/podcast

And don’t miss part two of Crystal’s conversation with Vaneetha next week on the podcast. Vaneetha will share more about relearning who she is after loss, and her advice for other people facing unrelenting struggles.

For questions, email podcast@joniandfriends.org

*Joni and Friends was founded in 1979 by Joni Eareckson Tada who in a diving accident was left a quadriplegic at 17 years old. Ministry began as Tada, joined by friends around her kitchen table, responded to letters she received from people with disabilities in search of support. Over the past 40 years, the ministry has grown to serve thousands of people impacted by disability worldwide: Joni and Friends has delivered more than 150,000 wheelchairs and Bibles through Wheels for the World and provided Christian care to 63,000 special needs family members through Family Retreats. The organization also equips individuals and churches with disability ministry training and provides higher education courses through the Christian Institute on Disability. For more encouragement, download the Joni and Friends radio podcast in English or Spanish, and view inspirational videos on the Joni and Friends website.

www.joniandfriends.org*

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Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Founded by Joni Eareckson Tada, we provide Christ-centered care through Joni's House, Wheels for the World, Retreats and Getaways, and disability ministry training.

Find more encouragement on Joni Eareckson Tada's Sharing Hope podcast and her daily devotional.