Joni and Friends Hits Airwaves in Korea

Joni Eareckson Tada is going Korean. Tada’s beloved television program Joni and Friends is now being broadcast in South Korea on the CGNTV network, with expanded coverage in China and Japan.

The Korean network will both dub and subtitle the program in the native languages of the countries where it is being broadcast.

Simultaneous with the television program’s launch in South Korea, ministry founder Eareckson Tada’s most recent book, A Place of Healing, was translated into Korean and is now available for purchase in bookstores and online.

For more than 30 years, Joni and Friends International Disability Center has worked to accelerate ministry to the disability community, offering a wide array of life-affirming ministries to people with disabilities.

“The Joni and Friends television series is a vital tool providing encouragement and strength to those affected by disability,” Joni and Friends President Doug Mazza said. “It also delivers the gospel message with a sense of hope and purpose for those who suffer.”

The 30-minute weekly program, hosted by Tada, highlights an unusually open and honest approach to tough questions about the goodness of God in a world shattered by pain and suffering. The television series presents a dramatic and powerful look into the lives of real people who have endured, or are still living through, heart-wrenching trials.

Tada and her guests put Scripture to the toughest of tests, showing why God is worth believing and how to trust Him in the worst of times.

The South Korean television network CGNTV, carried via satellite to more than 170 countries, was first established on the Internet in 2000 as the Christian Missionary Educational Broadcasting Network, to provide instruction and encouragement for Korean missionaries serving in remote areas. Launched on satellite in 2005, the network now carries programming in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, English, Spanish and Portuguese, reaching most of Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa and the Americas.

It hopes to launch Arabic broadcasts in the near future, and content has expanded to serve beyond Korean missionaries to Korean and other Christians around the world.