Warner Robins resident Eunice Galloway has discovered the joy of serving as a short-term missionary at the Family Retreats for the past two years and wants others in Middle Georgia to know about this opportunity to participate in the Family Retreats and also to serve others in an uplifting environment.

"Two families from this area went last year, and I'm hoping since it's so close and such a great experience that more families will participate this year. The greatest blessing for me is being around people who have so much hope and encouragement to live with their challenges. It's so good to be around folks who have a reason to complain but yet don't. Most attendees say they love coming to a place where they're treated like they're ‘normal.' Parents have said that their children leave a Family Retreat doing more than they ever thought they would do. So many parents say, ‘My child has just blossomed from being here,'" Galloway said.

Family Retreats founder Joni Eareckson Tada learned about suffering at an early age. When Joni broke her neck in a diving accident at 17, she was paralyzed from the neck down and faced two years of rehabilitation and life in a wheelchair. After initially experiencing anger and depression over the accident and her resulting condition, Joni immersed herself in the Bible and started to depend on God's love to give her the courage and strength to accept her disability and to move forward in her life as a servant of Jesus Christ. In 1979 Joni started an outreach ministry called Joni and Friends, with the mission to evangelize and disciple people affected by disabilities.

Joni Eareckson Tada's life, books, radio program, and outreach ministries have been a constant source of inspiration to Eunice Galloway ever since she became a Christian in 1974. "I came to know all about Joni through her inspirational autobiography and the wonderful movie about her life, JONI. Her books, Diamonds in the Dust and More Precious than Silver are my favorite devotionals. Initially, her appeal for me was her encouraging, positive attitude about this life while looking towards heaven.

She stresses living from an eternal perspective while we're here on earth. Even though Joni is heavenly minded, she has accomplished so much earthly good during her life. Joni's encouragement became more personal to me when our youngest daughter Laura was diagnosed with leukemia and lived for only18 months after the diagnosis. Joni's compassionate ministry for people who are suffering comforted me though that period in my life," Galloway said. Originally from Alabama, Eunice Galloway and her husband relocated to Warner Robins in 2002. Galloway was actively looking for a way to serve in the Joni and Friends ministries.

"You see God at work in Joni's ministry. It seems like God is just so evident in her ministry that I wanted to be a part of it, too," Galloway said. She went on-line and researched the Family Retreats, which were started in 1991. These five-day summer camp programs are held across the United States to offer families affected by disability "a break from the challenges of everyday life." Family Retreats are geared for adults and children with disabilities and are a respite for the entire family. Galloway discovered an upcoming Family Retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia, in 2004. "The retreat site was so close that I sent in my application immediately. In July 2004 I worked as an adult volunteer at the camp," Galloway added.

"My first camper that first year was a 67-year old woman named Mary from Tennessee. When she was 16 years old, Mary was shot by her mentally ill brother because he thought she was too good for this world. The bullet is still lodged in her brain, and she is paralyzed on the lefthand side of her body. The night of the talent show she played the piano with her right hand. She was so positive. She loves her brother and knows he wasn't in his right mind. She doesn't have any hard feelings. She wants to reach out and help other disabled people. By coming to the retreats, she has seen that she can have a ministry, too," Galloway said. This year's retreat will be July 10-July 14 in Warm Springs, Georgia. The 2006 theme is "The Amazing Adventure" with the guiding Bible verse, "You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you…" (Jeremiah 29:13-14. )

Campers will be lodged at Camp Dream, a disability camp started by a gentleman in the Atlanta area who had polio in the 1940s and visited the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation. He and his friends built two wheelchair accessible lodges in 1996 that will house about 70 people.

Accommodations include an indoor and outdoor swimming pool with lifts, a 12-acre fishing lake, a covered pavilion, great rooms, and a cafeteria. The FDR site includes regulation basketball courts, an indoor, Olympic-sized track, a fitness center, bowling alley, a game room, tennis courts, softball field, a golf course, and a wheelchair accessible nature trail. Campers have a choice of different indoor and outdoor activities.

A typical day starts with breakfast in the cafeteria. After breakfast, children and youth go with the volunteer counselors to their various activities. The adults stay in the cafeteria for Bible study, worship, and an encouraging discussion on living with the challenges of a disability. After lunch, there's another session activities, and then the families enjoy free time from 2-5 p.m. After dinner, campers participate in evening activities. On Tuesday, the camp is transformed into a big carnival with a huge waterslide, a climbing wall, and arts and crafts. On Wednesday night, the women are pampered with facials and manicures, and the men are treated to a dinner out at Bullochs, a well-known familystyle restaurant in downtown Warm Springs. The finale, on Thursday night, is a talent show. "Talk about laughing and crying at the same time. Some of those little children–how they can sing. They tug at your heart strings," Galloway shared.

Family Retreats have a camppastor. This year, Dr. Dana Olson from Illinois, will be the camp pastor for the third time. He will be joined by his wife, Krista, and their oldest daughter, Anna, who was born with a disability. One volunteer is assigned to every person with a disability. The volunteers come on Sunday to receive extra training. The families come from all over the Southeast. The cost is approximately $545 for a family.

Scholarships are available for families who would not be able to attend otherwise. Churches, families and friends can help support a family. For more information about Family Retreats, visit www. joniandfriends. org. Eunice Galloway had the great pleasure of meeting Joni Eareckson Tada in person two years ago. "She is sincere, down to earth, and honest. After I learned that Joni and Friends has a field office in Knoxville, Tennessee, I became involved with them. Dr. Laura Payne is the Director of the Knoxville office," Galloway said.

Bob and Eunice Galloway have attended Crossroads United Methodist Church in Perry since their arrival to the Warner Robins area four years ago. Two summers ago, Crossroads UMC used Joni and Friends' VBS curriculum entitled "On a Roll for Jesus." Joni has videotaped a spotlight on a third world country and a disability each day during the VBS and encourages the children to donate for Wheels for the World, a Joni and Friends ministry that provides wheelchairs to disabled people in third world countries. At the close of the week, the Crossroads VBS kids had raised enough money to sponsor wheelchairs for three children.

"Joni's compassion has inspired a lot of people. She appeared on Larry King Live on August 3, 2004, and it was the Tuesday night of the first Family Retreat in Warm Springs. We all gathered and watched it together. The last time I had heard, her interview had rerun nine times, and it has been the most requested rerun on Larry King Live," Galloway said.

Visit www.joniandfriends.org for more information about Family Retreats, the VBS curriculum, and Wheels for the World. For more information on being a short-term missionary at the Family retreat, email euniceg@earthlink.net.