Dear Roof Breaking Friends ...
By Joni Eareckson Tada
Contact Details
PO Box 353 , EPSOM , KT18 5WS
Phone : 01372 749955
Email : info @ throughtheroof . org
Web : www . throughtheroof . org
No one happily arrives at a 20th Anniversary by themselves – a journey that long and well-lived takes many friends who pray diligently , serve gladly , give generously , volunteer gladly , and work hard . It ’ s how I feel about you – God bless you for the many ways you have come alongside Through the Roof to minister to people with disabilities and their families , here in the UK and abroad .
And the next two decades of outreach promise to be just as fruitful . I am so excited that soon , Through the Roof will distribute their 10,000th wheelchair in Africa – just think of the many thousands of people that have been reached for Christ through each chair ! And I ' m so excited about the upcoming launch of Through the Roof ’ s new website . It will mean that our communication with you will be so much more accessible – together , we are designing new ways to take the ministry into the next 20 years efficiently and effectively for the kingdom of Christ .
So , thank you for celebrating this special anniversary with Through the Roof . Most of all , bless you for celebrating the expansion of God ' s kingdom as together we give the help and hope of Christ to many more people with disabilities and their families . Onward and upward into the next decade of outreach !
Our Vision
‘… is all people enjoying life together , mutually giving and receiving , as God intended ’
Our Mission
'… is transforming lives through Jesus with disabled people ’
Through the Roof Charitable Trust Ltd is a UK Registered Company number 04201510 with offices at Suite B1 , Aviary Court , 138 Miles Road , Epsom , KT19 9AB . It is also a Registered Charity Number 1087788 .
Quotes are sometimes edited for clarity and length
Vital Link is designed and printed by PDC Design & Print www . pdc-kingston . co . uk
We ’ re so grateful to Joni for her personalised Vital Link articles over the charity ’ s 20 years . Due to her increasingly pressured work schedule Joni is now reducing some of her writing commitments , and so sadly , this marks her last article for us . Thank you Joni for all your warmth and affirmation of the work – we ’ ll miss hearing from you . You can keep up to date with everything Joni ’ s doing at www . joniandfriends . org .
Forum For All
Disabled students can face many difficulties : inaccessible facilities and transport ; barriers to participation in social events ; hardships from cuts to Disabled Students ’ Allowance ; the increase in everyday discrimination and hate crime that disabled people currently face in the UK . Shockingly , when they seek help from their universities they are frequently referred to counselling , as if the problem lay with them , not the societal barriers around them .
Christian students on campus have a wonderful opportunity to show the love of God in practical ways . We ’ re excited to be working with the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship to help Christian Unions and student Christian groups reach out to disabled students .
Our guide to becoming an inclusive church , ‘ Be a Roofbreaker ’ has been reissued in a new downloadable student edition . Extracts are now appearing on the UCCF website as separate articles , advising Christian Unions on making provision for welcoming students with different disabilities into their groups and meetings .
You can find the extracts at www . uccf . org . uk / cu-leader-resources / students-with-disabilities or buy the complete booklet for £ 3 from www . throughtheroof . org .
We ’ ve really enjoyed contributing to UCCF ’ s annual training event , Forum , for the past three years . With around 230,000 disabled students in UK universities , talking to CU leaders about how they can reach out to disabled students with the Gospel and ensure that everyone can fully participate and contribute within the life of the CU is vital work .
Young people who come to Christ as students make up a significant part of the Church . By bringing the Gospel to disabled students and enabling them to exercise their gifts in a student Christian group , we hope to see a more complete Church grow .
www . throughtheroof . org