In 1967, Joni Eareckson Tada was paralyzed from the neck down in a diving accident. She has gone on to paint, write several books and a monthly column for Moody Monthly magazine, record musical albums, and have a daily radio show. She is the founder and president of JAF Ministries, which works with disabled people and their families, and held a presidential appointment to the National Council on Disability. She has earned titles such as "Churchwoman of the Year" (the Religious Heritage Foundation) and "Layperson of the Year" (the National Association of Evangelicals). Her autobiography, Joni, was adapted as a movie.
Corrie Ten Boom was a writer and historian. She was born in the Netherlands in 1892. In February of 1944, an informer turned the Ten Boom family in to the Gestapo for hiding Jews in their watch and clock shop. Six family members and 30 friends were arrested. Casper, Betsie, and Christiaan Ten Boom died as prisoners. Because of a clerical error, Corrie Ten Boom was released, one week before all the women her age were killed. Ten Boom went on to tell her message of survival for the next 32 years in countries throughout the world. Her story became both a book and a movie titled The Hiding Place. Ten Boom died on April 15, 1983.